THE NOMADICS – Bec Schofield and Dave Mann (and their three children) Lie back, close your eyes and transport yourself to remote Australia. Picture the red red dirt, white-blond grass and turquoise sea.. You’re lying in the shade of a gum tree and you can feel the heartbeat of this ancient land. Then in the distance you hear another rumbling, something deep, something heavy and you look towards the sound. Emerging from the haze comes a big blue truck; as it approaches you can see the legendary Dave Mann and his talented wife Bec Schofield beside him – dotted about them in some form or other are three tousle-headed children – its The Nomadics rolling in… Dave and Bec met a decade ago in the Northern Territory and from this potent alchemy have been creating together ever since. They sing songs of Country, of love, of life and history – of the things that they know and stories of events and times long gone. Their music is deceptively simple, incredibly approachable and deliciously personal. Their harmonies are so perfect it almost hurts; both are blessed with incredibly rich and soulful voices which meld seamlessly. Their music is good medicine for the soul: rich and nourishing, a cool drink on a hot day.
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As they share their lives so they share the artistic process. Co-writing, arranging, producing and performing together as they traverse this great land in the big blue veggie oil powered house truck they built themselves. The gigs, festivals, residencies and projects The Nomadics play often take them to very remote areas so as they travel they home-school the kids and hunt for veggie oil – the liquid gold that keeps them on the road.
Their adventures provide ample material for their songs and a rather different big blue – the ocean – is now firmly in their sights. The Nomadics are at home on the big stage having shared it with many Aussie icons like The Waifs and Missy Higgins however their greatest love is to play small, intimate house concerts, preferably through a single mic. Vocal harmonies, banjo, slide and open-tunings come together to create their unique form of soul country music with its roots in folk blues. Between them they have a stack of releases and they recently released their first album together: “Love is a Flood”, the title track being inspired by the birth of their twins.
The Nomadics were certainly a favourite at Fairbridge Festival this year and now, after a bunch of sold out shows touring the east coast and SW coast of Australia, they have saddled up for their Northern WA tour. Gratitude for this life shines through everything they do – and it ignites a campfire in the heart. Listening to The Nomadics might make you weep but they are healing tears – tears that soothe and renew – and the sheer beauty of their music is a reward in itself.
