Australian crooner and 2013 The Voice winner Harrison Craig is taking his national tour to Dubbo next month to celebrate his third studio album Kings of Vegas.
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The tour, which began in May, pays homage to the most important music in Harrison’s life.
From Nat King Cole to Sinatra's Rat Pack, Elvis Presley to Tom Jones, Mel Torme to Frankie Valli the album includes new interpretations of classics such as Almost Like Being In Love, She’s A Lady and Comin’ Home.
When Fairfax Media spoke to Harrison last Wednesday he said he was looking forward to coming back to Dubbo.
“It’s really important,” Harrison said about including regional towns on a national tour.
“So many times people who tour forget about playing everywhere, so great places like Dubbo sometimes miss out and that’s not fair.”
Harrison has been through Dubbo before, but only to travel through the City, so he is hopeful he can visit Taronga Western Plains Zoo and the Observatory when he is in town.
Harrison said so far the tour has been going really well and being well received by audiences.
“It’s so cool to be back on the road,” he said.
“The last time I did a tour was in 2014, so it’s been a while.”
With his third album Kings of Vegas paying homage to the famous City, Harrison said he really wanted to ensure his performances took audiences back in time to that era.
The lounge type sessions will see Harrison on the piano crooning away, which he says brings an element of romance to the shows.
“An experience like this I think is fresh,” Harrison said.
“Because it’s coming from a 22 year-old guy with no pre-formed ideas of what it (old Vegas) is like… it’s coming from a place of love. I love the town, music and artists.
“And I think it’s important to get that across – that it’s coming from the heart.”
Harrison said one of his favourite songs to play was Frankie Valli’s ‘My Eyes Adored You’, which he says is a beautiful story.
If you would like to see Harrison perform at the Dubbo Regional Theatre and Convention Centre on Saturday, July 22, then please visit www.drtcc.com.au to secure your tickets.
I think it’s important to get that across – that it’s coming from the heart
- Harrison Craig
To bring that old school Vegas charm to his shows, Harrison said he also brings a female audience member up on stage and performs a song to her.
“That’s one of the perks of doing this show,” Harrison laughed.
“It’s a very Vegasy thing to do.”
The tour will continue til August and is so far the longest tour Harrison has ever done, with 32 shows.
“But I’m looking forward to completing it as it’s a really cool milestone to achieve,” he said.
Before he hit the road on this current tour Harrison decided to write a children’s book, which was released last week.
Harrison teamed up with Wombat Books to put into words and pictures the book Harrison’s Song, which he hopes will inspire children to search for and use their own talents to overcome challenges they may face.
Harrison battled with a stutter in his younger years and was bullied.
So for the past month he has been visiting schools across the country where he speaks to students about overcoming obstacles.
“I think it’s really important to talk to kids about that,” he said.
As if that wasn’t enough Harrison has been writing and recording his fourth album, which he says has been “a blast” working on.
“For me it signifies a new change in my direction for my music going forward,” he said.
“It shows that I’ve come from a boy off a television program, which I have been able to use as a launch pad, and now I’ve got three records and three tours and am a young man who is ready to grow and evolve.”
He says he enjoys keeping busy as it allows him to make incredible records.