It’s been a rocky few months for local blues band Crooked Tree.
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Mere moments before the launch of their new album, front man Ian Russell was thrust from the stage in the freak storm that rolled through the Lamb and Potato Festival.
Now, two months later, the band will release the album Devil’s Pinch at what will be their first gig back since the incident.
“It’s 10 original songs that have all been written over the last two years or so,” Mr Russell told The Argus.
Recorded with Al Heeney in Armidale, the group have been working on the album since September last year.
“We spent about five or six days with all the musicians recording it and I sat in for the mixing,” he said.
“We’re really proud of it.”
The album features a variety of tunes from classic rock to reggae and blues – and Mr Russell writes all of the words.
“Blind Man’s Song is really about people who don’t look at the issues around them like climate change,” he said.
“Tunica County comes from a story in a book … about Robert Johnson the American blues singer-songwriter who had just died.
“At the moment I’ve probably got two or three songs in my head.
“But there’s other times where you just couldn’t write a song if your life depended on it.”
Mr Russell said he had been playing guitar since high school.
“I’d always been a bass player,” he said.
“I was with a band [called Sledge] in the 80s that actually toured as a support band for Australian Crawl.
“I think if it’s in your system your stuck with it.”
Mr Russell said he hoped the launch would mark the moment that the group could finally move forward after the accident in January.
“We were really gaining momentum before the accident,” he said.
“Thankfully the band practices have been keeping me sane but I’m really looking forward to playing Friday night.”
Crooked Tree will hit the stage this Friday night, March 17 at the Guyra Bowling and Recreation Club.
Devil’s Pinch albums will be available for purchase at a cost of $15.