DEBORAH Conway likes her music no-frills.
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With a pragmatic attitude that has seen her successfully navigate more than three decades in the music industry, Conway says she finds the best way to record and perform is with an acoustic guitar and a raw sound.
The singer of It’s Only the Beginning and Alive and Brilliant these days tends to perform alongside husband Willy Zygier, with whom she released the successful 2013 album Stories of Ghosts, which looked at New Testament themes from a Jewish but atheist perspective.
The pair will play a folky, accoustic session this Saturday in Ballarat, and will be joined by the pair’s three daughters as the supporting act, The Zygier Sisters.
One of their daughters – Syd Zygier – is currently living in Ballarat studying Music Theatre at Federation University. The gig will double as a fundraiser to raise money to fly the 2016 graduates to Sydney for their end-of-year showcase in November.
Conway said she wasn’t much of an expert on Australian folk, especially as she liked to write without listening to other music.
However, she said folk did tap into something deeper in the country’s musical psyche.
“I guess I’ve always seen folk as tapping into something relevant and deep and there are less frills than pop music, which is more about style than substance. That doesn’t mean that doesn’t exist in pop music, but I suppose folk music has always been the home of tackling deeper subject matter,” she said.
She said there was a lot to be said about the rawness of folk.
“We’re no particularly fond of too many bells and whistles when we’re recording and we see that as the best way to do it.”
Conway said Saturday’s gig would likely include her hits, tunes from Stories of Ghosts, and also some material from her and Zygier’s upcoming album, which she said would follow in the same line as their current direction of darker folk.
“I think it’s still fairly muscular and it is a continuation thematically along the lies of Stories of Ghosts, but musically it’s more uptempo or has more movement, more rock.”
Conway and Zygier will perform on May 28 from 8.30pm at Suttons House of Music. For tickets, visit suttonshouseofmusic.com.au