Colin Lillie
Gig Seeker Pro

Colin Lillie

Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia | SELF

Alice Springs, Northern Territory, Australia | SELF
Band Folk Acoustic

Calendar

Music

Press


"Review: Colin Lillie, Colin Lillie"

Scottish born singer songwriter Colin Lillie recently launched his new self titled EP at Monte’s Lounge in the Central Australian town of ALice Springs. The journey from his working class Scottish roots to his spiritual home in Australia’s outback has been an interesting one for Lillie, and it is this journey that has shaped his music and ultimately his latest solo release.

Produced by fellow Alice Springs based musician Amira Pylioti (Tecoma) and featuring an amazing array of session musicians, Colin Lille is at its heart aboutLillie’s voice, both in the literal and metaphorical sense. Combining his rich, accented singing style with a wealth of personal experience Lillie takes the listener on his journey, his biographical lyrics only really scratching at the surface of the true meaning behind his words. - Gareth Evans (Timber and Steel)


"AusMusic Month with 783 ABC Alice Springs"

Colin Lillie is a Scotsman but he has made Alice Springs his home
"What I discovered was that the people in Alice Springs are here because they choose to be here, and with that comes a connection at a spiritual level, we choose to be here because of something magical."
Colin has collaborated with a number of local musicians but has just finished his first solo EP to be released soon.
- ABC online Alice Springs


"Soul man: Colin Lillie"

Originally from Scotland, Colin Lillie is one of a growing number of musicians and artists ‘from somewhere else’ who now call Alice Springs home.

And with the passion only a Scotsman could bring, Colin likes to call the Red Centre his “spiritual” home, and did so when interviewed on ABC radio about his newly-released, self-titled EP.

Featured as part of 783 Alice Springs’ AusMusic Month, Colin spoke without hesitation about his love for the Alice, its people and music culture.

“What I discovered was that the people in Alice Springs are here because they choose to be here, and with that comes a connection at a spiritual level, we choose to be here because of something magical,” he said.

Colin’s songwriting bespeaks a roaring honesty – moreover an emotional honesty – which palpably defines his music. Members in the audience of a recent professional development session at which Colin performed (iNTune’s Feedback on 5ive Acoustic at Totem Theatre) were visibly impressed, even taken aback, at the power of his voice and the authentic emotional narrative of his songs. (So much so, it prompted immediate talks between Colin and a national music publisher.)

Colin will tell you square too: music unequivocally transformed his life, and if it doesn’t come from his ‘soul’, he’s not interested in making it.

With a song climbing Reverbnation Australia’s national Singer/Songwriter Top 20, he might just be on to something. Colin recorded his debut EP with the help of good friends he met in Alice Springs, who then persuaded him to go to Melbourne further collaboration and final mixing.

Armed with his new CD, a new-found love for performing, and an excited ambition to tour and collaborate with his Alice peers, Colin may just shake up the world of alt-folk a little, once they hear him at work. And not just in Alice; said music publisher is keen to take Colin’s music beyond Centralian borders.
- Megan Spencer Music NT


Discography

1. Ti Amo
2. Dry Auld River
3. Make A Difference
4. Sound of the City

Self Titled EP
Tracks:
1. New Land 3:40
2. Man’s Broken Heart 4:26
3. 2 Hearts 2:49
4. Dirty Water 3:37

EP credits:
Producer: Amira Pyliotis
Recorded at Sound Park (Northcote, Victoria), Silky Brown Studio (Sunshine) & Colin’s (Alice Springs*)
Recorded by Marrs Coiro & Amira Pyliotis*, Assistant Engineer Tulay Kaplan
Mixed and Mastered at Atlantis Sound by Dave McCluney
All songs by Colin Lillie, except ‘2 Hearts’ by Kish Mauve (publisher of 2 Hearts is)
Guitar & vocals: Colin Lillie
Bass & handclaps: Lucas Taranto
Piano, fiddle & Mandolin: John Bedggood
Backing vocals: Amira Pyliotis
Percussion & handclaps: Neda Rahmani
Handclaps: Shona Devlin

Notes:
‘New Land’ is about Colin’s journey from Scotland and the discovery of a new world and life, in the heart of Australia (Alice Springs).

‘Man’s Broken Heart’ is an honest look at how men are just as afraid to be broken-hearted, and how love is what we all seek.

‘2 Hearts’ is a Kylie cover, We put a blues and gospel twist to it and had a lot of fun

‘Dirty Water’ is a kind of prayer. If we dont change within, it’s about what can happen to us when we hit rock bottom

Band Bios:
Producer Amira Pyliotis is also artist Tecoma. She is working on a number of other peoples’ projects, as well as her own at the moment.
tecomamusic.com
Lucas Taranto plays bass with award-winning artist, Goyte, with whom he is currently on tour. He recorded on the Like Drawing Blood album. myspace.com/lucastaranto
Mandolin and fiddle player John Bedggood has also played with The Wilson Pickers, The Audreys, and on former Powderfinger frontman Bernard Fanning’s solo album, Tea & Sympathy. myspace.com/johnbedggood
Percussionist Neda Rahmani has played with The Cat Empire and Mista Savona amongst many other bands.
nedjelly.com
Shona Devlin is a documentary-maker & TV producer, who hs worked for jtv.
Dave McCluney is a mixer and recording engineer from Melbourne with over 20 years in the music industry. He has worked with artists such as Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Kim Salmon, Dave Graney & The Coral Snakes, The Drones, Robert Forster and Maurice Frawley, just to name a few

Photos

Bio

INTRODUCING
COLIN LILLIE

Colin Lillie started life in a tough mining area in view of the Scottish capital. It was a place of long dark days and the kind of cold that ices up windows from the inside. There were cornfields, tales of ruins and the pub was your living room.
As a teen, Colin donned patches and leather and hung with the clan of local metal heads. But he also harboured a secret record stash of Marvin Gaye and the Commodores, which he kept stowed under his bed, hidden from his mates. He’d skive off school and end up trawling the free art galleries in nearby Edinburgh. In his late twenties, Colin decided to travel around Europe. The fact that he had no money, couldn’t play guitar and was accompanied by an Irish girlfriend who missed home, did little to quash his spirit. He bought a cheap rattly tanglewood guitar, stashed clothes, tent and iron in his backpack, and took to the road.
He ended up in Alice Springs.
A remote dusty town in the middle of the Central Australian desert is as likely a place as any for the gypsy Scotsman to find his voice, hone his craft and launch his musical career. Since arriving in Alice, Colin has written many original songs and has performed extensively throughout the Northern Territory and interstate. He’s fast building a reputation as a gifted songwriter and commanding performer, having been likened to Cat Stevens and Otis Redding, creating a sound that he has labelled as “folk Soul”.
Colin has travelled a long way, physically and metaphorically, from the small horizons of his hometown to the limitless horizons of the Red Centre. He recently recorded a 4 track EP which he launched in early 2012 to a sold-out audience. He recently signed a three-year publishing deal, has toured interstate, most recently to Tasmania to full houses and performed alongside Bill and Kasey Chambers. Two of his songs were finalists in the 2012 NT Song of the Year folk category. He has just finished a successful performance at this year’s Alice Desert Festival, sharing the stage with artists like award-winning Catch the Fly, hip hop roots outfit Radical Son and Darwin duo Sieta, as well as playing with Country star Warren H Williams. Colin has just released his first music clip for his single Man’s Broken Heart. He is an Ambassador for RADD (Recording Artists, Actors and Athletes against Drink Driving) and is part of this year’s TV and radio Sober Bob campaign.
Looking to the future, Colin is currently working on his debut album, writing and working with other musicians to perfect his music for recording. He will be heading to the east and west coast to tour and build his profile. This October, Colin will be working in the Central Coast of New South Wales with Bill Chambers to record Jacinta Price’s debut album which will include the co written song Night and Day that was runner up in this year’s NT Song of the Year Folk category. Also he is excited to have been asked to write songs for Imparja TV childrens’ show Yamba’s Playtime. Colin is looking forward to the festival season where he will be taking part in some of Australia’s prestigious music events, making and working with new friends to move and inspire those who listen to his story.