CHICAGO, IL. (Top40 Charts/ Western Publicity) Australian troubadour Kim Churchill arrives in the US as the hand-picked support act for Billy Bragg's North American tour, which kicked off in Englewood, CO on March 23rd. For Churchill, receiving the invite from Bragg was a surprise; the two met at the Winnipeg Folk Festival in 2012, and according to Kim, fun ensued. "Like a lot of things that happen in the music industry, it was a matter of a conveniently placed bottle of scotch. We just got talking and we got on really well and we were both playing the same stage so we got to see each other play," Kim explained.
Churchill, a hypnotizing guitarist who expresses his love of surfing and the natural world in spare, gorgeous songs that bring to mind artists like Donovan Frankenreiter and Xavier Rudd, has a new album Detail of Distance out in the US April 9th. At just 21, Churchill has released two previous studio albums and toured non-stop, from Australia's East Coast Blues &
Roots Festival to Montreal's International Jazz Festival and all parts in between, splitting his time between prolific songwriting and the sea.
Watch Churchill perform "
Tides" at Cowansville
Music Festival in front of an audience of thousands - one will rarely see a single performer create a wall of sound, employing exquisite dynamics to drive home his melodic ideas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XxXjfiwEsAQ#
One of the focus tracks on the album is "Seasons Grind" - AU Review called it "...a brilliant first single." Get it here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/z2jygc8gg83biqt/Kim%20Churchill%20-%20Seasons%20Grind.mp3
Churchill picked up his first guitar at age 4 and began classical training at 6, often bartering good grades for new instruments. "My dad would say if you can get an A, I'll get you a new Fender guitar, so I would put in two hours in the morning, grab my board, catch a few waves, and make the school bus by 8:30, then again in the afternoon." He went on to Australia's Classical
Music Academy, graduating with highest honors. His hands tell the story of his technique - one has substantial fingernails and a duct-taped thumb, the other is thickly callused. Youtube videos reveal them banging, tapping, fluttering and picking the strings producing multi-layered melodies and thumping rhythms. This album belongs on the shelf near the works of Ben Harper, a fellow surfer and guitar prodigy.
Detail of Distance was produced by the late Todd Simko, (Pure, Be Good Tanyas,
Marcy Playground etc) in Vancouver in 2012.The album is a revelation, incorporating distorted electric guitars, strings, horns and electronic rhythms. On up-tempo rockers like "Seasons Grind" and "Bathed in Black", Churchill employs wailing harmonicas, driving guitars and a soaring chorus. The title track begins with more introspective acoustic guitar, which builds as droning effects take hold, evolving into a tune wouldn't be out of place on a
Junior Kimbrough album.
A provident bottle of scotch later, Kim Churchill will perform for audiences across North America, and with any luck at all, fit some surfing in as well.
KIM CHURCHILL ON TOUR w/ BILLY BRAGG
Mar 26 - Crescent Ballroom - Phoenix, AZ
Mar 28 - El Rey Theatre - Los Angeles, CA
Mar 29 - Great American
Music Hall - San Francisco, CA
Apr 02 -
Aladdin Theater - Portland, OR
Apr 03 - Neptune Theater - Seattle, WA
Apr 04 - Alix Goolden Performance Hall - Victoria, Canada
Apr 05 - Vogue Theatre - Vancouver, Canada
Apr 06 - Live at the Royal - Nelson, Canada
Apr 08 - MacEwan Hall - Calgary, Canada
Apr 09 - Orr Centre - Regina, Canada
Apr 10 - Garrick Centre - Winnipeg, Canada
Apr 12 - City Winery - Chicago, IL
Apr 13 - City Winery - Chicago, IL
Apr 15 - Englert Theatre - Iowa City, IA
Apr 17 - Belcourt Theatre - Nashville, TN
Apr 19 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC
Apr 20 - Keswick Theatre - Glenside, PA
Apr 22 - Rams Head Onstage - Annapolis, MD
Apr 23 - Café Cultural - Lavaltrie, Canada
Apr 24 - Theatre Granada - Sherbrooke, Canada
Apr 25 - Birchmere - Alexandria, VA
Apr 26 - Ithaca
State Theatre - Ithaca, NY
Apr 27 - Town Hall - New York, NY
Apr 28 - Berklee Performance Center - Boston, MA
Apr 30 - Southgate House Revival - Newport, KY
May 1 -
The Ark - Ann Arbor, MI
May 3 - Danforth
Music Hall - Toronto, Canada
May 4 - Bronson Centre - Ottawa, Canada
May 5 - Club Soda - Montreal, Canada
