With a well-received debut EP, Holiday Dream, and a new single release, Three, both released in 2019, singer/songwriter Clay Western finds himself in a confident position staring into a brand new decade. He was pre-disposed to a musical existence. Whether it be listening to Elton John on an old tape player in his mother’s car as they drove around Denmark, or hearing his musician father’s predilection for the singer/songwriterly stuff of Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and an Aussie rock diet led by Paul Kelly, the embrace and escape of playing music was soon to be his.
“I started singing when I was about 15 and I also played trombone,” Western recalls of his high school years. “I realised that trying to sing and play trombone was a bit much to ask, and I was listening to a lot of folk so guitar seemed the natural choice.”
Headline shows at Mojos and the Indian Ocean Hotel, gigs in Sydney both solo and with Caravãna Sun and supports with The Money War have provided the 19-year-old Western with a stream of highlights so far, but the sunny season ahead promises more as he closes one decade and opens another with a healthy slew of shows on his Endless Summer tour. Fittingly, it’s 2020 vision from here. So much already experience already and so much more yet to taste.
“Since moving from Denmark to Fremantle earlier this year I’ve been doing a lot of groundwork in making friends, going out to gigs and feeling a part of the scene,” he notes.“I feel like it’s been a nice way to end the decade – sort of establishing myself in Perth and feeling like I can continue to grow into the start of a new decade, while keeping in touch with Denmark and my old friends. I feel I’m getting to where I want to be and looking back on the last year I feel I’ve come a long way as a person and as an artist.”
