04 Sep Callum Gentleman NZ Tour – 17th September
Callum Gentleman presents
The Blue Collar Killer single release and New Zealand/Australia Tour.
Rotorua Show
Kiwi Troubadour Callum Gentleman is releasing a Killer and taking him on the road. And just in time for the election. The song and video for Blue Collar Killer will be released on 15th of September, followed by a 15 date New Zealand Tour with his band, after which he spends November touring Australia.
The New Zealand leg starts with a very special solo set in Rotorua presented by The Rogue Stage.
On Sunday 17th September at Prince’s Gate’s Monarch Room, Callum will be performing with acclaimed Australian artist Ben Salter, along with Bay of Plenty’s own Alice Sea.
“Karin Vincent and The Rogue Stage have been vital to the New Zealand touring circuit. Their support for local music, and for my music, had been a highlight for many of us out on the road,” says Callum.
“I saw Ben Salter play in Auckland earlier this year, and he was a revelation. He was playing on the main stage in Aotea Square, and kept the whole crowd spellbound. Last year I was walking in Mount Maunganui, and I heard this brilliant band playing in a venue, so I rocked on in. The band turned out to be just one woman; Alice Sea! She was dynamite. The place was on fire. It’s fantastic to be playing on the same bill as these two brilliant artists”
Callum’s new song Blue Collar Killer is a Dark Folk tune, with a Southern Gothic edge. It’s a highlight in his live set, and often closes show. This recording and accompanying video wedge Callum’s pulsing acoustic guitar thumps in between a knife-edge violin (Sam Loveridge) and a shotgun electric guitar (Joel Vinsen). Recorded at The Lab Studio with award winning engineer Oliver Harmer, and mixed by Ryan Green, this version has a sinister overtone that was missing when Callum recorded it solo.
And while the song started life as an ode to a working man with an unusual day job, it quickly moved on to something else entirely.
“It can be taken as a simple story song. You know, the guy in the song is your average day-to-day contract killer. He turns up to work, clocks in, ticks his clients off the to-do list, works some overtime so he can save up for a holiday with the kids, clocks out, heads home to have dinner. An ordinary guy, just with an extraordinary skill set”
“I’d been trying to write a protest song for a while but they kept on sounding like cut price Bob Dylan tunes. I was at my mum’s playing around with a few lyrics. I played a bit of Blue Collar Killer and she said “sounds like a song about John Key”. Eureka! The Smiling Assassin made a subtle entrance and has been lurking in the background ever since. Although John was the original inspiration, Bill English will easily sub in, as will many of the candidates in any election.”
Rogue Stage presents Ben Salter, Alice Sea and Callum Gentleman
Sunday 17th September – 6pm
The Monarch Room, Princes Gate Hotel, 1057 Arawa Street, Rotorua
Buy tickets at Under The Radar
Blue Collar Killer Single/Video Drop – Friday 15th September
Song available through Spotify, iTunes and www.callumgentleman.com