Willis Earl Beal east coast shows
Chicago based Willis Earl Beal will make his first ever visit to Australia this summer as he plays two intimate dates in Melbourne and Sydney, as well as Falls Festival in Lorne.
Willis Earl Beal released his debut album ‘Acousmatic Sorcery’ earlier this year. The album’s 11 songs are taken from a series of recordings Beal made while living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After living in the Chicagoland area for his entire life, Beal felt compelled to be near the desert, an idea he had long romanticized. “The desolate atmosphere was always in my head,” Beal says. He arrived in Albuquerque without a plan, a place to live, or enough money to live off of. He lived on the streets while trying to land a job and began singing to help him cope while sleeping rough. He spent days drawing and printing up his flyers, distributing them all over his new city. Eventually Beal found work as the night porter at a motel.
It was during the late-night shifts that the 27-year-old musician from the south side of Chicago found his voice and taught himself to make music. The recordings are a result of what one creative mind could do with a few found instruments and objects; a cassette-based karaoke machine and a $20 microphone. Somehow Beal managed to create warm, visceral and moving music seemingly out of nothing, just a little bit of imagination – it’s practically magic done without any fancy gadgetry, hence the name Acousmatic Sorcery. He made dozens of songs using whatever spare instruments and materials he could find in Albuquerque’s flea markets, thrift stores and alleyways; a red electric guitar, forgotten acoustic guitars, a lap harp, a makeshift drum kit created from pots and pans. Beal selected the songs for Acousmatic Sorcery because he feels they offer a look at his development as a musician – creativity vs. ability. “They represent my dreams as much as they represent my lack of real musical ability,” he says. Perhaps most importantly: “They represent my experience in Albuquerque. I was there. It happened.”
Dates and Tickets:
Wed 2nd January - Melbourne, Northcote Social Club - tickets from Ticketscout
Thu 3rd January - Sydney, Goodgod Small Club - tickets from Ticketscout
Willis Earl Beal released his debut album ‘Acousmatic Sorcery’ earlier this year. The album’s 11 songs are taken from a series of recordings Beal made while living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. After living in the Chicagoland area for his entire life, Beal felt compelled to be near the desert, an idea he had long romanticized. “The desolate atmosphere was always in my head,” Beal says. He arrived in Albuquerque without a plan, a place to live, or enough money to live off of. He lived on the streets while trying to land a job and began singing to help him cope while sleeping rough. He spent days drawing and printing up his flyers, distributing them all over his new city. Eventually Beal found work as the night porter at a motel.
It was during the late-night shifts that the 27-year-old musician from the south side of Chicago found his voice and taught himself to make music. The recordings are a result of what one creative mind could do with a few found instruments and objects; a cassette-based karaoke machine and a $20 microphone. Somehow Beal managed to create warm, visceral and moving music seemingly out of nothing, just a little bit of imagination – it’s practically magic done without any fancy gadgetry, hence the name Acousmatic Sorcery. He made dozens of songs using whatever spare instruments and materials he could find in Albuquerque’s flea markets, thrift stores and alleyways; a red electric guitar, forgotten acoustic guitars, a lap harp, a makeshift drum kit created from pots and pans. Beal selected the songs for Acousmatic Sorcery because he feels they offer a look at his development as a musician – creativity vs. ability. “They represent my dreams as much as they represent my lack of real musical ability,” he says. Perhaps most importantly: “They represent my experience in Albuquerque. I was there. It happened.”
Dates and Tickets:
Wed 2nd January - Melbourne, Northcote Social Club - tickets from Ticketscout
Thu 3rd January - Sydney, Goodgod Small Club - tickets from Ticketscout