TRAVELLING SOLO: ONE MAN AND HIS SONG
October 2006
He’s
Australian but with solid Maltese roots, and over the past three months
or so he’s performed in Malta, Holland, Ireland and England. Now that’s
really not bad for a self-managed, unsigned artist who we knew
practically nothing about until he set foot on our tiny rock armed with
little more than an acoustic guitar, two effects pedals and a stomp box.
His name is Carra (aka Luke Caruana), and in the short time he’s been in
Malta, thanks to a string of passionate, rootsy performances, he’s
become a familiar name on the local live circuit.
If you did chance upon one of his gigs at Rookies, Naasha, Gaiafest and
the Beer Festival, you’ll already be familiar with his trademark
friendliness (a characteristic that he also oozes offstage) as well as
his unique sense of melody. On top of the clear (but twisted) Blues
influences, his songs are equally informed by a contemporary alternative
edge that he only applies in measured doses so as to retain his music’s
acoustic (and yet quite powerful) core. Largely self-taught, Carra has
developed a style that packs quite a punch, and, after listening to his
debut EP, Travelling Solo, I have to agree with him when he insists how
the songs take on a new dimension when he is accompanied by his drummer,
Sarah, who unfortunately couldn’t join him for this European visit.
Nevertheless, he is still quite radiant about the success of his solo
European tour. Although his original schedule was planned around dates
in Malta, London and Limerick, while in London, Carra was contacted by a
Dutch promoter and booked to perform four gigs in Holland. The unplanned
detour took him to Amsterdam and the West Coast of the country, and as
he readily admits, he really felt at home in Holland. “Dutch audiences
really dig live music”, he tells me, “they make the artist feel
important and genuinely respect his effort and work”. Equally gratifying
was his gig in Ireland, where he also spent much time jamming with
several local traditional musicians he befriended along the way. The
experience brought with it a fresh musical disposition that Carra
absorbed wholeheartedly and I wouldn’t be surprised if some Irish
elements crop up somewhere on his next record.
What has already cropped up in his music is a Maltese influence of
sorts, not so much in musical interpretation (even if he has been known
to slip in the odd Maltese folk tune every now and then) but rather from
an inspirational perspective. Even before he actually set foot in Malta,
Carra had already penned a new song on the plane, and he has also
written a few more since. They may still be works-in-progress, but that
hasn’t stopped him from performing at least two of them, Be Yourself and
If You Dare (To Be My Lover) in his more recent gigs. Primarily bearing
his familiar acoustic timbre, the new songs are possibly more outspoken,
maybe even grittier than his earlier compositions, but since they have
only been tested in a live setting so far, all that may (or maybe not)
change by the time they are recorded. What is certain is the fact that
both songs blend perfectly with his set, complementing numbers such as
Open Up Your Eyes and I Can Be The One (which you can find on his debut
EP), the upbeat Jammin’ Out as well as his emphatically distinctive
renditions of Tears For Fears’ Mad World and The Doors’ Love Her Madly.
Carra will be heading back down under at the end of October for more
gigs around his native Australia and also to start work on his new
record, but before that you can still catch a taste of his alternative
acoustic experience on Saturday 14 October near the National Library in
Valletta, where he will be performing unplugged at 9pm as part of the
Notte Bianca celebrations.
Recommended weblink:
www.carramusic.com
