He Said She Said With Hat Fitz and Cara

1.Growing Up

Fitzy: My earliest music memory was listening to Slim Dusty, and my dad playing guitar. My dad was a muso and it was apparent through the household.

Cara: My earliest musical memory was my nanny, Ruby; I guess when she hammered on the piano her honky-tonk versions of good Christian songs. My mum was quite [into] rebelling against the church hymns so she listened to a lot of Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix and Carole King. My dad played bass in a band – he said it was to pull the girls in school, but he has more of a musical ear and a great vinyl collection.

2.Inspirations

Cara: My favourite musicians from way back when I was 13 years old were Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin … I danced around the living room bedroom – any room that had space – and sang each song at the top of my voice, then cried to Otis Redding’s version of ‘I’ve Been Loving You Too Long’. It still makes me cry, I had never realised music could be so powerful.

3.Your Band

Cara: The band is the both of us, Hat Fitz & Cara, and we pretty much hold our own onstage. Fitzy plays bass almost [entirely] with his right thumb and the rhythm and melody too, where I play the solid rhythm and we both sing. When we were in the studio with Jeff Lang for the making of the Wiley Ways album, Jeff had some great ideas to apply sounds that enhanced the two of us. We both totally agreed that Jeff was the one to produce our Wiley Ways album and the next one that will be finished at the end of February this year – he is most innovative when in the studio with the minimal instruments that we work with.

4.The Music You Make

Fitzy: We have recorded with Jeff Lang and also Jim Conway from the original Backsliders … The live show [we have] now is songs from Wiley Ways and the new tracks that we are making for the new album. There’s a feel of the old-time vibe throughout our style, yet the songs seem to be coming from our experiences on the road over the last few years together and some interesting tales of history around where we live, near Kin Kin, and the far-off land of Ireland.

5.Music, Right Here,Right Now

Fitzy & Cara: The music scene at the moment [seems] to be filled with so much variety and different styles of music, what with The Voice and the likes … making it so easy for little talent to become big talent almost at the press of a button. The local scene is the best place to get started sometimes where you can get your work out there with a kind but critical ear.

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