2014 has been our biggest year yet, with 2 massive albums out (The Island of Dr Electrico & Dawn), our funding from Australia Council, the inception of our publishing business, The Bombay Royale getting their music featured in Far Cry 4 plus a bunch of rad sessions that we put down this year which we can’t wait to put out in 2015!
Thanks to everyone who’s supported our artists by buying records, seeing shows, or just spreading the word. See you next year!
It’s nearly christmas time so darvid thort he’d offer some super special gifts for those last minute shoppers. Click the image below to find out more or browse the store.
Joy to the world! HopeStreet Recordings and Northside Records are filling your Christmas stockings early this year. Daddy - Emma Donovan and The PutBacks’ frenetic psych/soul stomper – is now available on a super exclusive limited edition 7” for those who need their niceness presented in the nicest of formats.
Only 150 hand numbered records are available, featuring In The Dirt, a PutBacks instrumental on the B side. That’s two sides of searing 45 rpm funky good times for the dancefloor in you.
In the spirit of exclusivity, the Daddy 7” is only available from this website and Northside Records, Fitzroy. Copies will be available for purchase from Thursday the 11th of December and will sell in numbered order from 9am. Who will get number 1? Best get up early, kids! Records #1-10 have been signed by Emma.
Daddy is the first single from Emma and The PutBacks’ new album Dawn.
“Emma’s voice is everything you’d want in a soul singer. She’s the real deal.”
Wax Poetics on Daddy
There’s been a global shortage of vinyl lately, but we’re happy to see the arrival of our latest LP Dawn, by Emma Donovan & The PutBacks! Get it now from our online store.
“Driven by brutally honest lyricism, irresistible percussion and a purist’s respect for the funk and soul tradition, Dawn hearkens back to the heyday of Stax and Atlantic Recordings”
Karaslamb (Okayplayer)
The debut album from Emma Donovan & The PutBacks is out now in Australia (with international dates following very close behind)!
Dawn takes some cues from the burgeoning soul revival, but it’s a far looser interpretation than many releases in the style. This is no attempt at reviving a bygone era. There’s no horn section. There’s more rock in there. There’s more country in there. There’s more, in Emma’s words, “blackfella music” in there. The songwriting is more akin to classic Aboriginal bands like Coloured Stone than it is to Sharon Jones. The sentiment is personal, for both Emma and the band, and forward looking, rather than revivalist. Shades of every soul record you ever liked sneak through: Al Green’s Hi Records era? Check. Aretha’s Classic Atlantic recordings? Check. Stacks of Stax? Check. It’s all there, but all different. Dawn is it’s own thing, indigenous Australian soul. From the ferocious opening salvo of Black Woman to the sweet and gentle comedown of Over Under Away, Dawn is above all a journey through Emma’s life written in song.
HopeStreet artists have a big Summer and 2015 ahead of them with a bunch of festivals and interstate shows. Details below.
Northcote Social Club, Melbourne – December 4 Tix here *
The Motor Room, Brisbane – December 20 FREE ENTRY *
Newtown Social Club, Sydney (Matinee show) – December 21 Tix here *
Womadelaide – 6-9 March Tix here
* Part of 2014 ‘Dawn’ Tour
Meredith Music Festival – December 12-14 SOLD OUT
Melbourne Zoo Twilights w/ The Budos Band – February 20 Tix here
Phoenix Bar, Canberra (w/ Brass Knuckle Brass Band & Karate Boogaloo) – December 4
Heritage Hotel, Bulli (w/ The Liberators) – December 5 Tix here
Venue 505, Sydney (w/ The Liberators) – December 6 Tix here
PANAMA Music Festival, Tasmania – March 7-8 Tix Here
Meredith Music Festival – December 12-14 SOLD OUT
Emma and The PutBacks will be playing out their beautiful new LP “Dawn” at the following venues:
Melbourne
Thursday December 4th : Northcote Social Club
Doors 7pm
Buy Tickets Online or on 1300 724 867
Brisbane
Saturday Dec 20th: The Motor Room
Doors from 5pm –10pm
Free entry
Sydney
Sunday December 21st: Newtown Social Club
Doors 4pm
Buy Tickets Online on 1300 724 867
Plus we’re now taking pre-orders on the vinyl and CD, which should ship the week ahead of the street date (Nov 7)!
The latest offering from San Lazaro - Episode 2 of Live At The Farm produced by Blank Tape and Bobby. Subscribe to their channel at youtube.com/SanLazaroGroup to get future episodes when they’re ready. Your ears (and eyes (and feet)) will thank you.
Acclaimed indigenous vocalist Emma Donovan and Melbourne rhythm combo The PutBacks come together to bring you Daddy, the first single from their album Dawn - an LP of hard hitting and heartfelt soul songs telling stories of grief, struggle and redemption. Dawn is a gritty, uniquely Australian record, simultaneously classic and contemporary. The songwriting is in turns optimistic, angry and melancholic, and on occasions bruisingly honest. The music is fluid, live and raw, recorded in one room on eight channels of analog tape and the electric connection between Emma and the band comes through in every beat.
