Despite the pandemic (and with it, zero live work) Melbourne based, new country outfit Darlinghurst close out what’s been a complex and challenging year with a stack of encouraging news.
Launching a brand new artist from ground zero is quite a challenge at the best of times; even more so when for the last 18 months all live performances around the nation ground to halt. In spite of some fierce headwinds, Darlinghurst kept falling forwards and come Christmas, they will have chalked up some milestone moments since they were launched in August 2019.
Last week, Darlinghurst scored 3 nominations for the 50th Golden Guitar Awards for New Talent of the Year, Capital News Group or Duo of the Year and Contemporary Country Album of the Year.
Said the band’s Pagan Newman “Cassie and I watched the Nominations Live Stream and when we realised we scored three nominations we went absolutely nuts … we toasted and toasted our good fortune until at some point I think we morphed into Patsy and Edina [ha ha]. We had a call scheduled with our label later that afternoon and have zero recollection on what was said. We think it went well but to put it mildly we were a little excited!”
Last Thursday, it was announced that Darlinghurst will perform at Carols by Candlelight on Christmas Eve at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl in Melbourne with a live audience of 11,000 and an estimated broadcast audience of around 2M on the Nine Network.
Cassie Leopold said, “Since I was a kid I’ve watched Carols on the tele and had this dream to perform at Carols by Candlelight. It beggars belief to know that dream will be realised on December 24. It’s good to dream and even better when your dreams come true”
All these positive milestones have manifested off the back of a 2 year long run for Darlinghurst that began in August 2019 with the release of Sorry Won’t Get You Back and followed by 7 more singles [latest being Bad Things]; delivered 4 #1 radio hits on the Music Network Countrytown Hot 50 Chart; 4 Golden Guitar Nominations [one in 2021]; features and interviews on the Today Show, Sunrise and Kyle & Jackie O. And on the rare moments they could perform, they elicited rave reviews like this from Stack Magazine when they supported Jimmy Barnes: “Holy Moly … how have we never heard of this band!”.
Now with borders opening up and with it the promise of consistent live work, Darlinghurst will finally get the chance to perform live again kicking off in Melbourne on 9 December.
Said the band’s Jason Resch “We love working in the studio and we LOVE working live. As long as we’re working we’re happy!’; thoughts echoed by the band’s Matt Darvidis, “We’ve been forced to hibernate for far too long; now we’re just itching to get on that stage and perform cause it’s what Darlinghurst’s meant to do. For me personally? I just can’t wait to get back to Tamworth in January”
Yes, these last 18+ months have been a challenging time for the whole world, but for Darlinghurst 2021 is ending on a high; and with it the promise of good times ahead in 2022 and beyond.
Merry Christmas to all from Darlinghurst xx
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