By Stevie Connor.
Mark Lucas & the Dead Setters have been a fixture on the Sydney roots music scene for the better part of two decades; equally at home as string band or bar band/in the corner of the pub (without pokies!) or on a big stage, their combined experience, coupled with the strength and diversity of Mark’s songwriting is a potent force.
Our stories / our songs is the driving rhetoric here and the current line-up featuring stalwarts Jake Lardot (guitar), John Lee (fiddle, mandolin, vocals), and Chris Mearns (bass / vocals), ably complemented newer members Avinash Chordia (drums) and Darren Richards (keyboards), bring a solid sense of purpose to the fore.
Current album ‘The Continental Drift’, the band’s seventh release, offers gritty observations on life and love driven by a bunch of musicians schooled in everything from punk to bluegrass and... there’s a new Jake Lardot produced album due for release later in the year.
Australian roots music, it’s a sense of place. In singer-songwriter Mark Lucas' word picture world you’ll encounter ghosts of the past & yearning spirits of the present, making themselves known in a variety of familiar locales, together with a motley cast of misfits & dreamers who could fit in just about anywhere there’s people & stories to tell.
English born, Sydney based singer-songwriter, Mark Lucas has played many roles in the past 30 odd years. Arriving in Australia in 1981 with a trunk full of belongings and an old Martin guitar, he has been variously a banana farm hand, insurance broker, Native American arts trader, worked in movies and bars, and even found time to establish one of Sydney’s favourite small venues, Petersham Bowling Club (the pbc); but always at heart he’s followed the muse wherever it leads, from late ‘70’s South London roots rock, to quirky ‘80’s pop/rock, and returning full circle to the narrative heart of the troubadour.
Website: marklucas.com.au
Facebook: www.facebook.com/marklucassongs
Instagram: www.instagram.com/snakesong