Run down on Ian Lilburne’s previous performances

Mystery of the Rose at the Waterwheel Gallery

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An evening of elegant music for the Armadale Arts Festival.

Lee Buddle’s haunting horns complimented Sam Ray’s sublime soprano and !an L!lburne’s warm baritone in this new rendition of the Mystery of the Rose song cycle. The evening was rounded out with a set of standards from the modern songbook cut with L!lburne originals. The stylish Waterwheel Gallery, with its rich acoustics and array of fine visual art, was the perfect setting for this intimate and moving show.  A grand time was had by all.

Thanks to Cheryll O’Neill for hosting, Julie Fearns-Pheasant and Andrew Pheasant for their encouragement and support, Pink Deli for the delicious dinner platters, Armadale Arts Festival for including the show in their program, and Dave Barry for the great photos.

Six Degrees of L!lburne|Ray

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The highlight of  L!lburne|Ray’s Great Southern tour was the ‘soft’ launch of the song cycle Mystery of the Rose at Albany’s premiere music club, Six Degrees.

A Covid capacity audience in the Gold Room was wowed by the moving premiere of these songs, eerily relevant to the Covid world. As one wag put it, ‘a concept album’. As artist Jo Sharp texted:

I’ve been trying to think of the right words to describe last night’s performance … Healing.

The artistic challenges were to present these complex songs, recorded with an ensemble, as a duo and to translate the sequence into a contained performance, a journey through interconnected themes. On both counts the Six Degrees show proved a resounding success.

While in the region, L!lburne|Ray performed at the Albany Boatshed Markets and were the featured act at the Nornalup picnic. They also graced the airways on the ABC Great Southern breakfast show with Tim Wong-See, playing the single Creepy Thing live, while broadcaster Jay Cook aired the Mystery of the Rose album in full intercut with commentary and interview on his weekly show Jazz with Jay for Albany Community Radio. Thanks to Tim and Jay for the exposure.

Photo: Julie Fearns-Pheasant

Campari Kid + Siren of the Squeezebox

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“Siren of the Squeezebox Cathie Travers virtuosically weaves through Campari Kid !an L!lburne’s poetic examinations of the human condition. She sighs and sings with her accordion while he sings poetry with his Spanish guitar.  […] thoughtful as well as musical. The collaboration embraced the talents of two writer composers who are unafraid of experimentation and honest expression.”

Bernadette Neeling
Perth Now

A sweltering summer evening at the Bakery, a one off performance for the FRINGE WORLD Festival.

Cathie Travers’ accordion complimented !an L!lburne’s Spanish guitar within a tight quintet – Phil Bailey (bass), Peter Smith (percussion), Pete Grandison (frets) – to perform L!lburne’s classically crafted, haunting yet playful songs + Travers’ expressive gypsy + jazz-inspired instrumentals. Catchy tangos, cool tarantellas + twisted tales of romance infused with gypsy airs + dark wit, distinguished by superb playing.

Ghosts in Kulcha

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Ghosts, !an L!lburne’s debut album, was launched with its companion piece, the EP Against the Odds, at Kulcha in Fremantle on a wild winter’s night.

The near-capacity crowd had a lively time as the spectacular one-off band performed these haunted songs. In addition to the fifteen released tracks, the repertoire included a selection of L!lburne’s original blues and rock numbers plus the quirky fairy tale, A Piece of Advice from A Cheshire Cat. 

The ever-evolving band included many of the fine musicians who played on the recordings: Phil Bailey (bass), Abe Dunovits (Latin percussion + electric guitar), Pete Grandison (guitars + mandolin), Kate Hall (backing vocals), Reuben Kooperman (snare + brushes), Peter Smith (drums), Jennifer Tingley (cello), and Cathie Travers (accordion).

Fifty per cent of the proceeds from the sale of Against the Odds were donated to Médecins Sans Frontières Australia. See the News page for further details of this charitable arrangement.

The show was filmed by Bob Glover (Timeline Productions), recorded by Jericho Music and photographed by Dave Barry. See Gallery.