Much-loved Australian musician Xavier Rudd returns to Canada for a three-week,
cross-country tour starting in Toronto this week.
The tour — in support of his Anti-Records sophomore accomplishment White
Moth, which was co-produced with legendary Canadian producer Dave Ogilvie (David
Bowie, Marilyn Manson) — kicks off with a pair of gigs at the Music Hall Theatre
tomorrow night.
“Given it is cold outside, I think it is important I get people moving,”
Rudd told Metro. “I have some new instruments and some new songs.”
Rudd’s multi-instrumentalist style — he’s known for being a one-man roots
and blues act — allows him to simultaneously play more than one instrument at a
time, including guitar, percussion pieces and the didgeridoo, a wooden wind
instrument of the indigenous people of northern Australia.
White Moth, Rudd explained, is an expression of his life, and though each
song is unique in its own way, they all share a common theme.
“Yes, each song is connected, as it is a reflection of my journey. My
journey is so vast that although everything is connected, each song comes from
its own place,” he said. “A lot of time (where these ideas come from) is beyond
me, it’s coming up from another place and it has been that way since I was a
child.”
Rudd’s unique blend of folk, blues, reggae, rock and world music also
incorporates the use of the indigenous voices of Aboriginal singers, who Rudd
said “are the special people, who, as human beings, have been connecting with
this land for thousands and thousands of years.”
“The spirit of Aboriginal culture has resonanted deep inside me since I
was a child, and I like to pay respect to that spirit in any way I can,” Rudd
said.
For more information, visit xavierrudd.com.
