KGO 810 Radio Interview

Rick Springfield was on the radio today, interviewed by Ronn Owens from KGO 810.
To listen to the Podcast click here

Rick Springfield, Rob Hirst, Scott Owen Play For Russell Morris On Van Dieman’s Land

by PAUL CASHMERE on MARCH 12, 2014
Russell Morris has gathered an impressive list of famous friends to play on his new album ‘Van Dieman’s Land’.
Rick Springfield, Rob Hirst of Midnight Oil, Scott Owen of The Living End, Joe Camilleri of The Black Sorrows, Ross Hannaford of Daddy Cool, Vika & Linda Bull, Phil Manning of Chain and Joe Robinson joined Morris to record the album over recent months in Melbourne.

‘Van Dieman’s Land’ is the sequel to the platinum selling ‘Sharkmouth’ which gave Morris his first ever Top 10 album and first hit record in 40 years.

Like ‘Sharkmouth’, ‘Van Dieman’s Land’ will also tell the stories of historic Australian real-life characters. “I spent over a year researching these great Australian stories,” Morris said. “To me these albums are about looking back at the characters that deserve to be remembered and then doing that in the best way I know how—through song. It’s about leaving a legacy that in fifty years’ time, someone can put these records on and learn something about the spirit of our great country, in the same way we do when we read The Man from Snowy River.”

Morris had the idea to tell Australian history in blues songs around 5 years ago but it wasn’t until the album reached the ears of Ambition Entertainment’s Robert Rigby did it find a widespread release.

“Australia has an amazing history of yarns,” Russell says. “From Banjo Patterson and Henry Lawson, through to Paul Kelly and Bryce Courtney the Australian experience has always been retold in story. Americans have a proud tradition of folk songs passing their history down through the generations and while there are some amazing songwriters celebrating modern Australia, I wanted to create something that connected people today with the characters that shaped them”.

‘Van Dieman’s Land’ will be released on Ambition through Universal on April 11, 2014.

Original article is posted here:
http://www.noise11.com/news/rick-springfield-rob-hirst-scott-owen-play-for-russell-morris-on-van-diemans-land-20140312

More shows announced

Full band show:
6/6/14 - Mid America Center
Council Bluff, IA
With special guests: Eddie Money & Little River Band
Tickets on sale 3/14 on Ticketmaster
http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/06004C5AAC2C97E6

Stripped Down
6/11/14 - Tarrytown Music Hall
Tarrytown, NY
Tickets on sale 3/14
https://tickets.tarrytownmusichall.org/eventperformances.asp?evt=1514

Photo by Renata Hearn

Australian singer, actor Rick Springfield Pens apocalyptic novel

By Tom Lanham

Courtesy Photo      Actor-musician Rick Springfield — who appears in the Bay Area this week — 
recently has added fiction writer to his résumé.

At 64, Australian-born Renaissance man Rick Springfield has done it all, starting with his early-1970s stint as a teen idol with the hit “Speak to the Sky” and the Saturday morning cartoon “Mission: Magic,” in which he transformed into a caped superhero (Quentin Tarantino once approached him, praising the show).
Later, he played Dr. Noah Drake on the soap opera “General Hospital,” to which he recently returned, with the script attributing a 23-year absence to
a Doctors Without Borders career.

And he’s still acting. Coming off a recurring role in “Californication,” he recently filmed a cameo for “Drop Dead Diva.”

Then there are his smash pop singles, such as 1982’s Grammy-winning “Jessie’s Girl.”

Springfield, who plays two Bay Area shows this week billed as “Stripped Down — An Intimate Solo Performance of Music and Storytelling,” also can claim another title: New York Times best-selling author.

In October 2010, his tell-all autobiography “Late, Late at Night: A Memoir” rose to No. 13 on the list, prompting his publishers to point him in another direction.

“They liked my voice from the autobiography and said, ‘You should be writing fiction,’” says Springfield, a lifelong bibliophile. “And in school, I’d always wanted to be a prose writer. The only thing I got good marks for were my essays.”

Instinctively understanding how a book should flow gave him the courage to tackle “Magnificent Vibration,” his first novel, which is slated for release in May.

He admits that having the discipline to complete the book was difficult. He says, “It was like anything. You get inspiration, but the hard work of nailing and finishing it is brutal.”

He describes the beginning: “I was on vacation in Australia, and I got up one time at 3 o’clock in the morning and thought, ‘If you don’t get up right now, walk to the computer and write Page One, then you’re never going to do it.’”

The plot started with a fun concept — a protagonist unearths an 800 number that’s a direct line to God — then spins off onto apocalyptic, environmentally concerned tangents, a la the singer’s dark 2012 album “Songs for the End of the World.”

He kept working on it — on planes, in hotel rooms and in one final burst at home while his family was away for five days. He’s already considering a sequel.

Springfield admits that red wine helped his creativity. He says, “I had to get a little buzzed to finish it. But I got so involved in the characters, I couldn’t wait to get back to it, just to see what would happen next. It was like reading a book — I was really sad to see it end, actually!”

IF YOU GO

Rick Springfield
Where: Yoshi’s, 510 Embarcadero West, Oakland
When: 8 p.m. Wednesday
Tickets: $99 to $175
Contact: (510) 238-9200, (415) 655-5600, www.yoshis.com
Note: Springfield also appears at 8 p.m. Thursday at Yoshi’s, 1330 Fillmore St., S.F.

Original article can be found:
http://www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/australian-singer-actor-rick-springfield-pens-apocalyptic-novel/Content?oid=2729491

Milwaukee, WI 3/5/14 - Pabst Theater

Fan Review

Rick mentioned again this past weekend that there would be a DVD of the Solo tour.  Given that, and for all the people still planning to catch the Stripped Down show for the first time, we will try to avoid any spoilers.

I Get Excited
a song he wrote about his hot girlfriend who is now his hot wife.
Affair of the Heart.
At this particular show he actually started out with the line "When we make love" and caught himself.
A couple of people came in late, and he said "I came all the way from LA and I got here on time.
Also while this was going on security was telling people to stop taking pictures.  At the end of the song he told security he was ok with people taking pictures because "with this face, there's no such thing as a bad picture" (wink).  Then he goes on to say he's seen the pictures that people take and made some faces of some poses that can be captured that aren't very flattering.

Me and Johnny
He talks about growing up in Australia and his friendship with John Kennedy.
He also tells a very funny story about his grades in school
Light My Fire
He sings part of this song and talks about his experience in Vietnam
Oh Well
He explains Band in the Box
He talks about the upcoming novel Magnificent Vibration, how 2 of the 3 top literary guys from Rolling Stone gave it a good review, but Rolling Stone never really gave him a good review on any of his music so he gave a big FU to Rolling Stone.
Love is Alright Tonite
He says he wrote this song at 29 for what he wanted to be like when he was 15.
He takes off his jacket, so that becomes the "stripped down" portion of the show
Rolling and Tumbling
Tells the story about his first band being a Blues Band starting the song with "I Dig You Tony!"
Honeymoon in Beirut
Talks about living in a beautiful house, looking like they are living the perfect life, when inside all hell is breaking loose.  (He has yet to mention that he sold that house to Mel Gibson)

Inside Silvia
He has a new ap on his phone that plays guitar and he does the first part of this song using the ap on his phone.
Don't Talk to Strangers
Baby Blue
He calls this a song he wished he had written, then tells a hilarious story about an experience with Todd Rundgren.  This story probably gets the biggest laugh of the night.
Painted Girl
First song he ever wrote.  He plays the "original" version and then the version the way it sounded in his mind back then.
April 24, 1981/My Father's Chair.
This is always a very emotion portion of the show.  Most of the time he sings at least one line (this time it was "I watched my family...." during the middle away from the microphone, not playing guitar, and you really hear the raw emotion of the song.
I've Done Everything For You
He tells a very funny story about Sammy Hagar and his tequila
If Wishes Were Fishes
He talks about the story behind the phrase.  He also talks about an interesting statistic about the powerball.
The most laughter seems to come from the Miley Cyrus line - a close second is the "I wish people whole quit calling me...."  line
Most applause seems to come from the Noah Drake reference (although he never says the name) and the line following it.
At the end of this song, he spills his tea on the Magnificent Vibration book (which isn't really the book, its the cover over a different book), and on his phone.  People were yelling "save the book" not realizing it wasn't the real thing.
Speak to the Sky
He played a little of this on his phone to make sure it was still working after the spill.  He then knocks some other stuff over and wonders out loud "How do I drive, really?"
Written in Rock
He talks about being married to his wife for 30 years and when you've been together that long "shit goes down"
A string had broken on one of the Acoustic guitars, he told us the guitar had been given to him by MGM at EFX, and this it was a 10,000.00 guitar.
Just One Kiss
He played part of this song to check the guitar
Love Somebody
Talks about Patti Hansen and KeithRichards
Our Ship is Sinking
(not really a story with this one)
Jessie's Girl
He asks what the obvious next step is for a musician who doesn't seem to be making it in music.  If you've been to the shows and you know the answer, probably would be best not to shout it out, and let him tell his story.  Just Saying.
Human Touch
He doesn't always do this one, but was nice to see it.

Q&A
There are rules to the Q&A, that are often ignored.  No multipart questions, no asking for hugs, or kisses, or birthday songs.
Some of the questions asked were - who his favorite current author is - he settled on Mitch Albom.
He was asked about future acting projects and he talked about Drop Dead Diva and that he was writing some stuff himself.
He was asked what his parent's best advise was, and he said when he was trying to decide whether to go after a music career or go back to school, they told him to do what he really to do, and to "never give up, never give up, never give up"
He was asked how close he was to his character in Californication.  He said not at all (at least he hoped not)
Someone said that they wouldn't sell her a tshirt at the merch booth because it was already closed.  Some laughter followed and Rick said "that's not really a question"
There was a guy there with an Aussie accent who asked him what he missed the most about Australia.  Friends and the country, dessert/terrain.
Someone asked if he remembered his banker back in the 80's (I think her name was Becky).  He asked if that was her, and she said no, but that she worked with her and she said to say "Hi".  So Rick says to tell her Fing Hey from me.  Rick Fing Springfield says Hey.
He was asked when Noah Drake was coming back.  He said he would never say never but it wasn't very challenging when he only comes back for a day or two, and his lines would be "I'm back from Doctors without borders and I need to get the F out of here in a day and a half".
He was asked what the strangest thing that happened to him at a gig, and he said he played the Buddakan back in the 80's and the audience is nice and polite and he came out with his Rock Star pose and the girls were giggling with their hands over their mouths, and he realized that his pants were unzipped and his shirt was hanging out of his fly.
He was asked if he ever got nervous before he went on stage, and he said not anymore, that is was more excitement than nerves, but that he played with his back to the stage when he was 15.
He was asked what kind of dog Gomer was, and he said they figured out he was part Catahoula, and the way they figured that out was that David Carradine had seen Gomer and mentioned it (and he also mentioned he had been in a tv show with David Carradine - aka Human Target)

The show lasted right at 2 hours from start to end of the Q&A.

Buy A Lithograph at the Show

Starting with the Nashville Shows in February, the merch table has been selling lithographs of Rick's own artwork from the upcoming Magnificent Vibration novel.  There is a choice of 3 different lithographs - A dog named Murphy, an outer space themed Litho with the word God on the bottom and a Nun, Alice .  Rick will personally sign them after the show (normally no posed photos allowed).  You also receive a free copy of the book that will be mailed to you in May and you are entered in the Magnificent Vibrations contest going on over on http://magnificentvibration.com/.  Cost is 50.00.

Rumor Has It - 3/9/14

During the concerts this weekend, Rick mentioned a couple of things: A possible tour in November in Australia and a possible Christmas tour (performing Christmas songs).  We will see what the future holds.