Tassie drop-in for Aussie power duo

TWO of Australia’s best-loved musicians, John Butler and Missy Higgins, will join forces for a special outdoor concert in Hobart this summer.

The chart-topping duo will set off on the Coming Home national tour in January to officially launch Butler’s new album Home, which is set for release this month.

“This album touches on the anxieties and demons I’ve been grappling with since the last album, but it’s also full of joy, hope and redemption,” Butler says.

“I’m looking forward to conveying the stories and passion of all of this journey oneon-one live with fans.”

The John Butler Trio will expand to a five-piece band for the tour, to perform hits like Zebra, Better Than and Ocean alongside the group’s new single Just Call, which comes out today.

Higgins is returning to the stage after the birth of her daughter, Luna, last month. She will play classics like Scar, The Special Two and Steer as well as tracks from her recent album Solastalgia.

Now with 15 ARIA Awards between them, Butler and Higgins have a long history together.

Higgins supported Butler at a Sydney show on the night Scar, her breakthrough hit, went to No. 1 in 2004. The pair won their first Best Male and Best Female ARIA Awards in 2004 and 2005 respectively, and even shared their first Rolling Stone cover. But this will be their first major tour together in nearly 15 years.

“It will be so good to get out of the house and get back on the road alongside John and his band,” Higgins says.

“I have great memories of all those gigs I did with him when I was first starting out and it will be great to play some really special venues together again after all these years.”

The Coming Home national tour will finish with a huge show at Tolosa Park in Glenorchy on Saturday, February 23. Butler and Higgins will be joined by rising star Stella Donnelly, who has become one of Australia’s most talkedabout new acts thanks to her folk-pop songs Mechanical Bull and Boys Will Be Boys; and Arnhem Land rapper Baker Boy, the talented youngster responsible for tracks like Cloud 9 (feat. Kian) and Marryuna (feat. Yirrmal).

Tickets go on sale from www.ticketmaster.com.au at noon on September 21.

This album touches on the anxieties and demons I’ve been grappling with since the last album, but it’s also full of joy, hope and redemption

— JOHN BUTLER