Plumb role in a happy ReTurn
FORMER Tasmanian mandolin maestro Luke Plumb returns to the state this weekend to launch his acclaimed new album.
A talented multiinstrumentalist and session musician, Plumb made a name for himself on the Australian folk scene before being recruited by popular Scottish “hypno-folkadelic” fusion band Shooglenifty when they toured Tasmania in 2002.
He spent the next 12 years touring the world as Shooglenifty’s mandolin player, performing everywhere from Moscow to Mexico, before leaving the band in 2014 to return to Australia.
In March Plumb released his first album since leaving Shooglenifty, channelling 15 years of international musical interactions into Turn & ReTurn.
Produced by Scottish folk industry icon Calum Malcolm (The GoBetweens, Mark Knopfler), the genre-jumping Turn & ReTurn highlights the unusual combination of mandolin and trumpet, while also showcasing Plumb’s skill as a lyricist.
Plumb came up with the idea for the album while walking home one night in Edinburgh, Scotland.
“I envisaged a gig fronted by duelling melodic lines on trumpet and mandolin, backed by a rhythm section drawing on the pulsating sound of Cretan lutes, the rebellious acoustic guitar style of Keith Richards, and the Velvet Underground’s throbbing Moe Tucker drum sound,” he said.
“I knew the constituent parts and the effect they would have on the audience, but the music itself needed to be discovered.
“It took seven years to figure out what music would be the soundtrack to the experience I saw that night.”
Joined by his band The Circuit — Shannon Birchall (double bass), Kate Burke (guitar, vocals), Jeremy Dunlop (guitar), Rory McDougall (drums) and Eamon McNelis (vocals, trumpet, flugelhorn) — Luke Plumb plays three shows in Tasmania this weekend to promote Turn & ReTurn.
They play at the Margate Tavern tomorrow night, at Mountain Mamma at Sheffield on Saturday night, and at the Republic Bar in North Hobart from 8.30pm on Sunday.
Tickets to the Republic Bar show are $21.27, for bookings go to www.moshtix.com.au