ARIA Hall Of Famer and Australian music luminary Joe Camilleri has just announced The Black Sorrows’ 21st album for release in 2019, Citizen John.
Citizen John sits comfortably alongside The Black Sorrows finest work including Harley And Rose, Hold On To Me and Dear Children, and will be released by the new Mushroom label Bloodlines early next year. And although the finishing touches are still being applied to the new album, The Black Sorrows are happy to reveal an appetizer in the form of this first single and underrated Bob Dylan penned pop gem ‘Silvio’.
The new album will showcase The Black Sorrows sophisticated brand of soul and blues, and will be followed later in 2019 by the Bloodlines re-issue of all of The Black Sorrows’ vast catalogue of albums.
Citizen John comes almost 35 years after Joe Camilleri started The Black Sorrows one Sunday afternoon at Melbourne’s Café Neon. Yet even with the massive successes enjoyed by The Black Sorrows over the four decades since, Joe has remained fiercely independent, saying recently:
“I’m not a perfect fit with the music industry. I call it art, they call it product. I just like making music. But Bloodlines is a great home for my music. It’s nice to be back working with Michael (Gudinski) & Warren (Costello) as they are genuine music fans.”
The ARIA Award winning band are also one of Australia’s most-loved, having sold more than a million albums and continuing to do in excess of 150 live performances shows each and every year.
The Black Sorrows are currently in Europe playing 18 shows in Germany (one of their biggest international markets) and immediately upon their return will undertake some Australian headline shows and music festivals.
To set the tone for 2019, The Black Sorrows have been announced as one of the feature artists at the 30th Byron Bay Bluesfest and back to Europe touring April/May 2019 in what will be yet another landmark year of touring for the band.
Citizen John is Joe’s 49th career album and would you believe the first since he celebrated his 70th birthday. But these are just numbers to Joe, who remains ageless. And his music is timeless.
Australian dates
Friday 19 October
Marysville Jazz & Blues Festival | Marysville, VIC
Friday 26 October
The Palms at Crown | Southbank, VIC
Saturday 10 November
Bridgetown Blues Festival | Bridgetown, WA
Sunday 11 November
96fm’s Kickstart Summer Concert | Ascot, WA
Saturday 17 November
Anthems Festival | Canberra, ACT
Sunday 25 November
Queenscliff Music Festival | Queenscliff, VIC
For all dates head to theblacksorrows.com.au/gigs/