CHRIS WILSON

Rip It Up, Issue 182, 1 September 1992, Page 3

CHRIS WILSON

When Paul Kelly plays solo gigs, Auckland late September his special guest will be Chris Wilson, a Melbourne dude, who has gigged with Paul over the years, including a three month USA tour and now released his own album to critical acclaim.

Singer, harp-man Wilson, is not too sure of the line-up for the Auckland "solo" shows: "I'll be bringing over a guitarist, cos I can't play guitar for shit, I've gotta have someone to play the songs."

Landlocked is the second album on Mushroom's Aurora label that debuted with Archie Roach's acclaimed Charcoal Lane album. It started as an acoustic project but evolved

into a band project. Wilson has guested with numerous artists on harp, he's a regular on the Melbourne R&B scene but has in recent years had his own band Crown of Thorns in recent years.

Melbourne is know for its ever-present R&B scene, "Even when it's unfashionable," says Wilson. "There's people that are really devoted, they're more purist than me. I wouldn't call myself a purist R&B player. Now I usually play original stuff or rock & roll." Wilson collects records but avoids an academic approach to music. "I was always buying records to learn stuff off them — at one stage I was buying anything with a harmonica on it. But you start to dig a bit deeper, it does get a little more

academic." . But when Wilson names influences, he speaks of contemporary Australian artists and artists he saw in his youth like Chain and Billy Thorpe. Foreign influences? "Distance distorts what people are really doing. I reckon the people that have the biggest influence on you, are the people you actually play with. You might like to listen to Muddy Waters and love his music but when you actually stand on stage and play with somebody you learn things first hand."

Two Australian musicians with mutual respect — Paul Kelly and Chris Wilson play the Esplanade Saturday Sept 26 and the Gluepot Sunday Sept 27.