Shane O’Mara (guitar) and Jex Saarelaht (piano and organ) were the backing band for Chris Wilson the night he recorded the legendary Australian album Chris Wilson, Live At the Continental. In celebration of the re-release of the album on January 22, 2021 (with additional tracks and for the first time on vinyl), AM’s Greg Phillips spoke with Shane and Jex to remember Chris and the creation of the famous live recording.
Melbourne’s Cheersquad Records & Tapes are extremely proud & very excited to announce the long-deserved re-release – and first-ever vinyl release – of the classic Chris Wilson live album, Live At the Continental.
Originally recorded and released in 1994 after Chris had released his first solo album on Mushroom’s Aurora label, Live At The Continental is an intimate recording, made at a beloved venue, of the Melbourne blues, country, folk and roots-rock master, accompanied only by long-time sideman Shane O’Mara on guitar, and Australian jazz luminary Jex Saarelaht on piano. The album holds a singular place in a singular career; it is an Australian classic and was the subject of a documentary film that premiered in 2017 at the St Kilda Film Festival.
The original nine-song CD was expanded with extra material in a low-key fifteen-song independently released double CD back in 2007. That edition has now been remastered with yet more material – seventeen tracks in all – for a new double CD, and, for the first time ever, a vinyl edition. The initial double LP edition will be available in a limited run of yellow and black vinyl, matching the colours of Chris’s beloved Richmond Football Club.
www.facebook.com/cwilsonmusic
www.cheersquad.com.au/releases/live-at-the-continental/
