Category Archives: news

Standing on a Bridge and remembering

Hello again – its been a long time.

So much has happened in recent years. The most sobering thing-quite literally- was my brother Chris’ passing. It happened Sept 20 2023 about 9:30pm on Bridge St in Nelson.

It was his habit to take a cab home but for some reason he indicated that he would take a stroll and he waved his driver friend on and walked the relatively short distance from the Rattle and Hum to his home … Thats the last time the driver saw Chris.

He walked to within 80 metres of home and was either struck down or tripped. The fatal wound to the back of his head was ‘as bad as it gets’ according to Dr Will his ICU doctor…. an inspection of the terrain where he fell didn’t explain how he could have sustained such an injury…..The coroners report had no clues either.

The night it happened i was woken by two cops very late in the evening alerting me that Chris was seriously injured. They were let in by my flatmate and just walked into my bedroom. The curious thing about it was i had gone to bed early (which i calculated later was about the time Chris fell) and experienced a profound intense sleep such as I have never experienced before. Wham! Gone. Just like my bro except my “NDE*” was the ‘phantom’ of two cops. * NDE stands for Near Death Experience

It really felt like what i imagine as an NDE. I took their advice and got to Nelson on first flight in the morning. I stayed in Nelson for weeks in a state of shock mixed with the acceptance of the inevitable.

Stayed at a hotel called Postboy at the invitation of Chris friend Craig the owner. Got to meet his companions and share memories of my brother with delightful characters. They were very kind to me and I expressed surprise at how helpful and kind they all were. I was told. On expressing this thought”its not so much that… “It’s because you are Chris Hurleys brother”. They loved him to bits.

I think we all did but we were also aware of the toll alcohol played on his life and how it caused him to live many lives

There was a constant restless urge in him to support the habit in ways that would help him forget his dependence on the good graces of others who unwittingly enabled his life in that terror of an alco-bubble. He was always on the move from bar to bar and when abroad country to country and hotel to hotel. From a lunch of champagne and oysters in a top Parisian Cafe to a greasy pie in a local pub.

And everywhere he went he was watched over by the loving graces of friends old and new.

He was generous charming and greatly admired on the highway but to be honest he was a handful at home between bouts of the highlife.  I have been reflecting on my recalls of Chris ever since the bad news and of course ever since he got profoundly addicted to alcohol back in the early 1960s.

It’s haunted me lifelong and just as that sleep the cops woke me up from seemed like a precognition into my brothers fatal knockout so the music I wrote some years before capture the mood around this tragedy long before it happened. Walking to the bridge which is a portal to another order of being.

Its unlike anything I ever wrote but as yet its unreleased.
Why is this songs and a few albums as yet not released?

Well in the case of The Bridge it comes down to the fact it needs tweaking and when anything needs tweaking theres always a cost involved. Also there is the daunting prospect of no marketing therefore no sales therefore no honey and that brings me to a place like my brothers.

I too have an addiction. It’s as fierce as alcohol. Its called art. “life is short art is long” and we are in a hard place now since the digital preference of the people is largely towards shortform content and not epic songs and albums.

The Bridge is an epic song. Lets hope when we lovingly place it on here: bandcamp.com/lukehurley u will click. Here are the lyrics.

Standing on the bridge
Between two lives
The one that we think we lose
The one we survive

There’s continuity
It is taken as read
Beyond belief
You’ve heard it said

Beyond belief
On the bridge

And the way that we live
Distracted most (of) the time

If only we would do
The things that we need to do
Not distracted by want
Standing on the bridge

Back to Flinders
I see the flame
Money is shit
Burning in the name
All of these games we play
On the bridge

On the bridge

Came out of imagination
So called reality
Came out of imagination
As we live on the bridge

Everything you know
Do you know it for sure?
How about for today?
You’d imagine
You know nothing
You know nothing
You won’t be that far from the truth

And we live
Crossing a bridge
This tiny little moment in eternity
Where we came from
Holds no fear
And yet we’re going back
To the same place that we came from
So do look back

Know no fear
On that bridge

Standing on a bridge

I would really appreciate your feedback. Write to me here. Happyislesnz@gmail.com
Without feedback all we have is short-form madness. Lets choose instead to revert back to long-form reflective authentic comms

Ps i have much more to tell regarding my brother and Baccus and steps we are taking to help people get a sane perspective on drugs in general.

I think we need to become adults over the issue of chemical fantasy. Its entirely out of control and we need to do something and we have done something… Of which more later.

“Bandcamp Friday returns Friday, March 7th! On Bandcamp Friday, we waive our revenue share, so every purchase goes straight to the artists.  Support your favourite artist”

https://lukehurley.bandcamp.com/

Also this week the Live album is released on Spotify .

BTW – you can also order that live album as a CD if you prefer a CD version.

Also working on an all instrumental album which needs to be mastered. Mastering costs are around $1700. The idea will be to release some unmastered tracks first as a preview to see what support there is.

Before the War

Listening party for Before the War

We hope you can tune in our listening party on bandcamp on Monday night NZ time.
Its 8pm NZ / 6PM Australia. Can try to do other times for US / EU listeners if there is some interest.

We play the album through and talk about songs etc.
This is an online event on bandcamp. It would be great if you can tune in for a listen.

Your invite here Please RSVP if you can.

Before the War is a new album 15th album is a series. All 15 are free to listen to on bandcamp and here too.

PS Update: Thanks everyone who logged in to say hello at the listening party. Thanks also to those who have bought a copy of the album already. The first 6 people to buy copies were in Canada, the US, NZ, Italy, Sweden and Germany.

(Eds note: Not everyone downloads the album so not everyone shows up on the supporters list. It is possible to leave the album on bandcamp and just stream it from there using that app or you can download and add it to your other music libraries.)

Most of those people tuned in plus a few more for the first listening party. Extra credits to “rumoursofglory” for getting up at 4am and the person or people in Italy – thanks again. It was great hearing from you all and planning the next one soon .

If you missed the listening party there is a plan to do more for this album and possibly some of the others too. Which other albums should be featured next? – let me know please. Listen to the whole album below.

Shayne Carter Dead People book

Dunedin music month

Writing to you from Taste Nature in Dunedin. Good place to discover great food and good company and ideal for blog writing.

Tomorrow playing at the inch bar it’s like a real Irish pub…. genuine conviviality personified which is rare in these days of nothing but www. The Inch Bar is near the Botanic Gardens in North Dunedin.

I still reckon an old fashioned newsletter like this is relevant in a sea of mainstream alternatives like instagram…

Been reading this book by Shayne Carter. ‘Dead People I Have Known.’ The front cover photo on the book comes from the She Speeds video in 1987 (John Collie.) ISBN 9781776562213. The book came out in 2019.

Powerful writing “We’ve all been young and stupid”.

He writes real good. You gotta check it out.

If you are in or near Dunedin or have friends there do come to the gig at Inch Bar tomorrow night. Phone me on 021 025 9219 if you have space for a house concert or an event you would like to do.

May is music month in NZ but really every month is music month and book month.

 

 

The Scene - Arrowtown preview

South Island Tour continues

Suffice it to say the Arrowtown gig went very well and we are planning another one so if you would like a ticket to it let me know. Here is what Leanne Malcolm wrote on March 29, 2024. Stop, Luke and listen (link below) and the first couple of paragraphs here

Singer-songwriter Luke Hurley’s feeling optimistic, which surprises him.

The Auckland-based muso’s preparing for a weekend gig at Arrowtown’s The Fork and Tap and says getting older’s had a positive influence on his music and state of mind.

The 66-year-old’s slipped under the commercial radar his entire musical life — he seems unfazed by once being labelled ‘‘one of New Zealand’s great unknown musicians’’.

He first became known as a busker and still enjoys street performing, but likens it to taking a ‘‘cold plunge’’.

‘‘Often times I feel shy or embarrassed about it, but if a musician wants to cheer themselves up, they should take the cold plunge and busk and find there’s kindness not cruelty in an audience.

‘‘It never fails to amaze me how much I misread people.

‘‘You see a distasteful expression, but you never know what’s going on in that person’s life.’’

He quotes Shakespeare to make his point: ‘‘There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.’’

Anyways in the prelude to that gig a very prominent journalist in Queenstown walked into Bean Around The World Cafe Queenstown where the two Craig’s and me were having a pensive dish of coffee. Journalist had only two things to say.

“Three musicians” he says.
Then he looks at me with a twinkle in his eye and says
“One has been”.
And he was right but Indian Craig pointed out that my career never has been better as this article written by another prominent journalist can attest to…

Read the full Scene review over here.

One thing you could do for us. Would really appreciate support for my recordings spanning back  more than 40 years. If you can spare the time go to my site www.lukehurley.co.nz and have a listen for free to 14 albums.

Any you like and decide to buy so much the better…. It’s not like Spotify as the artist gets most of the koha. It’s an app called band camp. It’s good news for musicians as it’s the kindest music seller online.

As we are looking for work between theses gigs GOLDEN Bear (Nelson) 12 April from 6pm.

The Gantry Port Chalmers 29 April  Got the name wrong. Actualkly called The Galley is at 36 George St in Port Chalmers and used to be called Santosha. Call me for ticket 021 0259 2919

Ruby Bay Store (Nelson) 25th May

Anything on a date in the gaps between these gigs and we will be there with tubular bells on. Just call me and book 021 0259 2919  do it.

We like little gigs…… Anything under 300000

Since we signed out of Taylor Swifts tour we have plenty of dates to fill but hurry.
It has been great talking to you. Don’t hesitate to contact us 021 0259 2919 if you need some great is was and has been inimitable music. OK?

Chris Benjies makes these stunning chess sets (see below). If you want one gis a call. I believe in his work. He’s an expert writer and woodist.

 

Arrowtown and More (John Dodd)

Arrowtown and More

This time away has been awesome. Got to pitch a song called “Before The War” to the director of a neo western being shot in Arrowtown. As a result of this we got a gig coming up at the Fork and Tap Arrowtown on March 30.

The day before pitching the song Craig offered me a spot in Queenstown where we met a German lady who was touched by my song “The Bridge” dedicated to my late brother Chris. She was moved to tears because the song reminded her of her tragic loss…her father passed away under similar circumstances at the same age within a few weeks of my brothers passing. There is a silver lining to the cloud as the song concerns a recognition not only of the tragedy but also the transition into the mystery…..the original recording times out at 9.28 which is about the time of night it happened.

I will write more on this when the song is released. I recorded it long before Chris passed away. Why am I telling you this? Because it astonished me that the song predates his passing and for years I could not understand what the song was about. One friend after hearing the original studio recording of the as yet unreleased song told me I am lucky to have been given a sign like this.

Tuatara Invercargill was a 🏆 and we again were congratulated by the bar manager. The secret was finding the sweet spot and turning up hours early to get warmed up and invite friends to be the white mouse in the experimental pre gig performance/warm-up . It went well and gave us great confidence in the pre gig melding into the gig itself. I am told that this is a key to getting a better main performance ……there’s no doubt that it is and in more ways than one.

The next stage was Dunedin playing in a house by the sea. We didn’t need to plug in as the acoustics were great. During this visit we also visited Lee and his amazing family. Absolutely beautiful venue he’s making at the hobby farm.

Cedar House the place that Lee returned to its former glory. It was built by the guy who set up the Otago medical school a century or more ago. A lovely place to stay

And the next gig is at a highly esteemed venue in Mapua called The Ruby Bay Store this Saturday from 7pm. Be there or be square.

Many thanks if you read this far and don’t forget to listen to the albums linked to www.lukehurley.co.nz and call me 021 0259 2919 if you can suggest any spontaneous gigs we can do anywhere anytime no matter how big. Got it? Good!

God bless ya’all
Luke

Cedar House the place that Lee returned to its former glory. It was built by the guy who set up the Otago medical school a century or more ago. A lovely place to stay

Main picture is John Dodd – the guy who kindly agreed to play on Make Room way back in the day. Was Midge Marsdens wingman and head of the music department at a high-school in Dunedin. Here we are at 7 Balmac in Dunedin. Great Cafe…superb hospitality.