Anne McCue

Anne McCue: BROKEN PROMISE LAND

Anne McCue: Koala Motel

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ANNE McCUE | Koala Motel
(MESSENGER)

McCue sounds like her alto came out of God’s workshop. She’s confident, polished, smart, and Koala Motel is wholly original — and indelible.

- PAMELA MURRAY WINTERS | HARP MAGAZINE
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When McCue wrote the song "I Want You Back", she immediately thought of Dusty Wakeman (Dwight Yoakum, Lucinda Williams) as a possible co-conspirator to record the song, due to it's twangy overtones and the fact that it was inspired by an interview she had heard on the radio with Johnny Cash. She gave Dusty a call and they decided to record the song in a day. Anne called Mike Stinson in to play drums and Carl Byron brought in his piano accordion later in the evening. Little did they know that the recording of this song (track 1) would lead to the recording of an entire album eight months down the track for Messenger Records. Long time Wakeman collaborator Dave Raven (The Mojo Monkeys) was brought in to play drums and the album was essentially recorded as a three piece. "I was going for a live-in-the studio feel, not too many overdubs," says McCue. Carl Byron later came in to add B3 organ, Wurlitzer and Accordion parts and Eric Gardner (Wayne Kramer, Ben Stiller) played drums on "Tiny Little Song" and "Machine Gun". The album was recorded at Dusty's Mad Dog Studios in Burbank, California in about three weeks. "Machine Gun" was the last track recorded, with a "let's just play it and see what happens" approach by McCue, Wakeman and Gardner.

This live solo recording came out of the Lucinda Williams tour in 2002. Anne opened about 25 shows for LW and debuted her version of Hendrix's "Voodoo Chile" (Slight Return), for the first time. A DVD of the tour is currently being edited into shape.

Anne's first album was recorded over a period of about five years. It was begun in Melbourne and completed in Los Angeles. With collaborators Jonathan Russell, Susan Powell and Rob McCormack, McCue went into Tim Finn's Periscope Studio under the guidance of engineer and co-producer Laurence Maddy. They recorded "These Things", "My Only One", and "Always". Then, Anne was called away to Vietnam. On her return to Melbourne a year later she went back to the same studio with Maddy, this time with drummer Simon Dawe and bass player Geoff Cain, both of whom she had met in Ho Chi Minh City. They recorded "Laughing", and "Waiting For The Son". Fate intervened yet again and Anne was off to the USA. After a year or so, she met up with Jonathan Merrill and almost finished recording the album in Silverlake, Los Angeles. The final track, "Angel Inside", was recorded with Larry Klein (producer, bass) and Matt Chamberlain (drums).