Music Style Pop/Rock

Musical Influences Finely crafted pop

Similar Artists Freedy Johnston, Wilco, Teenage Fanclub, Guided By Voices, Elvis Costello, Pernice Brothers, Elliott Smith

Artist History Golden Rough was formed in 1995, when, after playing guitar and pedal steel in various Sydney outfits, including Oliver, Love Me and Knievel, David Orwell assembled a bunch of friends from other bands to record some of his own songs, plus some favorite covers, under the banner of Golden Rough. It's A Heck Of A Machine was the resulting EP. In 1997, with a stabilized line up, the band recorded Twin Firs, and for the next couple of years the group played consistently, around Australia including the Big Day Out Summer festival and shows with touring US pop luminaries Elliott Smith and Joe Pernice (Scud Mountain Boys, Pernice Brothers). Golden Rough played to packed venues as Joe Pernice's backing band on his first two Australian tours. In 1999 Golden Rough released their album This Sad Paradise to universal critical acclaim. It saw the band invited to play the CMJ New Music Festival in New York, embark on a successful tour of the US East Coast and Nashville and won them the Australian Music Critic’s Award for best independent band in their home state of New South Wales. Although their brand of literate, carefully crafted pop is the type of often overlooked by mainstream radio, they’ve won an enthusiastic legion of fans- not only in their home country but also in the US, South America, Europe and Japan. Provenance, the band’s highly anticipated third album was released in March 2002. Surprisingly, for the most laid-back sounding record of the band’s career to date, this album has seen Golden Rough’s profile raised significantly in Australia, when they scored their very first radio hit. When Triple J began playing the track 99%, the audience response was so great they immediately added the song to high rotation. The band has since recorded two live performances for the network. In November 2002 Provenance was released in the UK & Europe (through Laughing Outlaw Records) where the album has garnered some excellent reviews and several tracks (99%, Lucinda & Provenance) have been picked up by numerous radio broadcasters in the region including Bob Harris’ highly regarded show on BBC 6. The early part of 2003 will see Golden Rough release an EP of five new songs, join other artists on Candle Records on a tour taking in Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne & Adelaide, and perform at the SWSW Music Festival in Austin, Texas in March.

Group Members David Orwell - Vocal/Guitar Helen Meany - Bass/Vocals Brian Crouch - Keyboards Raph Whittingham – Drums/Vocals

Instruments

Albums This Sad Paradise (1999) Twin Firs (1998) Provenance (2002) Slippery Slope, EP (2003)

Press Reviews ...If Golden Rough have one advantage over other wanabees its it's lead singer David Orwell, whose gravelly vocal delivery perfectly compliments the Pernice Brothers/Wilco leanings of this band. However like Tim Roger's solo album What Rhymes with.. there's a sence that lyrically Orwell and Golden Rough are firmly planted in the Australian landscape rather than being directly comparable to their US counterparts...this CD grows on you each time you play it. Like a treasure chest where each tme you open it something else catches your eye (or ear in this case!). The Big Takeover/Amplifier "One of the few releases of last year that fell mere millimeters shy of perfection" Rip It Up Magazine, Adelaide "A beautiful collection of songs." Beat Magazine, Melbourne "A record that sounds like a familiar classic from the moment you hit play... The songs on This Sad Paradise can easily be placed next to those written by Ron Sexsmith, Tim Rogers and Joe Pernice." Rip It Up Magazine, Adelaide "From the opening bars of the first track, April Wind, Golden Rough's This Sad Paradise made my blood jump with that inexplicable sense of recognition one experiences when before successful pop... A marvellous assembly of intelligent, hard-won, lyrically satisfying songs." Sydney Morning Herald "This Sad Paradise exudes an openness that's found among the better Australian albums (and I'm thinking here of Paul Kelly and the Triffids)... evocative, lilting and charming." Revolver Magazine, Sydney "A winning blend of pop and country influences that's nailing it for so many folks out there" City Search, Sydney "An excellent album, by far one of the best Australian releases this year" Oz Music Project "David Orwell is one of our greatest, most underrated songwriters" Brad Shepherd (Hoodoo Gurus)

Location Sydney, NSW - Australia

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