Australian icons The Black Sorrows will perform at SXSW 2018.
Phil Tripp, SXSW’s Senior Business Development Manager for Australia, New Zealand and Hawaii, has revealed that Joe Camilleri will be taking The Black Sorrows to SXSW for the very first time in 2018.
“I am thrilled that someone of this calibre has been accepted by SXSW,” Phil tells Noise11.com. “He is national treasure.”
Joe Camilleri formed the Black Sorrows in 1983 after his previous band Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons disbanded. While Jo Jo Zep came from British ska influences The Black Sorrows origins drew from early American R&B.
Initially an indie band, The Black Sorrows were four albums in when they signed to CBS Records in Australia and took their indie ‘Dear Children’ over to a major for the first time.
The Black Sorrows quickly became one of Australia’s major recording and touring acts. 1988’s ‘Hold On To Me’ became the band’s first Top 10 hit and generated a string of hits including ‘Hold On To Me’, ‘The Chosen Ones’, ‘Chained To The Wheel’ and ‘The Crack-up’.
The next album ‘Harley and Rose’ was another Top 10 hit and generated more hits with ‘Harley & Rose’ and ‘Never Let Me Go’.
In recent years Joe has used his own label Head Records to release new music for The Black Sorrows and is one of the most prolific artists in Australia. In 2015 he paid tribute to his influences with the ‘Endless Sleep Chapter 46 and 47’ albums and in 2016 dabbled in Americana with ‘Faithful Satellite’.
Over the years at SXSW we’ve had legacy Australian acts like The Hoodoo Gurus and Paul Kelly. With Joe Camilleri and the Black Sorrows America will be treated to a hybrid of Van Morrison and Ry Cooder.
Australian and New Zealand artists at SXSW 2018
Australia
Bad Pony (Sydney)
Brightness (Newcastle)
Castlecomer (Sydney)
Cursed Earth(Perth)
Stella Donnelly (Fremantle)
Fatai (Melbourne)
Gang Of Youths (Sydney)
Hatchie (Brisbane)
Jade Imagine (Melbourne)
Ruby Fields (Sydney)
Benji Lewis (Melbourne)
Dean Lewis (Sydney)
Lolo Lovina (Sydney)
Sloan Peterson (Sydney)
Jess Ribeiro (Melbourne)
RVG (Melbourne)
Stonefield (Melbourne)
Totally Mild (Melbourne)
Voyager (Perth)
New Zealand
Fis and Rob Thorne (Palmerston North)
October (Auckland)
Marlon Williams (Christchurch)
SXSW 2018 in Austin, Texas is on 9-18 March 2018.
