American alt-rock group Everclear ruled the airwaves in the 1990s with hits such as Santa Monica and Father Of Mine.
Currently, Everclear’s main man, Art Alexakis, is making his way around Australia on a month-long solo Australian tour that sees him performing in the most intimate of settings, with just an acoustic guitar in hand and with performances that are interspersed with anecdotes behind each of his songs.
Support on the tour comes from Brendan B. Brown of Wheatus, best known for their 1990s anthem Teenage Dirtbag.
The stripped-back shows are nothing new for Alexakis.
“I’ve always done those sorts of shows,” Alexakis told me last week.
“Going as far back as 1996 with the success of Everclear, I would go out and do 10 or 15 solo shows as a lot of fans consider us a lyric band, so they pay much attention to our lyrics.
“And I’ve found that people seem to like these types of intimate shows a lot, too.”
Aside from his music career, Alexakis has a psychology degree and works as a life coach, working primarily with those in the creative fields. It is an area in which he has found neurodiversity to be a shared commonality.
“I think a lot of people who are creative are barely on the spectrum or the spectrum,” he says.
“I think their brains work differently.
“A lot of times in my practice as a life coach working with creatives, I have found there are a lot of people with anxiety, depression and even dyslexia.
“And a lot are also on the ADHD spectrum.
“When I work with them, I say, ‘You’re not going to change yourself, you’re not going to be any different than you are, you just need to learn how to be better at being different, and how to accept it and work with it.’
“As a life coach, I just try and help people achieve their goals.
“It is not therapy-like, and for people in the music business, I work in a kind of counsellor role as I’ve been there and done that.”
One of the most important pieces of advice he offers to those in the creative arts is the importance of being true to yourself.
“When you try hard to be something you’re not, it generally will not work,” he says.
“And not just when it comes to music but also in anything in life.”
For all tour info and more, go to www.everclearmusic.com/tour
Music news
Beyoncé this week announced the second album in her Renaissance trilogy. Titled Act II, the more country-themed album will be released on March 29.
Coming to cinemas later this year are a documentary and concert film detailing Brit-pop legends Blur’s reunion last year.
Among the nominees announced over the weekend for induction into the 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame include Cher, Ozzy Osbourne, Foreigner, Lenny Kravitz and Oasis.
Is legendary soul-popster Stevie Wonder in talks to headline this year’s Glastonbury festival?
The view from here
AC/DC
With this year being AC/DC’s 50th year in the music business, will the European tour just announced this week be the group’s last-ever tour? With Angus Young now the only original member from the band’s inception, and with Brian Johnson, who at 76 is their next longest-serving member, it may well be the perfect time to bow out in glory. Their last world tour in 2016 saw Stevie Young take the place of Malcolm Young — who passed away in 2017 — and at the tail end of the tour, Johnson had to bow out on doctor’s orders, too, due to hearing issues, with Guns ’n’ Roses’ Axl Rose filling in on the remaining dates.
Last October, AC/DC played their first live show in seven years at the Power Trip music festival in the United States. And, now, with long-time bassist Cliff Williams retired from touring and original drummer Phil Rudd not joining the band, this tour may well be the last time fans may see the band in concert.
Susan Masino, author of the acclaimed AC/DC bio The Story of AC/DC: Let There Be Rock, agrees. “I do think this will be the last tour for them,” Masino told me last week.
If the group does come to an end, I’d personally love to see Angus Young make a solo album showcasing his blues-influenced lead playing outside the AC/DC format. I’m sure the soul and sound of AC/DC would still permeate such an album.
But having said that, in interviews conducted at the time of the group’s last album, 2020’s Power Up, Johnson affirmed that, “There’s more than enough for another album, probably two”. Added Masino: “If Angus still has the fire to keep going, then I say all the power to him!”
Will this tour turn out to be their final lap of victory? Only time will tell.
Music charts
On the Australian ARIA Top 50 singles chart, Noah Kahan is holding steady at No.1 again this week with Stick Season, as well as on the UK Top 100 singles chart, while over on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart, American rapper Megan Thee Stallion debuts at No.1 with Hiss.
Fun facts
American country music star George Strait has racked up more No.1 hits than any other artist in any sphere of popular music, with 44 No.1 singles on the American music charts. That’s more than The Beatles, Elvis Presley and Taylor Swift!