Club Acoustica - Reviews

"We're on the road for two months this time," says Pappalardo into her mobile, pulling over so she can talk. "Ballarat tonight, then Sydney on Wednesday, and we're playing at the National Folk Festival in Canberra over Easter. Then we'll be going to America for two weeks for our first overseas tour, for a showcase in Boston. I'm very excited about that."

Just quietly, acoustic music is on the move. Booming, you could say. While acoustic-based artists such as Perth's John Butler are conquering the charts, folk music is drawing more and more mellow punters each year to festivals at Canberra, Woodford (outside Brisbane) and Port Fairy in western Victoria.

Further, a growing clutch of live venues in Sydney - some of them former bastions of rock - are putting on quiet, calm nights that brim with undiscovered new talent. Among them are the Beach Road Hotel in Bondi, the Commercial Hotel in Balmain, the Roxbury and the Excelsior in Glebe and The Epping Hotel and Kelts in Blaxland.

The leading light of the Sydney scene is Club Acoustica, launched 3 years ago at La Bar, an inviting, intimate venue one floor above the bustle of Oxford Street, Darlinghurst. Every Thursday night and occasionally on Sundays, known and unknown artists play original songs. No Marshall stacks. No lip-syncing. No armadillos down trousers. And it doesn't stop there: the Club Acoustica team also has a weekly radio show on 2SER and is compiling a pilot for a TV show.

"I go way back with Club Acoustica," says Luke O'Shea, an experienced singer/songwriter who plays a style often tagged urban country. "My first show at La Bar was in 1998, I think. And back then it was probably one of only two venues where as an unsigned act or solo songwriter you could display your goods. For me it was intrinsic to getting to where I am now."

Just where is he now? With his band, Medicine Wheel, O'Shea is in final negotiations for a deal with a major label. He is finishing work on his third album, which should be released midyear. Tonight, O'Shea will be playing at The Basement (which he describes as "the Grand Ole Opry of Sydney"), where Club Acoustica organisers are hosting another showcase evening for the pick of the La Bar crop.

Wednesday's show has an added significance because it marks the launch of a CD, Club Acoustica Live At The Basement Showcases Vol 1, featuring performances by O'Shea, women in docs, Stella One Eleven, Brett Hunt, Dominique Fraissard, King Curly, Jeff Duff, Jay Atwill, Gershon, Lyn Bowtell, Shimmer, Jigzag, Miss Radio, Glance and Blue Crew.

women in docs expect the atmosphere to be as supportive as ever. "This will be our third or fourth Basement show," says Lucas. "We're based in Brisbane, and Club Acoustica at La Bar was our first introduction to the Sydney music scene. From the first show I remember the warmth and the response of the audience, which was almost unexpected."

With a mailing list of thousands, women in docs have a growing national fan base, and Club Acoustica must take some of the credit. Club Acoustica evenings are sprouting in Perth, the Sunshine Coast, Canberra, Byron Bay and elsewhere.

"I think everyone knew this was going to be a growing movement," O'Shea says. "It just had to be. There are places in just about every other city in the world where artists can showcase their talents, but there wasn't one in Sydney.

"There was a time in the '70s when singer/songwriters were up there on the level of pop stars. That seems to have been lost, especially in the late '90s, with all the boy bands, girl bands. But I'm hoping and I believe we're growing weary of that and are going back to music's roots, and you can't get more rootsy than an acoustic guitar. Acoustic music is just all about the true spirit of music."

Club Acoustica CD launch, The Basement, tonight, more information www.clubacoustica.com.au.