By ALANA MITCHELSON
After recording a new album at his bar during a house party, country singer Adam Harvey will bring the atmosphere of his home-based sing-a-longs to fans in Geelong.
The Leopold-born-and-bred musician said hometown shows were one of the few times he became nervous.
“It’s always nice to catch up with all my friends and family who still live here,” Harvey said.
“It brings back a lot of memories of being a young bloke, playing with my band in the garage at home and later playing the Geelong live music scene.”
With eight Golden Guitars to his name, Harvey said the most special moment of his career so far was playing at the Grand Ol Opry in Nashville.
His new album, Harvey’s Bar… The Backyard Sessions, was entirely recorded around his home barstool in the company of family, neighbours and best mates.
The idea came to mind after noticing many Facebook fans showed interest in spending night at his house parties and joining in on sing-a-longs at the bar.
“I thought if we recorded the album during a party at home, it’d give fans a taste of what it’s all about,“ Harvey said.
“We just invited all the local yobbos, and the neighbours, that’s the Aussie way. I gave them a bit of a lecture that there couldn’t be any bad language or anything once the record button was on.
“Everyone was pretty well-behaved and it gave the tracks a really raw, relaxed vibe.
“We’ve taken the bar concept a step further for the live shows where we’ve got a replica of my bar that’s rebuilt on stage with a backdrop of my home.
“Even my chihuahua can be heard at the end of the track Yeah I Like Beer. I’m not sure if he was barking for us to stop or because he wanted to sing-a-long. Sadly he won’t be joining us on tour. He wants the record deal,” he laughed.
The jolly 41-year-old said practical jokes on tour were aplenty.
Among his best pranks, Harvey recalled having thrown a stink bomb at the feet of Beccy Cole as she sang a heartfelt ballad on stage.
“She was singing this beautiful solo, Poster Girl, and she just had tears coming down and mascara running down her face. She had people come up to her after the show, saying it was the most emotional performance they’d seen her do but people in the front row were probably just wondering what that horrible smell was,” he laughed.
“Even my wife got in on the gag one time. I’d packed my bag for a trip overseas but when I got off the plane, I opened up my suitcase and found that she’d taken out all of my underwear and replaced it with all of her underwear.”
Harvey said his tour shows would be interactive and not limited to the usual setlist.
“I’ll be taking requests from the audience, so we’ll be kept on our toes the whole night,” he said.
“I’m looking forward to a fun night. There’s a great deal of doom and gloom in the world. I like to think of my shows as an escape from all of that for a couple of hours.”
Harvey plays Corio’s Gateway Hotel tomorrow.
Click below to watch Harvey’s Backyard Bar:
