It’s been a long time coming but on June 15, Old Man River will finally release his long-awaited 3rd album, ILOVEYOUSORRYPLEASEFORGIVEMETHANKYOU. Ohad Rein is the Byron Bay-based singer-songwriter, producer and multi-instrumentalist behind the internationally acclaimed OLD MAN RIVER project, an eclectic musical voyage that manages to blend conscious pop, folk-rock, psychedelia and world music, all under one warm blanket of positive, melodic and inspiring sounds.
This new album is a patchwork blanket of 3-4 main periods and eras that took place in different cities and countries: New York, Tel Aviv, Sydney and Byron Bay, where finally Rein’s mixing and production tied together its many disparate strands.
“A lot of the songs that ended up on this album, when I had started them they were intended for other projects,” said Ohad. “That’s why the album sounds so varied, it’s very hard to pin-point a genre. One track is disco pop and the next a reggae track. In that time (since my last record), creatively it really helped me to not to define what it is that I am doing. As soon as I made it, I knew it was going to be a different project altogether that would allow me this freedom which allowed me to express in ways I hadn’t seen.”
In support of his ‘magnum opus,’ Rein will be playing two intimate shows in Melbourne (June 16th) and Sydney (June 22nd ), plus several festival dates.
This is your chance to hear the new album first but don’t hesitate in buying your tickets, it’s been 8 years since his last studio album and there are no guarantees that there will be another.
“I don’t want to sound dramatic but I have been telling people, this could be the last tour of Old Man River,” he told us. “I definitely have the intention that it shouldn’t take as long next time. I believe that the tools I have acquired on the way of being able to create albums myself, record and mix myself … that will help the intention but who knows?”
Ohad is excited to be playing this new material live and is particularly keen to check out Melbourne’s newest venue, The Fyrefly in the basement of St.Kilda’s Newmarket Hotel.
“It sounds really exciting,” he said of The Fyrefly. “It’s had different incarnations that space. They have invested in good sound and expanded the stage and made the whole thing have a really good vibe and people who have already played there are really raving about it, so I think it’s going to be a perfect space for my launch.”
“What you get at a live show is that immediate transmission that is happening right now in the present. If you can deliver that as an artist and the punter can receive it, you know that you are getting a special experience … something that is never going to be repeated. It’s kinda like going to a Grateful Dead show because they never played the same show twice. When I play live, the intention is to stay very true to the moment and that’s why I always make sure I have amazing musicians with me that can hold whatever comes up.”
9.6.2018 – WeMove Studio, Mullumbimby, NSW (special solo show)
Tickets: https://form.jotform.com/81313564851961
16.6.2018 – The Fyrefly St.Kilda, VIC
Album Launch Party w full band
supports: Michael Burrows, Magic Steven
Tickets: https://thefyrefly.oztix.com.au/?Event=87240&utm_source=Oztix&utm_medium=Website&utm_content=EventGuide
22.6.2018 – The Leadbelly, Newtown, NSW
Album Launch Party w full band
support: Miriam Lieberman
Tickets: http://www.moshtix.com.au/v2/event/old-man-river-new-album-launch/103811?ref=RSS_Leadbelly&skin=Leadbelly18
