Two of the finest stalwarts of the Australian music scene, country music singer-songwriter Felicity Urquhart and one-third of folk-rock band The Waifs, Josh Cunningham, are taking their 2021 album The Song Club on the road.
The duo spoke to Canberra Daily ahead of their 6 May show at Tallagandra Hill Winery, Gundaroo, and 13 May show at the National Theatre, Braidwood; felicityurquhart.com or joshcunningham.com
How did you come to start writing and performing together?
Josh Cunningham: “A few years ago we were both invited into the song club, a club where we had to write a song a week to a prompt. Over the course of time, we developed an admiration for each other’s song writing and each other as well, so we started spending more time together and writing together.
Felicity Urquhart: “We thought we should do some gigs together, and thought if we were going to do that, we should have some music for the people!
“We started putting songs down and they worked and sounded nice together, at least that’s what we thought,” she smiled.
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What is it like performing together?
Felicity: “When there’s just two people up there, you’re very vulnerable for any sleight of hand or a mistake … everyone can see your flaws if they are shown.
“Josh is a terrific guitar picker, and now he’s front and centre as a vocalist, it was so lovely to see him really sink his teeth into the vocal side of things.
“We make the sounds to work it for a live scene, we didn’t have a full drum kit in the studio at any stage, it was a very acoustic-based process, so we’re able to create a live sound that isn’t too far removed from the album.
“They get to see us, hear our stories, and feel the energy between us, they get the picture as well as the audio when they come to a show.”
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How are you influenced by one another?
Josh: “I find Felicity to be really inspiring as a human being generally, but as a musician, too, I just love her singing voice, her musicality and it’s been an amazing experience to play together.
“The album is pretty stripped back, but we did all the music ourselves and there are more things going on than two people can generally do at once … Felicity found different ways of filling out the sound, and that’s been a big influence on me.”
Felicity: “I’ve learned a great deal working with Josh; I love that when we do collaborate, I can spew out a few ideas and Josh can put his beautiful words around them. Even writing a text message is far more eloquent than my shorthand; it’s one of the skills he has as a beautiful wordsmith.”
How have the last few years affected you as performers?
Josh: “It’s not easy to be deprived of the thing not only you earn your livelihood by, but more significantly as a songwriter, getting out there and sharing that experience and doing the thing that feeds your soul.
“For the people coming along, you can see how much everyone else has missed it as well, and that’s made for some special experiences since we’ve been back on the road.”
Is there a most memorable gig you’ve played?
Felicity: “I go back to how I started out in Tamworth, my family really thought things were going to work out okay once I got my first support gig, which was with Chad Morgan.
“I still get to see Chad today, he checks in on how I am and is just a darling man, someone we celebrate in our industry as a wonderful performer.”
Josh: “It was with The Waifs opening for Bob Dylan on a 30-show tour of America; Donna and Vicky had been worded up they might get out to sing Knocking on Heaven’s Door with him.
“Eventually when they’d given up on the thought it might even happen, the call came through. They had to run down the stairs, scramble into something presentable, and race on stage!”
Felicity and Josh’s responses have been condensed for publication.
