By Stuart Coupe.
When Craig Lyons of Sydney duo the Blues Preachers embarked on his new project it was a case of following his heart. The seasoned musician, who has performed at festivals all over Australia, including Byron Bay Bluesfest, the Woodford Folk Festival, the Blue Mountains Music Festival and the Gympie Muster, wrote a bunch of songs that felt like they needed a new home and so the Marvellous Hearts were born. The first track he wrote was Love is Great and the uplifting song reflects the band’s philosophy. Fifty years after John Lennon and Yoko Ono staged their bed-in, asking the world to give peace a chance, it’s a message that’s needed more than ever. “The only thing you can do is fight hate with love,” says Craig. “Realise we’re all different and that’s what makes the world a special place.”
At first he thought he’d hire a few musicians to record the tracks and that would be it, but the more people heard about the project, the more they wanted to get on board. Now his ragtag crew includes George Rigatos on lead guitar, Andrew Hutchings on drums & Danny Tsun on keys, all established musicians in their own right. Their music is grounded in old school blues and traditional folk with flourishes of rock and reggae, with songs which are too relevant today to be labelled as “retro revivalists”. And it's a line-up that feels meant to be. In fact, George was supposed to be part of the original Hearts line-up but couldn't due to heart surgery. But a successful operation and a few twists of fate meant he was back on board after all.
If the Blues Preachers evoked classic blues of the 1930s and ’40s, then the Marvellous Hearts take their starting point from the ’60s and ’70s. They’ve been compared to the Beatles and Bob Dylan by none other than music icon Stuart Coupe, with their tracks being spun on 2ser. They’ve also had comparisons drawn to Tom Petty and the Black Sorrows and been played across the country on community radio and the ABC.
The diversity of their sound comes from the diversity of their influences, and it’s also meant that the harmonica stalwart has had to strap on a guitar. “I’ve always had a guitar hanging around,” says the Craig, who also runs the Bluetongue Harmonica School, “but like most harmonica players I was too lazy to do the hard yards. Now I’m in a situation where I’m writing all the songs and I’m playing guitar on everything and I’m really enjoying the process.”
The recordings were begun at Studio 57 with producer Marc Scully, before additional work was done with George Rigatos, and Katherine Vavahea contribute backing vocals. A final mix was done by Phil Punch at Electric Avenue Studios and Steve Smart did the mastering at Studio 301.
And now the band are looking forward to taking them to stages across Australia or wherever the road leads. While he might have goals and ambitions, the Craig is happy to let the project unfold organically – because that’s what’s been working so far.
“It’s like what John Lennon said. ‘Life is what happens to you when you’re busy making other plans.’ You can have your ambitions but it’s more than likely going to be different from what you had in mind, and if you’re on the right side of the fence, it should be positively different. I’m just happy to get the songs out there for people to listen to and hopefully put a good message out.” Sally Browne, former journalist for The Courier-Mail
Website: marvelloushearts.com