Veteran of the Australian live music scene Russell Beggs returns with his moody, cinematic new single Frozen Wheel, out today. The rhythmically emotive single and accompanying music video lands alongside two free release shows at Gordon’s Corner on the Mornington Peninsula, the first tonight, Friday November 13, and the second on Friday November 20.
Dripping with swagger from the first overdriven guitar notes, Frozen Wheel pairs Beggs’ storytelling vocals with catchy, insistent guitar riffs in a dark western tune where John Hiatt meets Nick Cave, with Dylan-esque lyrics. The track reunites Beggs with multi-ARIA Award-winning engineer/producer Doug Brady, who was heavily involved in his previous album Voodoo Woman. Recorded at Purple Lounge Studio on the Mornington Peninsula with drummer Jeff Consi and bassist Kit Riley (both of Bad Loves), the single was mastered by Martin Pullan, and was engineered, mixed and co-produced by Craig Brumby. Craig has been working with Russell on his original songs and music videos for more than 14 years, and is a very talented Engineer/Producer.
“I’m very excited, this single demonstrates my songwriting and vocal style and it’s typical of what audiences would see and hear when I perform live,” says Russell Beggs. “My songs are mostly driven by storytelling, with the music creating a mood and an emotion.”
At its heart, Frozen Wheel is a song about a one-sided, fractured relationship. The initial session saw Beggs on vocals and acoustic guitar cutting a live band track with Consi and Riley, capturing the warmth and immediacy of his stage show. “Working with Doug Brady again on that first session was a highlight,” Beggs says. “He brings a high level of enthusiasm and positivity through his involvement.”
Accompanying the track is an equally moody music video that blends the bravado of Beggs’ live performances with stunning landscapes of the Mornington Peninsula.
A songwriter since his school days, when a love of creative writing first set him on his path, Beggs has always felt the pull to create. His mother played piano and loved singing and dancing, but it wasn’t until two years before his father passed away that Beggs learned his father had written poetry in his youth, published in the Melbourne newspapers of the day. The discovery explained an instinct that has guided him ever since, and sits at the core of the classic storytelling tradition that runs from The Beatles and Bob Dylan through to his own songs.
Creative, persistent, enthusiastic and genuine, Russell Beggs has a stack of new songs ready to follow Frozen Wheel into the world, and this is just the beginning of what’s to come.
Frozen Wheel is out today.
RUSSELL BEGGS UPCOMING FROZEN WHEEL SINGLE RELEASE SHOWS
FRI 13 NOV | GORDON’S CORNER | BALNARING, VIC | ALL AGES
Free entry 6pm-9pm
FRI 20 NOV | GORDON’S CORNER | BALNARING, VIC | ALL AGES
Free entry 6pm-9pm
