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Australia's Courtney Barnett. Photo Credit Lili Waters.
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Australia’s Courtney Barnett. Photo Credit Lili Waters.
Australia’s Courtney Barnett accepted an invitation to perform an intimate MTV Live Unplugged in Melbourne session. Barnett is and has been the resurrection of cool rock n roll with an indie folk vibe for years now. With the consistency of contrived man made pop stars, Courtney Barnett moves your heart with her music just as much as she’ll move your hips. Without the radio promotion of the music industry’s past, Barnett created her own label Milk! Records, and has been sharing her gift of music for a decade. On her North American Tour 2020, she has sold out every show so far. The 3 month tour that started in her hometown of Melbourne Australia will continue over 15 cities including Mexico, ending at an already sold out venue in Colorado, US.
Performing in a plain white t shirt, Barnett holds the audience captivated. The MTV Unplugged outdoor stage created a beatnik atmosphere with twinkly lights and a small group of musicians to gather around. Barnett performed 8 songs with her band members Dave Mudie on drums, Bones Sloane on bass, and special guest Lucy Waldron on cello. Joining her on stage were guests songwriter Paul Kelly, Milk! Records label mate Evelyn Ida Morris, and vocalist Marlon Williams.
The night of music included covers, and also a never before heard original track titled “Play it On Repeat.” Barnette performed “Charcoal Lane” with guest Paul Kelly, and hits like “Avant Gardener.” Marlon Williams was a guest performer on “Not Only,” and Barnette performed “Nameless and Faceless” with Evelyn Morris on piano.
Courtney said, “I love playing to Melbourne crowds… I wanted to have a mixture of old songs and covers, and tracks that we don’t perform all the time – it’s been interesting to see the songs through a different filter, and it brings out this other emotional side to the music and the lyrics.”
She continued, “Unplugged is so nostalgic for me. We had two Unplugged Records in our CD collection growing up and I know those records inside and out because we listened to them every day.”
MTV Australia Unplugged Live in Melbourne is available to be streamed now and will be released physically on February 21, 2020.
Courtney Barnett and Band Takes Time From Their North American Tour 2020 to Perform for MTV Unplugged Live in Melbourne. Photo Courtesy of Courtney Barnett.
