Nathan Cavaleri comes to Geelong this weekend as part of a 18-show tour of his new album Live at the Wheaty.
Hailed as a blues-rock guitar prodigy since he entered the national consciousness at age 11 with a performance on 90s television fixture Hey, Hey It’s Saturday, it’s fair to say his journey has been something of a rollercoaster.
By this time he was 16 he had already been diagnosed with, and recovered from, leukaemia, performed internationally with the likes of B.B. King, Etta James, Robben Ford and Bonnie Raitt (including a performance for President Clinton at the White House) and been signed to Michael Jackson’s record label.
However, as an adult Cavaleri found himself struggling with anxiety and depression, withdrawing from live performances between 2012 and 2016 to focus on screen composition and his mental health.
He worked for years to peel back the layers of his emotions and understand himself through psychology and mindfulness, properly resuming his place in the Australian live music landscape in 2019.
He has since released two studio albums – Demons (2020) and Miracles (2023) – with a full band and last year a solo live album, Live at the Wheaty.
And it feels, in his own words, “bloody amazing”.
“I look back at those dark times from the perspective of now, and I’m just so grateful for even the simplest things I have, whether it’s my health – mental or physical – and the way that my music is evolving,” he said.
The Geelong gig will see him reunite with local bluesman Wayne Jury, who will perform a set of his own and join Cavaleri for a song or two.
“Wayne was my singer during all those days touring Australia when I was in my teens,” Cavaleri said.
“I was told not to sing as a kid, and Wayne was my first real flag-waver when it came to my vocals. Singing just one or two songs a set alongside him was how I started to develop that confidence and go, maybe I do have a voice.”
Nathan Cavaleri is at Piano Bar on Sunday 22 February. Visit trybooking.com/events/landing/1505972 for tickets.
