For Joe Camilleri from The Black Sorrows making music has always been about freedom. The musician said that if he's making music then he's not thinking about anything else and can actually get lost in the moment.
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"As a young kid, listening to the jukebox was my salvation. It was the only thing that would get me into another space," he said.
Camilleri founded The Black Sorrows in 1983 and, although they've had a few breaks over the years, the band are still active today and will make their Mudgee debut during the Red Hot Summer Tour on Saturday, February 8 at Parklands Resort.
The band are best remembered for their top 40 Australian hits of the late 1980s and early 1990s, including Hold On To Me, Chained To The Wheel, Harley and Rose and Snake Skin Shoes.
Camilleri said the band came together after several years of playing in other bands, a suggestion made by a friend to play at a café he worked at one afternoon.
"I was working at the fruit market in Footscray, wondering what was next. Then I started working at a cafe, Cafe Neon, pouring coffees. My friend, Chris, who owned the place, asked if I wanted to come play one afternoon. I was Joey Vincent, while Chris was Johnny Coal. We shared the same taste in music and The Black Sorrows were born," he said.
Camilleri isn't one to talk up his success that first started with Elvis Costello taking up The Black Sorrows on live television and said their Red Hot Summer Tour Mudgee performance will depend on how great a day the band is having.
"On a good night, we're a great band. On an average night, we're an average band. And on a bad night, we're a train wreck. And I reckon that's the way bands should be. Sometimes you fall flat on your face, but I'd rather fall flat on my face than be the same every night," he said.
The Black Sorrows will be joined by Suzi Quatro, The Angels, Shannon Noll and Russell Morris at Parklands Resort on Saturday, February 8 from 1pm.
Tickets are still on sale and can be brought from Ticketmaster (ticketmaster.com.au) or the Mudgee Visitor Information Centre.
