Pete Murray embarks on first Australian national solo tour ahead of seventh studio album

Legendary Australian singer-songwriter Pete Murray is on the road again, and he is sharing some of the funny interpretations people have had of his most famous tunes.

While he loves to let listeners find their own personal meaning in his songs, Pete Murray felt compelled to correct one misinterpretation of the message behind his biggest hit.

“The biggest (misreading) was probably the song So Beautiful, (the story of it) is I was in a bar waiting to meet a friend after a gig I played, and a lot of pretentious people just came into the bar and were totally painful,” the chart-topping Chinchilla boy said.

“So I left and went home and wrote So Beautiful about them.

“When that song came out, people were starting to play it at their weddings, (and) there was a point where I started saying, ‘listen, this is not a wedding song, guys’, and I think people have stopped that now.”

The acclaimed Australian singer-songwriter is bringing raw versions of some of his biggest tunes across the country as part of his first national solo tour, which kicked off on the weekend and runs until September.

Pete Murray is bringing his new tour to Toowoomba this week. Picture: Ian Laidlaw

Inappropriate wedding songs aside, Murray said he was proud that his tunes were often the soundtracks for people’s biggest moments.

Among the “big three” of his hits is Opportunity, a beautiful serenade urging the listener to not be afraid to dream of something bigger in life.

“Opportunity has probably had a lot of positive impact on people changing their lives, making sure that they’re happy with what they’re doing — it’s all about, ‘if you’re not happy with where you are, then find your exit and get out of it and change’,” Murray remarked.

“When the guys are leaving grade 12, that became their graduation song for many years – I remember I’ve met lots of people that have said that was their graduation song.

“We get a bit lost sometimes in the system that we’ve created and that we’ve got to do this and we got to do that, and we’ve just got to get a real job and you’ve got to be happy and get a mortgage and all those sorts of things.”

Taking life in a different direction is something Murray has himself embraced, having famously been a latecomer to songwriting.

Australian singer-songwriter Pete Murray. Picture: Ian Laidlaw

“I was 22 at the time I picked up a guitar and then I really didn’t start songwriting until I was maybe 25 or 26. I recorded my first independent album at 30, so very old in the music world if you’re starting your career at 30,” he said.

“Normally most people are finished by then, they haven’t made it that far, then they have to go get a real job.

“I remember being asked the question in very early interviews, a guy was like, ‘what do you think about the idea they say about the music business (that) if you haven’t made it by the time you’re 24 you’re never going to make it’.

Pete Murray in 1999.

“I was thinking, ‘bull----, it comes down to the songs’ (and) when I talk to the audience, I ask them, ‘is this luck or fate?’ and I tell them my story about how it happened.”

That remarkable change in fate is laid bare as part of the national tour, which includes an early stop in the “big smoke” of his childhood in Toowoomba — a city he has developed a fondness for playing in over the years.

“I grew up in Chinchilla on the Darling Downs, so Toowoomba for me was always the big city,” the 55-year-old told News Corp.

“Queensland crowds have a bit of ownership of me because I’m a Queenslander and (in Toowoomba) they’re super supportive, it’s always a good fun crowd to get to play to — I’ve always had good gigs out there.”

Already four dates deep into the run of shows, Murray said he was letting fans embrace the raw nature of the songs — even selling a tour-only acoustic album.

“It’s really about taking the audience back to hearing the songs in the raw state that they were written in and also telling them about my story,” he said.

“Most shows have sold out so it’s doing really well, I’ve had people in the crowd that have been seeing me for 20 years now and they’ve said this is the best show they’ve ever seen of mine so that’s a really good compliment to get that.”

Acts for the Festival of Food and Wine 2024 have been announced. Pete Murray.

Despite the massive touring schedule, Murray is still busy in the studio — his seventh album comes out later this year and he’s also “pulling a Taylor Swift” by re-recording some of his older work to secure rights to the masters.

Pete Murray plays Toowoomba’s Empire Theatre on Friday, June 20.

For tickets to the acoustic solo tour, head to the website.

Originally published as Pete Murray embarks on first Australian national solo tour ahead of seventh studio album