Issue date: 6/16/09 Section: Features

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: Courtesy Photo [Click to enlarge]

It is not often that a contemporary musician can play upwards of 15 instruments, and even less often that such a musician can incorporate all these instruments into live performances. And extremely rare is it that one of those instruments is a didgeridoo. In fact, there might only be one case. Ladies and gentlemen: Xavier Rudd.
Rudd is an Australian singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, and has recently released his newest studio album, Dark Shades of Blue. Rudd is now preparing to kick off the next leg of his tour with fellow artist Jeremy Fisher on Thursday, June 18 at the House of Blues in Houston. Reporter Clay Harley was able to learn more about Rudd and his music in this interview.

Question: What is the meaning of the title, Dark Shades of Blue?

Answer: It comes from my wife's painting. It's a particular song that's written about my reflection on her paintings, and how her paintings resemble our lives. And that's always been interesting for me in my music…being in a different light, so it's kind of like that.

Question: Is there a specific message you wanted to convey with this album?

Answer: No direct message with this album, you know, it's just…it's probably the most personal album I've ever made. It was an interesting one for me; it was more internal. My music is usually fairly bright and sunny, whereas this one was kind of internal, and darker. No real message that I can say. It's just a reflection of life.

Question: Is there a song that you're most proud of on the album?

Answer: All my songs are pretty special to me in that they all resemble their own thing and I care for them all. But on that album I would say probably "Shiver" is a song that's pretty special to me.

Question: When did you start making music?

Answer: I think it's something I've sort of always done, I made music even before I realized what I was doing, I think. Little melodies, singing little songs about what was going on around me. It's something that's always been part of me; I don't think I could resist.

Question: Who are some of your favorite musicians?

Answer: I have a hard time giving a top few, but I'll give you a few that I recently saw and are fresh in my mind: Neil Young - I was able to play with him in Portugal last year - incredible; Angelie Kidjo I saw recently, she was amazing; Tina Warren; a band called Midnight.

Question: And so when you're in the studio recording, I know you play a lot of instruments - do you play everything, or do you have band members or other musicians play certain parts, or how does that work?

Answer: Yeah. It was two of us: me and the drummer, Dave Tolley. And basically everything you hear is live; it's recorded live, the two of us, except some of the guitar overdubs. But on that album there's no bass guitar, I play it with my thumb [on the slide guitar] and the guitar signal that you hear is just one signal, so I run it through a bass amp. And so, I'm sort of doing everything except the drums.

Question: And then I'm sure people ask you about this a lot: could you tell me about the didgeridoo?

Answer: It's basically a piece of wood that's been hollowed out through the center by termites. And to play it, you circular breathe: in through your nose and out through your mouth at the same time. And it's 60,000 years old, the oldest instrument in the world.

Question: And how often do you use them?

Answer: I use them more live. I use them in maybe half the songs, something like that.

Question: And then you also have a bunch of other instruments set up around you as well?

Answer: Yeah, percussion instruments and all that.

Question: And so on this tour you're going to have a few other people playing with you?

Answer: Yes. I'm sort of doing something completely new for me, it's a new lineup - I've got a couple South African musicians playing with me, so it's going to have a different vibe. All we've done is rehearsed, and it was really bouncy and really interesting, the tones that we were creating were pretty cool.

Question: You've done a one-man thing in the past right?

Answer: Yeah, I did the one-man thing for years, and then I added a drummer to that. And now I'm working with a three piece for the album, and through this period of touring, and then we'll record an album in October.

Question: What will the name of that album be?

Answer: I think "Fresh Green Freedom."

Question: And so when you play live do you jam or take any liberties with the songs?

Answer: Yeah, yeah I do that a lot. Sort of improvise, take things to different places. For sure. I'm sure with these guys we're going to be doing that a hell of a lot more. I like to do that; a lot of my music comes from doing that.

Question: Do you like studio more or live more?

Answer: I've always been a live artist, and I've enjoyed that, but these past few recordings I've done I've really enjoyed. I've explored my options in the studio and every album I've done I've had a bigger budget, and that helps. So I'm starting to enjoy recording more than I used to. I respect both things.

Question: Does the touring ever get stressful, being on the road all that time?

Answer: Yeah, it's not as glamorous as some people think. It can be tiring. I come from this small town in the bush in Australia so the city is sometimes tiring, I miss the water, I miss the coast. But the positives outweigh the negatives; it's definitely a blessed life.

Question: And does your family ever come along with you? Or do you just try and visit between shows?

Answer: A bit of both. I'm lucky on this tour because they're going to be with me the whole time. Missing people is hard, so knowing that they're coming is exciting.

Question: And what's in the future?

Answer: I think I'll probably always do what I do. I don't think too much, I just sort of roll with it, what life has, as it happens.

Question: Finally, I wanted to ask you why you make music - if you have any sort of definitive reason or way to sum it up.

Answer: I think the spirits that travel with me are the instigators of my music.

Rudd's tour opener will start at 9 p.m. Thursday at the House of Blues in Houston. Rudd will follow with shows in Dallas and Austin on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Tickets may be purchased at www.xavierrudd.com/shows.

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