The Black Sorrows still going strong

Joe Camillieri has seen a lot of things change in music

The Black Sorrows, led by Joe Camilleri, have released their 20th album entitled Faithful Satellite. PICTURE: SUPPLIED

IT’S pretty easy to get lost in Canberra.

The concrete jungle of the city is a far cry from Darwin, and legendary Australian musician Joe Camilleri told the NT News he was looking forward to heading to the tropical north to finish his tour — if he could find his way back to his waiting car in Canberra, ready to take him to his next show in Newcastle. “I want to do my 10,000 steps before I get to Newcastle,” he said. “The driver will not stop anywhere, he just hates stopping.

“I say ‘I need to pee’ and he says ‘you can hang on for another 20’. I’m 68 years old — I can’t hold on.”

Camilleri will be joined by his band The Black Sorrows in Darwin this weekend to wrap up a 50-day tour of the band’s 20th album — Faithful Satellite, the successor to the band’s last original and critically acclaimed 2014 album Certified Blue.

With more than 50 years in the music business under his belt and on the road touring for many of those, Camilleri described himself as a “shoe salesman”, selling his music door to door with relentless touring.

When he first started on the road it was far easier — airlines would wait if you were running late and Camilleri even once had his passport delivered to him in Singapore to make a connecting international flight.

“Life was easier because there wasn’t so much regulation about everything — we’re so scared of everything and the world’s become a lot more of a dangerous place,” he said.

“The thing that hasn’t changed over the years is the joy of people playing music and people wanting to listen to it. It’s moved around in different ways but it’s still a wonderful way to get lost just for an hour or two and the music is a healer for many different times whether it’s life, death or everything in between.”

The Black Sorrows at Skycity Casino on Saturday December 17, 8pm.