Deborah Conway - the old and the new

Right:Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier

To celebrate the 25-year anniversary of her platinum release String of Pearls, Australian singer-songwriter Deborah Conway will perform the album as well as launch her new album, Everybody's Begging, with long-time collaborator Willy Zygier, in two concerts at Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC), on 9 September, with a second on 10 September due to popular demand.

A full band of some of Australia’s finest musicians will bring the classic record to life including Vika and Linda Bull on backing vocals, Niko Schäuble, Clio Renner (RocKwiz) and Simon Starr, in the concerts entitled The Beginning and The End.

String of Pearls’ themes of youthful reflection and tongue in cheek irreverence, embodied in hits such as It’s Only the Beginning, Release Me and the bittersweet title track, earned Conway the 1992 Best Female ARIA Award and the record’s essential and enduring place in Australian music. The album release was accompanied by an extensive tour with band The Mother of Pearl, in which Zygier played guitar. This was the start of a highly successful song writing and personal collaboration for Conway and Zygier, which has resulted so far in nine records and three children.

String of Pearls was “only the beginning” of a wonderful, varied solo career for Conway and that's how the two concerts will end; and to open, Conway and Zygier will perform their ninth and latest album, Everybody's Begging, the follow-up to their critically acclaimed 2013 release, Stories of Ghosts.

Cremorne Theatre 9 and 10 September 2016. Bookings: qpac.com.au or phone 136-246.

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