From debuting on Hey Hey It’s Saturday at just eight years old to taking the stage with legends, Nathan Cavaleri has had a dream career by 40. The beloved musician is celebrating his upcoming album with a national tour, stopping in at Canberra Theatre Centre on 1 September. CW caught up with Cavaleri to talk rediscovery, legends and new music.

1. Tell us about the new tour.

This current tour is celebrating the release of my album Miracles, and that’s a follow-up of Demons. Both of these albums had kind of come about on the other side of five or six years of some pretty dark times that ultimately woke me up.

If the show that we were touring for Demons was me dipping my toe in the water and just finding myself again, rediscovery, then Miracles is a bit more about just leaping, just going for it, backing yourself, having a bit more faith.

I just string together all the songs from Demons and Miracles, read the stories, whether it’s life on the road as a kid or even some of the struggles that I had to overcome in later times.

2. You have a bit of a journey getting to Miracles, can you tell us about it?

Most of the songs I created after I had released Demons, and there are probably a couple of songs that I might have written before that dark period that I went through.

I suppose these days, my main aim is writing songs like self-expression, but for it to translate. The lyrics and the sentiments of the songs are either inspired by what I’ve gone through, an experience that I’ve had, or something that I’ve observed.

The production itself, I do my best to try and align it with that energy and how I want it to feel. A big thing for me for Miracles was trust, trusting yourself… Because after that period of rediscovery – when I realised how much of my peace hinged on things having to be a certain way or what the world around me was telling me, which ultimately led to a very turbulent life – finding that sort of space in an almost like an inner guidance system like intuition, I kept coming back to that when I created this album. In order to do something which was true, which was the goal, I had to face so many blocks from the past, whether it was voices from the past that told me I would never be a singer, or I should be playing this style of music instead of that, to being too brutally honest with some lyrics or whatever it is. Those voices and those beliefs that created dissonance between what I was creating and my inner truths, I had to face, and I didn’t do anything until I was able to face whatever block was in the way, because I didn’t want to release anything that was half-assed.

3. Any career highlights?

I didn’t really know what a big deal it was to be playing with the artists I was playing with until much later in life. So, I’d probably say a career highlight was when after a five-week tour with B.B. King, B.B. King would have me up on stage, and we would play a couple of songs together in the middle of the set.

We formed quite a connection, and then he was given the Kennedy Center Honors Award, he picked a small handful of artists to play on his behalf, and he chose me as one of them. I got to go to the White House, and then I played at the Kennedy Center. The artists were me, Bonnie Raitt, Etta James, Joe Louis Walker, Dr. John and Steve Cropper. I must have been about 13. I would say that was a big career highlight which has always been a positive experience for me, but at various times it kind of impacted me negatively until I repackaged my perception of it. Because it cemented me so much into blues, which is where the roots of my heart are, and that celebration from the blues community like BB King, the king himself, I felt like that’s what I had to do for the rest of my life, play the blues.

There were times, and now is one of these times … when my heart wanted to venture off beyond the blues and express myself in other ways. That was one experience and belief that I had to work with in order to create Miracles, that belief that I would be letting down a community that supported me for so long and welcomed me with open arms. So far, [that belief that I’d let them down] hasn’t been true. B.B. King, as much as we worked together when it came to the blues, always encouraged me to be myself and be authentic, whatever that meant.

4. Do you have a favourite song to play?

It depends on my mood. Man On Fire, which is the last song of the set, is a banger, it is so much fun, and no matter how conservative the audience is, they’re always on their feet by the end. That song has some sort of superpower.

There’s a pretty special song that I’ve got in the middle of the set, it’s probably one of my deepest songs that I’ve written, called Go Quietly, and that’s like the opposite – it’s the deepest darkest moments I’ve had in my life as an adult expressed in one song.

5. What’s next?

I’m really excited to start connecting with overseas markets, which we’re looking at the moment. New Zealand is on the cards for us, hopefully, next quarter. I think these songs, this album is gonna take us a fair way.  I don’t think we’re going to be done with it anytime soon.

I’d love to do a collaboration project as well, something that’s a little bit unexpected. I’m not sure what that is, yet.  I feel like, coming off the other side of that dark period, it got me clear on how I want to spend my time, and how I want to service others, and just what I want to do, and do it in a way that’s sustainable. If I can look back at my time and go: ‘I was a good dad, and as far as my career is concerned, I put out work and I toured it and I connected with as many people as I could around the world just using my stories and experiences,’ then I’d be happy.

Answers condensed for publication.

See Nathan Cavaleri perform Miracles Album Tour at Canberra Theatre Centre on Friday 1 September 8pm; canberratheatrecentre.com.au

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