An evening with Riley Catherall & Ben de la Cour at Cafe No9

0	SHEFFIELD: Cafe No9
P	Wednesday 17th July, 2024
N	7:00pm

SHEFFIELD: Cafe No9

Wednesday 17th July, 2024

7:00pm

Event information

Riley Catherall is a Singer-Songwriter based in Melbourne whose graceful trajectory into the Australian Alt-Country Music world has not gone unnoticed. Riley has built a credible status as a one of the country’s most promising songwriters through his poetic sincerity and alluring live shows.

Since his first few steps into the Country Music, Riley has released a handful of singles and most recently, his debut full-length album. “When I Go” is an amalgamation of songs about leaving, losing love, and finding somewhere to settle down. National praise came in spades for singles “Mother Please”, “Vacant Lot” and “Leave Me Out To Dry” – all receiving extensive streams, national airplay and even an addition into ABC National's high rotation in November 2019. Catherall’s writing has also attracted international attention with radio play across Europe and the UK – “A F***ing Virtuoso” Chris Jagger delicately put it after he appeared at the Maverick Americana Festival in Suffolk, UK where he was listed as a festival favourite alongside Lachlan Bryan and The Wildes, Chance McCoy (Old Crow Medicine Show) and Hannah Aldridge. He returned to the festival earlier in 2022 where he presented the longing crowd with the songs off the record and was again listed as the festival favourite.

Bark At The Moon is the first offering since the debut record, and a single release tour scheduled for Sep/Oct will provide those who attend an insight into the creative workings of a patient and arresting storyteller in the next stage of his career.

One of the standout features of Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Riley Catherall’s debut album is that it is the sound of an artist in consummate control of his craft. - Chris Familton, Post To Wire

His songs are beautifully constructed and immaculately delivered. The find of the festival. – Three Chords and The Truth UK

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With songs that explore life’s murky corners and shadowy characters, Ben de la Cour’s music occupies the intersection between gothic Americana and dark, gritty folk. It’s a sound fueled by the stories and struggles of its creator, a lifelong searcher who’s never been afraid to shine a light on his own demons.

Born in London and raised in Brooklyn, Ben experienced a coming-of-age when he left home at seventeen to become a farm worker, a janitor, a boxer in Havana, and — in his own words — “one of the laziest and most inept bouncers and bartenders in history.” After logging several years on the road with various metal bands Ben followed his muse to New Orleans before landing in Nashville in 2013 where he found a community of simpatico musicians and songwriters who weren’t afraid to chase down their own musical horizons.

Albums like Ben’s 2012 debut, Ghost Light and 2018‘s career-shifting The High Cost of Living Strange chronicled not only that deep sense of restlessness but also his variousattempts to wrestle his own vices into submission. The result is a haunting, harrowingly personal version of folk music that earned praise from outlets like American Songwriter and NPR. Ben was named a Kerrville New Folk Winner shortly after the 2016 release of Midnight in Havana and began maintaining a regular presence on the road, playing more than 100 shows a year. In a genre that has become increasingly polished and pop-friendly throughout the 21st century, his stark tales of heartbreak, supernatural menace, God and the ever-present specter of death seem to harken back to folk’s roots, making him a modern torchbearer of a classic sound.

“Folk music has a long tradition of darkness,” he explains, “and darkness is something I know a lot about.”

That darkness takes on new dimensions with his fifth record, Sweet Anhedonia, a gripping collection of Americanoir soundscapes haunted by crooked folk ballads, scorched-earth heartland rockers and even the occasional ode to love, hope and redemption. Bouncing between first-person narratives and sharply-written character studies, these songs radiate a bruised, battered energy, with Ben delivering each one in a voice that’s textured by years of hard touring and even harder living.

Ben recorded the album with Jim White, a cult folksinger celebrated for his own Southern gothic sound. “Jim’s album Wrong-Eyed Jesus! helped me through a truly terrible time in my life,” he says. “I’ve always been such a big fan of his music, so I tracked him down and basically camped outside his house until he finally agreed to produce my record. I think he did it so I’d leave him alone, but the joke’s on him because now he’s never going to be able to get rid of me. We worked together in Athens and Nashville, taking alternative approaches to my songs by building soundscapes and percussive patterns. The goal was to make an art record — something that felt small. But somehow, everything kept expanding and becoming more twisted as we went along, and here we are. I think Jim refers to these things as ‘psychic bonsai.'”

In 2020 Ben released Shadow Land, his first album to be recorded since completing a stint in rehab. Despite his continuing struggles with the internal forces waging a war within his head, Ben’s stays in various institutions didn’t just bring clarity to his life; they added new perspectives to his music, too. The experiences made him increasingly empathetic to other people’s struggles, and that awareness shines on Sweet Anhedonia’s sharply-written songs. He doesn’t just sing about this way of life; he lives it too, dedicating his working hours between tours to his job as a clinical associate at a recovery center for teenage boys.

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Please note this ticket price DOES include a BYOB fee should you wish to bring alcohol to the venue.

All additional purchases of drinks and sweet treats from the cafe counter are always very much appreciated.