Guy Sebastian

He was the original Australian Idol. His three albums so far – Just As I Am, Beautiful Life and Closer To The Sun -have all gone platinum or multi-platinum.

Now, as he gets set to release his latest album, Guy Sebastian has found his groove.

While his mates were listening to New Kids On The Block and Pearl Jam, Guy was playing classic soul hits from the likes of Otis Redding, Al Green and Wilson Pickett.

On The Memphis Album, Guy has put his own stamp on the soul music he loves so much. It was my great pleasure to welcome Guy Sebastian to 98.5 Sonshine FM this morning during my morning programme.

The track list on the album is full of classic soul music, all originating from Memphis. It starts with Soul Man befor heading into Hold On I’m Coming, In The Midnight Hour and a bunch of other classics including Knock On Wood, Respect Yourself, (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay and Under The Boardwalk.

The wonderful thing about the album is that Guy enlisted the help of top soul musicians such as Steve Cropper, Donald “Duck” Dunn, Steve Potts, Lester Snell, Dave Smith, Rick Steff, Jim Spake, Kirk Smothers, Scott Thompson and Howard Lamb. Many of these musicians wrote and recorded the original versions of the songs on the album with the likes of Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, Al Green and Wilson Pickett and were members of the MGs, playing with Booker T, and the Blues Brothers Band. Steve Cropper, who co-wrote In The Midnight Hour, Knock On Wood, and (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay, also produced the album with Guy.

Even more exciting was the news that when Guy tours Australia in March next year those guys will be his backing band. I MUST get tickets to that show.

Guy travelled directly from the airport to our studios this morning as the first stop on a punishing promotional schedule. He had another ten interviews to complete today. That’s after his day in Melbourne yesterday which saw him complete twenty interviews. So much for the glamourous life of a rock star.

It was a lot of fun catching up with Guy and hearing his enthusiasm for his music. If you want to listen to what Guy had to say this morning you can click here download the mp3.

Posted by Rodney Olsen

Technorati Tags: Guy Sebastion – Australian Idol – Radio

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