Acoustic no longer means just Dylan or Donovan, folkies or country crooners. With artists in every genre embracing this organic presentation of their wares, acoustic music has moved way beyond its ‘folk’ tag. In fact it’s experiencing something of a renaissance.
The ‘acoustic’ we’re talking about here, in its broadest terms, is stripped back instrumentation, the absence of amplification, and live, intimate performance.
Not since the ‘folk scare’ of the early ’70s has acoustic music been so popular. The proliferation of poker machines, and the decline of the live rock scene, due in part to noise restrictions, have contributed to its rise. But primarily it reflects a shift away from the pre-packaged and mechanised toward, as one music fan said to me recently, “Something real, man”.
With ‘real’ meaning no excessive audio enhancement or studio trickery. The acoustic renaissance is a celebration of the songwriter's craft, and the magic that only live music can create.
This renaissance arguably began in the ’90s with MTV’s ‘Unplugged’. Kiss, Nirvana and Pearl Jam showed that even acoustically they still rocked, and ‘Unplugged’ recordings, particularly Eric Clapton's, proved this approach had commercial appeal.
And in 2002, in-the-raw compilations like ‘Songs from The Panel’ and the almost-acoustic ‘Live at The Chapel’ continue to sell prodigiously.
But why the incredible rebirth of live acoustic music? According to one Sydney singer/songwriter, Michael Hardwick, it was noise restrictions that started this quiet revolution.
“In the mid ’90s the live scene was dying, and like many independent artists I had nowhere to play,” he says. “Then in August 1998 I found an intimate, pokie-free venue willing to give original music a go, one night a week. But the owner said, ‘I’m a little worried about noise.’ So I suggested artists play acoustically.” And Sydney’s pre-eminent acoustic showcase, Club Acoustica, began.
Its rules were simple: original songs, no amplifiers, stripped back instrumentation. “I didn’t set out to make these rules, it was simply a response to a situation,” says Michael. “But we quickly discovered that audiences and artists loved this approach, and the word spread.” Soon promoters such as Joseph Calderazzo and Raoul Graf started similar nights, and together they formed a loose collective called The Sydney Acoustic Movement.
Four years and over 250 showcases later (including 27 at the legendary Basement), Club Acoustica is still going strong, and acoustic nights are now a feature in countless venues across Australia. And with them come more opportunities for songwriters to hone their craft.
Martin Contempree, Club Acoustica co-founder, and partner in management company VisionMMP, says he and many other artists, managers and promoters saw this gradual shift occurring. “We believed people were craving a more harmonious live experience, and that this was underestimated by venues,” he says. “The acoustic renaissance has bought people back to live music again.”
Mark Spillane, from Queensland agency JSEM, who recently introduced Club Acoustica to Brisbane, agrees. “The response from artists, audiences and venues has been overwhelming,” he said. “It demonstrates the power of song in its rawest form.”
And Australian radio is getting into the picture. Like Sydney’s 2SER FM, whose weekly show, AcousticA, features original stripped back Australian recordings, and artists playing live and acoustically in the studio. “AcousticA champions the art of storytelling in the good old fashioned way,” says 2SER’s Andrew Khedoori. “It’s not about production values or big budgets, it’s about direct communication with the simplest tools of the trade that have been among the trustiest through music history.”
Acoustic performances are now integral to any artist’s touring and promotional schedule. Amanda McGregor, manager of the ARIA-winning George, says “It’s really important to be able to deliver live music in any form. An acoustic performance is portable; you can take the band to a public anywhere who may never have heard it, via stage, radio, TV or webcast, and hopefully encourage them to buy your album. It also powerfully connects people to where the song came from in the first place, glimpse the personalities behind it, and sort out the real talent.”
Sort out the real talent? Legendary Australian manager, Michael Browning, now at the helm of 301 Records: “Stripping back their songs makes an artist transparent. If they struggle to develop a rapport with an audience in this setting, in my experience it’s less likely they will translate to other contexts.”
And acoustic music is now a festival fave too, with Big Day Out and Homebake having dedicated acoustic stages, and major artists opting to use these for their performances.
This is an exciting time for original songwriters in Australia, and acoustic music is a big part of this resurgence. It’s possible ‘acoustic’ is simply having its moment in the endless cycle of popular taste. Or, as the Sydney Morning Herald’s Sacha Molitorisz wrote recently: “Perhaps the upsurge in acoustica is, in part, a predictable reaction to an increasingly complicated world: acoustic music offers a sincere, simple, quiet antidote.”
