On the road with Carus

by LES EVERETT

I FIRST spoke to Carus Thompson in 2000 after hearing his debut self-titled CD. I loved the song Plains that told of the time he spent as a youngster in the Top-End Aboriginal community of Peppmenarti. It featured the pedal steel guitar of another Fremantle musician Lucky Oceans. I still remember something Carus said to me that day: "I fuckin' love country music." I took to him immediately.

It wasn't long before Carus decided he was going to take a serious stab at becoming a professional musician. He headed across the Nullabor and began relentless touring up and down the east coast honing his song writing skills and building up a fan-base.

Regular trips back to WA, down south and up north were also on the itinerary and then came a shot at Europe often for shows organised by fans. Carus soon found he had a following in France, Germany, Spain and the UK... Scandinavian countries too.

This truly was a musical journey.

His latest release Three Boxes is an indication of just how far Carus has come. The reggae beat that probably infiltrated a little too much for a time has virtually disappeared, his band The True Believers is in hot form and there is a real assurance in the lyrics and singing.

There are a couple of older songs Born With a Broken Heart that perhaps more than any other song shows where this young man is coming from and Thrown that builds with incredible passion.

Broken hearts, usually his own, have also been a Carus staple but here there are also some astute observations about modern Australian particularly in Missing the Point that seems so right this close to Australia Day, and Downtown.

Another highlight is the reaction to the execution of Van Ngyuen in Saturday in Singapore while there's some lap steel from Charlie Owen in the impressive Last Days of Winter.

Three Boxes by Carus & The True Believers is an independent release, you might be able to find out how to buy it by going to carus.com.au.

30 January 2008

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