Peter Brandy - Long Time Ago
Kunnunnurra based Peter Brandy is a musician, singer, songwriter in a style that blends country, folk, rock and gospel. Early influences include amateur musicians with whom he worked on Kimberley cattle stations. Traveling artists such as Slim Dusty, Buddy Williams, Barry Thornton, Ernie Bridge and Rodney Rivers were also inspirations along with legendary Kimberley guitar man Kevin Gunn.
Peter Brandy is one of the strongest country performers around and this album demonstrates Brandy’s strength as a storytelling songwriter. His songs share of his life experiences in the bush, the people, the places and the events. He is also inspired by the country and his songs speak of the history and culture of the Kimberley. Brandy sees himself as an interpreter of his culture and an ambassador for the battlers on the land. The album is packed with lyrics of country and every song is a small gem. The powerful and symbolic title track won the Indigenous Song of the Year and the World & Folk category at the West Australian Music Industry Awards Song of the Year in 2005. Other tracks such as: Jaru Woman, Have You Ever and Alice Springs feature strongly; however, they are just the tip of the iceberg on this stellar album.
The album was produced by Fremantle based multi instrumentalist David Hyams, who also features on the album. Also contributing are award winning songstress Lynn Hazelton, pedal steel guitar player Lucky Oceans, and ‘The Waifs’ bassist Ben Franz.
There is considerable stylistic maturation in his approach since his first release. Brandy’s debut CD ‘Kimberley Backroads’ made it clear he was an exceptional emerging talent in Australian country music; this album has taken the authority of his first disc and refined it, the result is an album that’s sound and quality more accurately demonstrate Brandy’s musical character. If ‘Kimberley Backroads’ left any doubts at all about this man’s gifts as a musicianr and songwriter, ‘Long Time Ago’ proves that he had even more talent than he’d let on first time around. This is an intricate album that Brandy and his long term collaborator, Hyams, pull off with style and grace.
This album deserves to break into the mainstream. Desert pop meets country!
Released March 2008
A video clip of the title track can be viewed at:
http://www.peterbrandy.com/video_longtime.html
