in Wollongong at Centro CBD Saturday 25th June
June 22, 2022
Two of the finest stalwarts of the Australian music scene, 13 x Golden Guitar-winning country sweetheart Felicity Urquhart and 4 x ARIA award winning Josh Cunningham (The Waifs), are taking the much-acclaimed album The Song Club on the road for their ‘Wanna Go There’ tour.
After being invited to join Song Club, a loose collective of musicians whose task is to write a song to a brief within a week, both Urquhart and Cunningham found in each other musical and song writing partners, and through the process, they also fell in love. In 2021, they released The Song Club, which debuted at #1 on the ARIA Country Albums chart and #10 on the ARIA Album chart.
The widely lauded album has also earned 4 x Golden Guitar nominations (Alt Country Album of the Year, Country Music Capital News Group / Duo of the Year, CMT Video of the Year, Toyota Album of the Year), and now the pair are keen to take their joyous, harmony-laden sound to stages and audiences all over the country to celebrate.
Urquhart and Cunningham, like all musicians, have felt the squeeze of lockdowns and cancelled gigs over the last two years and they are both keen to take to the stage again, and to take back what they have lost…and more.
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“Over this past year I have felt increasingly grateful for the fact that Felicity and I were able to release our album and get three weeks of touring in before the world got put on hold,” Cunningham says. “My passion and enthusiasm for sharing our music has only burned hotter and brighter over the long months of forced inactivity and now that we are about to hit the road again, grateful doesn’t even begin to describe how I feel.”
“I’ve been wanting to play this album live for people since we recorded it. I feel more grateful than ever to play live shows with Josh. It gives me renewed passion to share in the joy and pass it on,” Urquhart explains.
Over the course of the last three decades, both Urquhart and Cunningham have built their profiles through music and touring. Urquhart has been a constant presence on the country music scene since she was a teenager, hosting ABC’s national radio show Saturday Night Country for over 10 years, as well as presenting Ch 7’s Sydney Weekender. After a chance meeting in Broome in 1992, Cunningham co-founded The Waifs and has been a member of the band ever since. A sought-after session musician playing in Missy Higgins’ band, Cunningham has also penned songs for Sara Storer, and toured with artists such as Bob Dylan and Keith Urban.
Urquhart and Cunningham’s long and enduring careers make them perfectly placed to join forces and paint a uniquely beautiful sound that is both honest and emotional. The Song Club has been described by Andrew McMillan (The Australian) as having “beautifully capture[d] the new harmony they have found together.” Phil Stafford (The Australian) goes further in saying “the pairs voices mesh seamlessly…their lyrics weave their stories, most of which are sharply poetic”.
They are excited to take these songs on the road to share with their fans and will be joined on selected dates by special guests including Golden Guitar nominee Raechel Whitchurch, Robyn Martin and Quarry Hillbillies. The Song Club has demonstrated what a perfect match Felicity Urquhart and Josh Cunningham are, and their music has clearly resonated with audiences everywhere. Wanna Go There?? Tickets are on sale now via the below links: