MICHAEL CARR Biography January 2003

As Michael says "He didn't actively discourage my brother and I from following in his footsteps but he tried to make us aware of the pitfalls. Unfortunately we saw firsthand that he was having a wonderful time and that was pretty much it."

So Michael started off banging away on a honky tonk piano out in the family garage while his dad toiled inside the house on musical arrangements for the recordings, live work and television shows he did (in his latter career he was arranger on Playschool). "It was an old upright painted white and I used to thrash it" Michael remembers "Dad would stay right out of the way."

'Normal' jobs came and went, from working in offices and some more physical stuff. The music though was a constant, first in bands with mates, then a bit more seriously but having to play top 40 to make a quid. Soon Michael knew the insides of pubs and clubs from Newcastle to Perth, where he lived for a while. He was working during the day, playing music at weekends.

He'd always written songs, since the first musical stirrings as a child and now he started to try them out on audiences, slipping in one or two a set. The results were encouraging and also very satisfying.

Some blokes he teamed up with over in the West were into country music and gradually Michael began to see this was also a place he fitted into as well. A place where the combination of story, melody and emotion come together. The 'crossover' country of his youth competed on equal footing with other strains of music in the pop mainstream and this was a starting point to Michael's journey to find his own sound.

The elements of that influence are there on his debut album, simply called Michael Carr. His songs are big, broad and sweeping - even when about quite specific subjects. He 'joked' about putting strings on the album prior to recording, on some tracks you can almost hear them, not that there are any, it is just the sound and the flavour that he gets vocally and in his song construction. It's there on the opener Don't Make Me Dance and continues right on until the big ballad Wearing White takes us out 46 minutes later.

The genesis for Michael finally getting to make the album he had dreamed of (albeit it in a disarmingly relaxed way) came quite a few years ago when he started writing songs with Melinda Schneider. The pair were doing the rounds of publishers and found themselves in the office of Rondor Music's Graham Thompson. Many years later Graham and Melinda are married and Michael, still writing songs with his old partner (two such creations can be found on her album Happy Tears) is the newest signing to the successful boutique label Thompson heads called Compass Bros.

For a while there Graham was keeping a watchful eye on him, putting him together with Adam Brand to write three songs for Adam's last album Built For Speed. One, The ANZAC has been nominated as APRA Song Of The Year in the 2003 Tamworth Golden Guitar Awards. Another, New England Highway, was another album standout. With Michael also nominated for two other awards, the watching is well and truly over. The duet with Melinda Wearing White (also featured on her album) is in there while most significantly Michael has a nomination as Best New Artist for A Little More Love - his first single.

It is an unprecedented entry for an artist yet to put out his first major work. All is about to change for Michael Carr. The riches of the album will have another year to sink in before he can gather some more nominations, but awards are not driving Michael, rather the song and performance. As the song Wham Bam autobiographically states "here I am where I belong" and the palpable humour make it in no way a big headed statement.

The assurance of all included makes amazing Michael's confession that while the musician's were playing one song, he was still finishing off lyrics for another. Once he and the album's co-producer Graham Thompson (who also played bass) got down to business they worked fast and furiously.

The resultant riches include the acutely observational Hometown High School Reunion, the tongue in cheek While The Wife's Away, a nod to the 'Big O' Roy Orbison If I Hear Crying and the touching co-write with Colin Buchanan Up On His Shoulders.

There is a song however that Michael has carried with him for a quite a while. It was one that was always going to be on his first album. Michael reflects "I always wanted to write a song about my father but sometimes you feel so deeply about something it is hard to get it right. You never say the things you want to, but on this occasion I just sat down and got it." The Greatest Man is an unadorned tribute that works precisely because of its lack of pretence.

This is a quality that the younger Carr has in spades. He can kick back with the laconic country lyrics of Too Gone and then turn around to reflect on some wider family values on Keep It In The Family, another composition assembled in league with the equally down to earth Buchanan.

Just where or how far this album will take Carr is too early to tell, but he'll be taking his family with him in song, with the numerous touchstones he has now finally recorded. The spirit of his father will no doubt be there at every show. In his wife Nikki he has a fellow performer who understands that Michael might now be the one who is away. A few months ago, at the time of the release of the single A Little More Love he said "I've messed around a lot and now I look at what Adam Brand, Keith Urban, Lee Kernaghan, Troy Cassar-Daley and others have achieved - I'd love to be in that position".

The hard work may have just started but with the quality of this album and runs already on the board, Carr may not be quite in the league of the aforementioned but he's closing in. He adds a final thought "I've been spurred on by hearing great songs and seeing great performers. That makes me go home and want to create something. I'd be a liar if I said I didn't want to be a star but that's not what is fundamentally driving me - all the trappings will have left one day and what is going to be left is your songs."

The Album: track by track

Don't Make Me Dance (M. Carr) A dance song about not wanting to dance! Kicked off with the clean steel guitar picking of Michel Rose and featuring an irresistible country bossa nova beat - a fun way of commencing the album. Some smooth harmonies from Melinda Schneider, Mark Punch and James Gillard.

Hometown High School Reunion (M. Carr) A convincing country waltz is a rarity these days. One with a strong storyline such as this almost non-existent. The fiddle of Mick Albeck kicks it off in classic style but the emphasis is on the strong vocal and the story.

While The Wife's Away (M. Carr/M. Schneider) "Believe it or not this is my wife Nikki's favourite track off the album" says Michael. A sense of humour is a must in the Carr household but the details seem too precise for this to be merely fictional.

If I Hear Crying (M. Carr) Tackling the 'Big O' could be tough but this clever, smooth tale of lost love captures the essence of the languid appeal of Roy Orbison yet remains a pure Michael Carr construction. A highlight of the album.

In It Up To Here (M. Carr) The humorous self-depreciation continues and despite the tale of woe the optimistic vocal and subtle swing accentuate a natural positive. He just can't help himself.

Up On His Shoulders (M. Carr/C. Buchanan) Michael says, "everybody in the family used to put me up on their shoulders but memories of my Granddad in particular came flooding through and thanks to Colin's help it all congealed." He might add that it's an original and touching story, made greater by taking something so simple and expanding on it. Some beautiful Dobro from Michel and lots of space in the rhythm section.

Wham Bam (M. Carr/M. Schneider) "Wham Bam I wrote with Melinda in the time leading up to recording the album, it was fun to write but there are lots of different feelings in it. Standing in a corner of a club or pub and playing to people who aren't particularly interested in what you are doing can be pretty frustrating, but you wouldn't do it if you didn't love it."

Your Best Friend (M. Carr) A soulful ballad with a positive message of hope and optimism. "The friend you never knew you had" - we all need them. The inspiration was the New South Wales bushfires of a few years ago. Michael explains "There was a fundraiser at Reevsby Workers Club to raise money for fire equipment. I wanted to write a non-specific song about people who help people. That's what it's about."

A Little More Love (M. Carr/D. Wells) Michael's current single has found a home at radio and gathered one of is three Golden Guitar nominations. The reasons are palpable - it is downright infectious and must bring a smile.

The Greatest Man (M. Carr) A tribute to Warren Carr. It was one that was always going to be on his first album. Michael reflects "I always wanted to write a song about my father but sometimes you feel so deeply about something it is hard to get it right. You never say the things you want to, but on this occasion I just sat down and got it."

Too Gone (M. Carr) Pure country, with a nice little chord twist. Enough said.

Keep It In The Family (M. Carr/C. Buchanan) Woodshedding with Bucho produced a tribute to the man and woman on the land that is real and heartfelt. Some warm accordion from Tim Wedde and some more Dobro help tell the story.

Wearing White (Duet with Melinda Schneider) (M. Carr) The bonus track - originally on Melinda's outstanding "Happy Tears" is a pure love song bound to be a fixture of weddings from this day forth, and a Golden Guitar nomination 2003 for 'Vocal Collaboration of The Year".

For further information please contact Compass Bros Records
Phone 02 9555 9144
Fax 02 9555 9188
info@compassbros.com.au

© Compass Brothers 2001