MANY people would know of Matt “Magpie” Johnston as the architect of Dashville Skyline and the Gum Ball Festival at Belford.
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Now, his five-piece Americana-70s infused outfit Magpie Diaries will launch its debut album Sanctuary at the Muswellbrook Hotel on Friday, January 18.
To celebrate the much-anticipated release, the band is heading out on an extensive tour, along the way crossing paths with some close friends: Steve Smyth, Masco Sound System and Coda Chroma, to name but a few.
Sanctuary delivers Magpie’s story via smooth soul country, with subtle flourishes of psychedelic rock and roll attributed to great acts such as Grateful Dead, Neil Young and Van Morrison, alongside modern artists like Cat Power and My Morning Jacket.
Sanctuary is a journey through the past and into the future, where one can still roam with wild exuberance.
Where the desire to perform is matched with the desire to escape and unravel inside the music.
The band title and songs within Sanctuary centre on the mind of the singer-songwriter and Dashville founder.
Johnston, committed to being a resourceful Trojan, had been hosting Gum Ball music festivals in his parents’ front yard at Belford since 2004.
Somewhere in the festival fog he’d acquired a working pseudonym as the Magpie, due to his nature of swooping in on anything tangible that would potentially provide service to the site.
In the winter of 2012, after the sudden tragic passing of a close friend, Johnston unassumingly began the Magpie Diaries project as a way of coming to terms with the loss.
The emotional journey led him to revisit past musical escapades and written memoirs, where he pieced forgotten songs and faded memories together in order to play a special solo show at his favourite pub in the world, the Junkyard, Maitland.
Fast forward to October 2018… and Magpie has clearly been chipping away on his craft, with his long-awaited debut album released on November 23.
The album was recorded in various locations over three years and produced by Matt Sherrod (Crowded House, Beck).
The video for the first single, When Love Comes, was a hit when it was released this year.
Shot at one of Australia’s most celebrated music venues, The Grand Junction Hotel in Maitland, it features Magpie endeavouring to find true love via a furry array of local pooches.
On a separate note, Johnston – as curator of Dashville Skyline – was also a leading force in the curation and delivery of the Make It Rain compilation album, with 100 per cent proceeds going to drought relief in NSW.
Head to dashville.com.au for more info on Make It Rain, Magpie Diaries and Dashville/Gumball.