By Deb Kloeden, Adelaide correspondent in Melbourne
Venue: The Corner Hotel, Melbourne, 20th July
If you love Otis Redding, James Brown and Wilson Picket, then you’re going to adore THE TESKEY BROTHERS. If you haven’t heard of Melbourne’s Teskey Brothers, you can bet you will soon. Riding on the back of recently supporting Busby Marou on his Australian tour, this Blues/Soul band is making a big impact around Australia, having sold out almost all of their current tour shows. They also have a multitude of festivals lined up in the near future. I was lucky enough to see the first of 3 shows at The Corner Hotel last night. What started out as one night at The Corner, quickly grew to 4 sold out shows, 3 on consecutive nights. Even the band was surprised at their rapidly rising popularity.
The Teskey Brothers first formed in 2008. Brothers Josh and Sam (Teskey) grew up listening to their parents R&B record collection, and developed a healthy appetite and appreciation for American Soul music. With this as a starting point, they have developed their own brand of classic Blues, Soul and R&B. Joined by Brendon and Lliam, the four-piece have been playing gigs for years, but have only just released their debut album ‘Half Mile Harvest’. It seems to be the release of this album that has sparked their current, rapidly growing popularity.
Everything about their music is pure, unadulterated and authentic. Even the recording of their album was performed on analogue reel-to-reel recording equipment. Their old-school attitude believes this is still the only way to capture pure sound. They have also released the album on vinyl, which was selling like hot cakes at the merch desk after the show last night, each lovingly autographed by the lads.
They began their set with ‘Crying Shame’, also the first song on the album. It’s a great opener, introducing the listener to their classic Motown sound. Josh’s gritty blues vocals draws you in, accompanied by a slow, gradually increasing blues tempo. The brass section (brought in for their tour) adds depth and contrast, making the track a fully rounded classic.
Apart from playing songs from ‘Half Moon Harvest’, they also performed a great rendition of Michael Jackson’s ‘The way You Make Me Feel’. After a huge encore cry from the crowd, they came back to finish with ‘Honeymoon’, also the last track on their album, which starts off slow, then like many of their songs, builds into a fast-tempoed Blues track that ends with a long, haunting horn. After the show, the band made themselves available for album signings and chats with their fans. Their down-to-earth personalities and friendliness make them very appealing. Josh, by trade, is a plumber and used to be known as the ‘plumber who sings’ (while on the job). Now he is known as the ‘singer who plumbs’. He may not need to rely on mending and laying pipes for very much longer. If you’re lucky enough to have tickets to one of their sold out shows, you’re in for a big treat. Watch out for these guys, they’re going far…..fast.
Band Members
JOSH TESKEY – Vocals, Rhythm Guitar, harmonica
SAM TESKEY – Lead guitar
BRENDON LOVE – Bass
LIAM GOUGH – Drums
PHOTO GALLERY
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From Darkroom to Lightroom in 4 decades.
Deb is aPhotographer, Music Lover, Ex teacher, and traveller.
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