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december
2011
If
you have not noticed me in the gig guides lately it's because
i've been busy trying to complete, the now too overdue too
mention album, Here Beneath the Sun. One of the advantages of
self-producing is that you can take a project in whatever way
you want and continually fine-tune....the problem with that is
that it leads to a lot of reworking and reworking :-)
In
my defence though I did actually totally remaster The Curious
Tide after its initial release and have just uploaded 3 of the
tracks on my myspace
profile
As
yet my only confirmed show will be at the Northern Beaches Music
Festival in February 2012. You can check out the details here
Anyway,
a very merry festive season to you all and big things for 2012
xo
september
2011
new
addition to my instrument family
The
wonderful Bruce White has crafted a brand new addition to my
musical instrument family. This instrument was made from a
biscuit tin along the same lines as a biscuit tin guitar (google
biscuit tin guitar if you're not familiar with them) but has a
similar string configuration to an Appalachian Dulcimer
(reversed) and a sound resembling a sitar. Hence I have named it
a Dulcitar. Can't wait to record with it
Check
out Bruce's Palm Frond instrument website here
april
2011
Over the Easter weekend i had the good fortune to play some
shows at the 45th National Folk Festival in Canberra. Alongside
my solo performances i played a guitar forum alongside Andrew
Vievers, Pete Fidler, Michael Fix and Fiona Boyes and conducted
a workshop on Alternate Tunings for acoustic guitar. Always a
fun and rewarding experience
If
you want to check
out the National Folk Festival's website for yourself click here
new
album
I
have just released a new album titled 'The Curious Tide'. This
is the third of a series of folk based albums which i've totally
self-produced. As with 'michael-john azzopardi
(self-titled)' and 'The Forest Dark', 'The Curious Tide'
features new original material alongside reworked traditional
songs and instrumentals
To
listen to samples of the album click here
To
read the lyrics click here
To
read song notes for each track click here
And
to purchase the album click here
update
Dec 2010
Have
been in musical hibernation working on the album and trying to
get my head around a swag of new Audio editing/production
software, so not much to report besides....
festivals
and other shows
November
saw me getting out of the studio and back on stage with
first-time performances at both the Kangaroo Valley Folk
Festival and Folk In Broke. Great little festivals in
beautiful locations with much fun had by performer and punter
alike. Also played tribute to the wonderful late Tim and Jeff
Buckley at the Vanguard
new
addition
I
am now the proud owner of an Octave Mandolin who I've named
Ondine. She's beautiful and should be making appearances on my
recordings very soon
Paypal
now accepted
Anyone
with a Paypal account or major credit card can now purchase my
albums directly from this website. Just go to the store
page
of this site and click on the relative 'Buy Now' button
update
Well,
well it's been a while since I've updated this page, in case you
haven't noticed. So I thought I'd best let you know what's been
happening musically for me
Frond
Cello
In
recent months I've become the proud owner of a beautiful new Cello
handcrafted from Palm fronds and wood etc. by the amazingly
talented Bruce White. Now my Frondolica (see below) won't feel
so alone and I can't wait to be able to get some serious
recording done with these instruments
You
can check out some of Bruce's other instruments on his website
which you can get to by clicking here
new
album update
Yes,
I haven't given up on thinking I can finish this way overdue
project. In fact I'm getting onto the home stretch
Just
to refresh your memory the new album 'Here beneath the Sun' will
be an acoustic-based album in a more contemporary/rock/whatever
style. Everything on this album will have been recorded and
performed by me with the exception of some wonderful percussion
on three of the tracks by the extremely talented
multi-instrumentalist/singer/songwriter/performer/dancer Manthy
Loucataris aka Mahri Autumn who self -recorded her percussion
performances for my album
Fingers
crossed, the album should be out in some form this year
Gigs
Not
much to report because I've not been doing much on
this front in recent times. Partly because I'm trying to finish
an album and partly because the D.I.Y process is time consuming,
I have not found a way of making more hours in the
day and because life, in general, has a habit of getting in the
way of things
You
can visit the gigs page,
which I've just updated, to find out where I'm playing next or
join my mailing list which you can do by simply going to the contact
page of this site
new
review
I
have just posted a new review of my latest album, The Forest
Dark, from a
webzine called Heathen Harvest. The review was contributed by
Henry Lauer of Ironwood,
an amazing musician himself, who also kindly reviewed my
Self-Titled album. Check out the Press
page of this site to read
Click
here
to visit the Heathen Harvest website
Frondolica
Azzopardi
I
am stoked to be the
proud new owner of a wonderful new musical instrument, whatsmore,
a unique instrument designed and made exclusively for me!!. You
all know I play guitar and if you have any of my albums you'll
also know I make noise out of a whole stack of other
instruments. I love the soundscapes that other instruments can
evoke and for a long long time now, I've dreamt of having a room
full of them that I could easily get lost in
So
if you're wondering about the heading of this news item. It's
the name christened by its maker, Bruce White. Bruce makes
musical instruments out of Palm tree Fronds. Each instrument is
as unique as the Fronds used to make them. Bruce lovingly
fashions these instruments, each one different to the next, from
double bass to balalaika to guitar to you-name-it
My
Frondolica is a six stringed instrument of four notes (ie: two
single strings and two coupled strings) which can be plucked or
played with a bow (also made from Palm by Bruce). The sound is
exquisite, part Cello part Mandola (or Irish Bouzouki) but that
description doesn't do it justice. I guess you'll just have to
wait until it pops up in one of my recordings
Whilst
Bruce named it the Frondolica Azzopardi I've shortened that to
simply Frondolica. I can't wait to be able to record with it
You
can check out some of Bruce's other instruments on his website
which you can get to by clicking here
gig
update
I
have a couple of local
shows to announce, besides M.A.S.S. that is. Namely Thursday 2nd
of July I'll be performing at Absolute Soirees held in Absolute
photography Studios 66 Bondi Rd Bondi. This is run by some very
talented musicians in their own right and should be a pretty
special evening. Click here
to visit my Gig page for more details
The
other show be a Sydney Launch fundraiser for the Turning Wave
Festival that I will be performing at in September. This gig is
on Saturday 15th August at the Gaelic Club Surry Hills. Details
are still to come Click here
to visit my Gig page for further details closer to the date
I
have not played at either of these venues before so it should be
great
festival
update
I
am pleased to announce that I have been accepted to perform,
once again, at the Turning Wave Festival 2009 to be held in
September this year in the beautiful historic town of Gundagai.
I played this festival last year for the first time and really
enjoyed it so needless to say I'm looking forward to returning
there. Exact details are still to come. Check back on the gigs
page of this site later on or click here
visit the festival's website
new
album
I
have just released a brand new album titled 'The Forest Dark'.
This is another folk based album recorded primarily for the folk
circuit and is the second fully self produced album. It contains
originals alongside traditional songs and a few instrumentals
To
listen to samples of the album click here
To
read the lyrics click here
To
read song notes for each track click here
And
to purchase the album click here
more
festivals
April
(2009) been a busy month festival-wise, with performances and
guitar workshops at the National Folk Festival in Canberra over
the Easter weekend and at St Albans folk festival over the Anzac
day weekend. Much fun was had and I received much praise from
the very kind patrons of both events Judging by the attendance
and feedback, my workshops seemed to have been a big hit, which
is wonderful and very heartening
new
review
I
have just posted a new review of my Self-Titled album from a
webzine called Heathen Harvest. The review was contributed by
Henry Lauer of Ironwood,
an amazing musician himself. Check out the Press
page of this site to read
Click
here
to visit the Heathen Harvest website
festivals
I
have had the good fortune to have performed at two festival in
the last month, Peats Ridge Sustainable Arts Festival and the
24th Illawarra Folk festival. Both successful ventures I might
add
I'm
finding festivals and other venues outside of Sydney most
fulfilling. The Audiences are appreciative and I get a chance to
meet and network with fellow performers
session
playing
I
have had the good fortune of becoming acquainted with Mahri
Autum, an extremely talented
singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist and have had the honour
of playing some session guitar on a few of her songs
Check
out Mahri's music here
and here
website
update
You
may have noticed this site has been revamped. Unfortunately some
porno cyber scum decided to infest the entire website with links
for Viagra and wipe about ninety percent of the data from the
site just for good measure. You
may have even noticed the same your self
You
will note some changes to content of the site, such as the
removal of the Gallery page. The site will be under construction
for a little longer whilst I consider alternatives. Stay tuned
for updates
album
update
My
long overdue new album “Here Beneath the Sun” unfortunately
is still unfinished due to unforeseen circumstances and an
inability to find time. That said, the album is in the
final edit stage, so hopefully not too much longer
gigs
On
the live front, most of my performances of late have been at
festivals and folk clubs etc and not much in the way of local
pub-type gigs. I do however have a couple of more local shows
coming up, click here to visit the gigs page for more details
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