New Guitar Mary-Lou goes to Europe with The Gentle Enemies

July 20, 2015 by Claude Hay

MEET MARY-LOU …

In the nick of time, Mary-Lou was created by Claude for The Gentle Enemies’ debut European tour. Her main special feature is the P90 pick up. More pics and detail on the ‘making of’ coming soon. In the meantime if you are in the area you can check out Mary-Lou in action at these shows in Europe: Saturday July 18 (SOLO) Blues Peer Festival Peer, BELGIUM Onstage 12pm with special guest appearance of bass player from the Gentle Enemies (Ryan Van Gennip) (Mary-Lou won’t be making it for this show – her sister Lucy will be the main attraction here) Thursday 23rd July (new added show!) (SOLO and BAND) Tam Tam Muziek Cafe Deurne, NETHERLANDS (Mary-Lou’s first show in Europe!) Friday 24th July (BAND) Zwarte Cross Festival Lictenvoorde, NETHERLANDS 19:30, The Bayou Stage Saturday 25th July (SOLO and BAND) Pee Rock Festival Colijsnplaat NETHERLANDS Saturday 1 August (SOLO and BAND) Music Star Nordestedt, (Hamburg) GERMANY

‘Crossfire’ Single Launch Tour – Australia and Netherlands

April 15, 2015 by Claude Hay

This May Sydney-based solo artist Claude Hay will tour the east coast to announce the arrival of new single “Crossfire” and then immediately fly out to The Netherlands for another week to do the same in Europe, where he’s playing at two major festivals.

From it’s ‘wipeout’ inspired scream ‘Crossfire’ stumbles and grinds along like a Tom Waits-meets-Morricone ghost town drunk and features instrumentation not often heard in Claude’s music, including a spooky honky tonk piano. Not in a hurry to drastically change his signature one man band touring rig, and staying true to his DIY technology ethos, Claude manages to play the piano live on his new guitar ‘Lucy‘.

Like all Claude’s instruments, Lucy is hand built, this time from a piece of plywood, an old BBQ grill plate and is wired with a midi controller. More more info on Lucy click HERE.

Crossfire was produced and recorded by Claude at the brand new Rhythm Section Studios in the Blue Mountains with guest appearances from Jon Howell and Ryan Van Gennip, Claude’s bandmates in offshoot project “The Gentle Enemies”.

Crossfire is available from all good online retailers from April 20, please keep reading for full list of tour dates below.

Australian Tour Dates

Friday 1st May, 2015
Grind N Groove, Healesville, VIC
9:30pm, $5

Saturday 2nd May, 2015
The Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy, VIC
8:00pm, Free entry

Thursday 7th May, 2015
The Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour, NSW
6:30pm, Free

Saturday 9th May, 2015
Sonny’s House of Blues, Brisbane, QLD
8:00pm, Free

Friday 15th May, 2015
Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville, NSW
9:00pm, $15

Saturday 16th May, 2015
Club Jervis, Jervis Bay, NSW
8:00pm, Free Entry

Sunday 17th May, 2015
Sydney Blues and Roots Festival, The Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor,NSW
5:00pm, Free

Netherlands Tour Dates

Friday 22^nd May, 2015
‘t Magisch Theatertje, MAASTRICHT, NL
9:00pm, 10€

Saturday 23^rd May, 2015
Jazz In Duketown Festival, Plein 79, DEN BOSCH, NL
Free

Sunday 24^th May, 2015
Ribs and Blues Festival, RAALTE, NL
7:00pm, Free

Monday 25^th May, 2015
Muziek Café Tam Tam, DEURNE, NL
4:30pm, Free

Wednesday 27^th May, 2015
Live in de Knop / ‘t Rozenknopje, EINDHOVEN, NL
9:00pm, Free

Friday 29^th May, 2015
Debosuil, WEERT, NL
8:00pm, 15€/18€

Saturday 30^th May, 2015
Blues in Grolloo Festival, GROLLOO, NL
6:15pm, 22,50€

Future European tour dates for The Gentle Enemies

Friday 24th July, 2015
Zwarte Cross Festival, Lievelde, NL

http://www.zwartecross.nl

Saturday 1st August, 2015
Music Star, Norderstedt, Germany

More TBA

MEDIA CONTACT

Ryan Van Gennip
+61 (0) 425 274 608
ryan@rhythmsection.com.au

“Lucy” the guitar that’s not just a guitar

April 11, 2015 by Claude Hay

Lucy made a sneaky peak appearance a couple of years back – but needed a few more adjustmentsand she is unveiled in all her glory this month. She’s made out of left over building materials from Claude’s own Blue Mountain home and the resonator cover is an old BBQ lid. At first she was to have a resonator cone within, but after some experimentation she couldn’t make the cut above the rock and roll noise so now she has a mod con synth pick up installed in her. It allows Claude to make sounds and patches from bass to acousitc guitar, resonator guitar, banjo and even piano, all at a flick of the switch. It also allows for guitar tuning to be changed from standard to open in record time. Perfect for a One Man looping Band who needs to change things up quickly to keep the show rockin.

Lucy is featured in Claude’s next single “Crossfire” due for release Apr 20 along with an east coast tour and Netherlands tour. You can check out the track HERE

Netherlands May 2015 tour dates announced

February 15, 2015 by Claude Hay

After a fantastic run of shows and national TV appearances in The Netherlands in 2014, Claude Hay returns to the Netherlands in May 2015 to play a couple of major festivals.

May 23: P79, Den Bosh

May 24: Ribs and Blues Festival, Raalte

May 30: Blues on Grolloo

More dates to follow.

Building Recording Studio for Gentle Enemies Album

November 22, 2014 by Claude Hay

With 7-8 demo tracks under way, the Gentle Enemies are first building their very own recording studio in preparation to record their upcoming debut album. Double walls and ceiling (room within a room), sand in the floor, sound proof ducting, rubber padding under the floor joists, the list goes on…. sound ain’t gonna get in or out. This is a team effort with Ryan Van Gennip (bass player of Gentle Enemies) and builder Aden Holmes. More pics HERE

In the meantime Claude continues performances as band and solo around and Australia and zips over to Singapore even during silly season for a show. Finishing 2014 with a bang at Newcastle’s Stag and Hunter. Check out the GIGS page for full list

WA tour announced supporting Joe Bonamassa at Perth Concert Hall

August 28, 2014 by Claude Hay

Claude Hay to release live DVD in WA

Known around the world as one of the leading exponents of live looping and solo performance, Australian roots and blues/rock artist Claude Hay has had a busy 2014, including 2 tours to Europe which included being showcased on Netherland’s national TV free to air show music show, Vrije Geluiden.

After having shared festival stages with international acts such as Tedeschi Trucks Band and JJ Grey and Mofro overseas, Claude returns to Australia to support USA’s grammy award winning guitarist Joe Bonamassa at Perth’s Concert Hall. And whilst he is in the WA he will be doing side shows with a swag of Perth’s finest rock bands including Ragdoll who are fresh off their US tour.

Claude Hay, winner of Australia’s Blues Male Vocalist of 2013, and Music Oz’s Best Live Independent Act (2014), has released 3 studio albums to date with Deep Fried Satisfied reaching #9 on USA’s Blues Billboard Charts as well as charting at #5 on Amazon’s Blues Charts.

Whilst Hay embarks on writing for his new 3 piece band, The Gentle Enemies, as his next full album venture, he continues his electrifying solo show for the rest of the year, releasing his first live DVD+CD, entitled Live at the Clarendon which showcases tracks from his 2012 release I Love Hate You plus some of his personal favourites from the previous 2 albums. Shot in his home town Katoomba NSW, Blue Mountains, the DVD gets up close and personal, demonstrating his full swag of multi-tasking skills. From drumming, to guitar and vocal prowess to self made custom guitars and set construction and design, Claude Hay is a true proponent of the Do-It-Yourself, independent artist. Check out a review of the live DVD by Blues Rock Review HERE.

CONTACT:
me-lee@claudehay.com.au
www.claudehay.com.au
mob: 0412 359 371
ph: (02) 8210 6778

WA TOUR DATES

Presented by:
ROCK DOLL ENTERTAINMENT

Friday 19^th Sept
Swan Hotel Basement
201 Queen Victoria Street
NORTH FREMANTLE
$12.50 Entry. Doors Open 7:30
www.theswanhotelfremantle.com/basement

BUY TICKETS

Line Up:
Ragdoll
Claude Hay
1000 Years
The Date

Saturday 20^th Sept (afternoon)
Guitars! Guitars! Guitars!
All Ages
Blues and Rock Fest in the aid of local Cancer Charity TRYACT. Not only do you get four hours of rock you get the Rock Doll dancers and so much more. Suitable for all ages in Joondalup’s new music venue…

WCIT
35 Kendrew Cresc
JOONDALUP
$5 Entry. Doors open 11am

BUY TICKETS

Claude Onstage 2:30pm

Saturday 20^th Sept (evening)
The Civic
981 Beafourt St
INGLEWOOD
$12.50. Doors Open 8pm
www.civichotel.net.au

BUY TICKETS

Line up:
Hostile Little Face
Ragdoll
Claude Hay
The Date

Sunday 21^st Sept
Supporting Joe Bonamassa
Perth Concert Hall
5 St Georges Terrace
PERTH

Borracho Film Clip and Tour Dates

May 8, 2014 by Claude Hay

Claude Hay and The Gentle Enemies

Claude Hay has unveiled a film clip for the single ‘Borracho’ – the first for his new side project ‘The Gentle Enemies’. Animated in the style of Mexican Bar Noir by Mike Foxall (the artist behind Frenzal Rhomb and Nancy Vandal) – the new video tells a dark and gritty tale of Claude and the boys angering the local drug lord though the misuse of tequila, and the resulting Tarantino-esque escapade that follows.

Roots-rock artist Claude Hay is known around the world as a leading exponent of live looping – technology allowing him to create the sound of a live band whilst playing solo. Claude has taken a surprising next step and joined forces with actual live breathing musicians to release the double A-side single ‘Borracho/Run’ under the moniker of ‘Claude Hay and The Gentle Enemies’.

Weighing in somewhere exactly between C. W. Stoneking and Queens of The Stone Age, Claude’s new tracks come from different sides of the spectrum. The song Borracho is classic Claude Hay and chugs along with fuzzy funk intensity as it relates a common tale of over-indulgence. Run is quite a different beast and would likely never have seen the light of day without a full band behind it. Run is a protest song aimed squarely at one of the most hated politicians in Australian history and Hay grinds the axe with one of the best rock and roll screams since Chris Cornell.

The Borracho tour has been running since March and continues to early June. Melbourne and Sydney shows coming up (dates in sidebar).

Borracho and Run are available from all good online music retailers and you can preview them on soundcloud:
Borracho: Click Here
Run: Click Here

The Borracho Tour – Dates

Thursday May 15
The Public Bar,
North Melbourne
with special guests
The Groves,
The Ivory Elephant
8:00 pm, $10

Friday May 16
O’Neill’s Pub,
Dickson, ACT (solo show)
9:00 pm, Free

Saturday May 17
The Lewisham Hotel, Lewisham, NSW
With special guests
8:30 pm, $15
Tickets: lewishamhotel.com.au

Thursday May 22 – Sunday May 25
The Blues on Broadbeach Festival, QLD
Various stages
Free Entry, Info: bluesonbroadbeach.com

Friday May 30
The Stag and Hunter Hotel, Newcastle, NSW
(solo show)
8:00pm, Free

Sunday June 1
The Towradgi Beach Hotel
Wollongong, NSW
3:30pm, Free

The Netherlands Tour

May 8, 2014 by Claude Hay

In amongst the band tour, Claude zipped over to The Netherlands to play solo some of their biggest festivals. Moulin Blues Festival (see video below) was a hi-lite. Apart from playing to a packed big top crowd he also got to check out the headliner Tedeschi Trucks Band. From running out of petrol to using the currency of cds to get out of a jaywalking fine to hotel window view of Eurovision to 10 Jagers for 10 Euros, being on the road is packed with many tales of highs and lows. You can continue following him on Facebook before he hops off the plane in Sydney and heads straight to Melbourne for the Gentle Enemies show at the Public Bar on Thursday May 15th.

The Borracho Tour

March 17, 2014 by Claude Hay

Claude Hay and the Gentle Enemies
[L-R] Jon Howell, Claude Hay & Ryan Van Gennip

Roots rock artist Claude Hay is known around the world as a leading exponent of live looping – technology allowing him to create the sound of a live band whilst playing solo. Claude has taken a surprising next step and joined forces with actual live breathing musicians to release the double A-side single ‘Borracho/Run’ this April under the moniker of ‘Claude Hay and The Gentle Enemies’.

Weighing in somewhere exactly between C. W. Stoneking and Queens of The Stone Age, Claude’s new tracks come from different sides of the spectrum. The song Borracho is classic Claude Hay and chugs along with fuzzy funk intensity as it relates a common tale of over-indulgence. Run is quite a different beast and would likely never have seen the light of day without a full band behind it. Run is a protest song aimed squarely at one of the most hated politicians in Australian history and Hay grinds the axe with one of the best rock and roll screams since Chris Cornell.

Click here to read more, listen to the tunes and see a list of tour dates »

Winner – Best Live Act

November 17, 2013 by Claude Hay

Australian Independent Music Awards

Last week, at the amazing Event Theatre of The Star in Sydney, Claude performed at the MusicOz awards night to show the 4000 seater theatre just why he deserved the Best Live Act Australian Independent Music Award. Claude was also in the top 5 for Best Instrumental category as well as finalist in the categories of Video, Blues/Roots and Rock. Go HERE to check out all photos.