ARIA winner Katie Noonan on how Jeff Buckley's masterpiece changed her at 17
Australian vocal legend Katie Noonan brings her raw, emotional tribute to Jeff Buckley's Grace to Darwin for the tour's climactic final performance.
Five-time ARIA award-winning artist Katie Noonan says picking her favourite track from Jeff Buckley’s album Grace is like picking your favourite child.
Still, she was willing to highlight a few.
“I’m going through a pretty harrowing divorce at the moment, so Last Goodbye has a particularly potent, emotional impact for me,” she said.
“But my favourite song to play live is probably Lover, You Should’ve Come Over; it’s a pretty beautiful, extensive track and I get to play keyboard on that one.”
Regarded by the Herald Sun as one of the greatest Australian singers of all time, Noonan on Thursday, November 20, will pay homage to Buckley’s Grace at the AANT Centre as part of her 24-date national tour.
Her show in Darwin marks an end to her nationwide tour, which kicked off in September.
The 48-year-old first heard the 11-track album – considered by David Bowie as the greatest album of all time – when she was 17-years-old.
It changed her.
“I just feel this freedom,” she said.
“He (Buckley) was a very thorough musician. You could hear the classical influence. You could hear the shredding 80s rock influence. You could hear the jazz influence.
“He created his own thing, which was my obsession.”
She heaped praise on the album, crediting it as the “single biggest influence” on her music life.
“I saw him live when I was 18-years-old in 1986, and I remember thinking that whatever it is he’s doing – which was really hard to describe, which I love – I want to do that,” she said.
“It didn’t sound like anything else. He wasn’t trying to sound like anyone else, unlike this era, when jazz and pop music has become so homogenised; it’s formulaic bullsh-t.
“This album has no formulas; it’s what music should always be. You always want to be on the edge of exploring something new, because that’s where the magic smiles.”
Noonan said Darwin’s strong First Nations identity made the show “extra special”, and hoped Territorians would make it to her show.
“This is one of the greatest albums of all time, and you will be seeing six musicians playing it for the 24th time, so we’re very gig fit,” she said.
“I really encourage you to come along and share, discover and celebrate the magic of Jeff Buckley and this incredible record, which 30 years later absolute stands the test of time as a true masterpiece.”
Tickets to Noonan’s final show can be purchased here: https://tickets.yourcentre.com.au/Shows/Katie-Noonan-Jeff-Buckley-s-Grace
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Originally published as ARIA winner Katie Noonan on how Jeff Buckley's masterpiece changed her at 17
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