Front Deck Boom Box: Angus Gill

ARIA and 3x Golden Guitar Award nominee, Angus Gill and the members of Paul Kelly’s band, dubbed Seasons of Change, recently released the fourth single, Skin Story, off their critically acclaimed album, 3 Minute Movies. Co-written with Nick Wolfe (The Wolfe Brothers), Skin Story is a Springsteen and AC/DC inspired country rock anthem that celebrates expressing one's 'ink identity'.

3 Minute Movies follows his first self-produced debut album, Nomad (2017) and Welcome to My Heart (2019, which peaked at #2 on the ARIA Country Albums Chart. Raised in Wauchope, NSW, the 22-year-old is a singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, comedian, engineer, and producer, who landed his first regular gig at 10 years of age.

We caught up with Angus Gill to find out what songs he’s listening to for this week’s Front Deck Boom Box.

Graeme Connors - Watching Byron Raise the Flag

I love this song because to me, it was written about the man around the road from my childhood home with his “flag pole in the front yard ... and crew cut lawn and matching hedge.” Graeme Connors has a gift in pointing out those ‘corner of the eye’ details, that stand for something much larger and more evocative. This song finds the gold within the seemingly mundane. 

Allan Caswell - The Love I Leave Behind 

This song written by Allan Caswell and Drew McAlister, was originally recorded by Graeme Connors on his Kindred Spirit album. It’s the kind of song that made me want to become a songwriter. It’s simple, honest and beautifully speaks of the legacy we all wish to leave behind.

Gretchen Peters - The Cruel Mother

There’s nothing that peaks my interest more than a well constructed murder ballad. Gretchen is one of my favourite artist songwriters and, in this song, she reworks a haunting 17th century ballad, which is centered around repetition of the lines 2 and 4 in the lyric, throughout every verse. Recorded at home with her husband, piano player Barry Walsh, her voice takes this age old ballad to a sublime and chilling next level of emotional resonance. 

Paul Kelly - Sonnet 138

I was never big on Shakespeare during school, but it was after a conversation with Paul Kelly on the Bard of Avon that my perspective changed. Lifted from the impeccable Seven Sonnets and a Song, Sonnet 138 is a great example of finding the music within poetry. The first 8 lines of the Sonnet 138 make 2 verses, the next 4 lines are the bridge and the last 2 lines (the volta) make an excellent refrain.

Deborah Conway & Willy Zygier - Everybody’s Begging

This song is the title track to Conway and Zygier’s stellar 9th studio album. It delivers some clever commentary on entreatment, presented initially from a religious perspective, then the song dives into social and personal perspectives.  As the title suggests, Conway and Zygier shine a flashlight on people’s desires with the catchy refrain, “ooh everybody’s begging.” 

Keep up to date with Angus Gill, follow him on Facebook here.

And check out some more of our Front Deck Boom Box series here.

Image: Supplied