Touring: Singer/songwriter Pete Murray.
PETE Murray is set to play shows in Castlemaine and Echuca within weeks of each other.
The Australian singer-songwriter will play the Echuca-Moama Riverboats Music Festival on February 17 before taking his Byron Sessions tour to Castlemaine on March 8.
“I’m really looking forward to it, it’ll be great,” Murray said.
“I haven’t been (to regional Victoria) for about 18 months.”
The Byron Sessions tour is a mostly solo tour that will revisit some of Murray’s favourite songs.
“I have a local (Bryon Bay) guy called Nathan Kaye who jumps up on stage for some beatboxing and the roots and band vibe,” Murray said.
The tour will also promote the reworked album Blue Sky Blue - The Byron Sessions that feature musicians and artists from Murray’s adopted hometown of Byron Bay.
Byron locals Ash Grunwald, The Living End’s Scott Owen, Katie Noonan, Bernard Fanning and Blue King Brown’s Natalie Pa’apa’a all feature on the album, which came out this month.
“Everybody on there is a good friend. I’ve known Ash for a long time and it’s good to give these guys the freedom to do their own thing on the tracks,” Murray said.
“The way the songs are recorded, (the guests) do it their way and feel comfortable.
“I didn’t want to take away from who the guys are and what they prouduced.”
Murray said he would like to work on another album this year.
“I’d like to try and put it out this time next year,” he said.
“I’m planning on writing a lot and getting it recorded by the end of the year.
“The way tours work, I love being able to write and record as I go.
“I have way more experience now. I think I tried hard to get away from the flavour of Feeler and this album is the closest to being back there again.”