Mark Lanegan is no stranger to our shores, having recently toured in support of his projects with Isobel Campbell, his 2010 solo dates, and his tour with the Mark Lanegan band in 2012.
Now the enigmatic rocker is set to visit our shores again to support Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds and he’s decided to drop in one more time to his favourite Aussie venue the Ding Dong Lounge in Melbourne for an exclusive sideshow. Lanegan was here just a few months ago to help celebrate the relaunch of the popular Melbourne venue, so when the opportunity presented itself it was a no brainer.
Over the past 20 years, Mark Lanegan has left a distinctive mark on the contemporary rock scene. Between 1985 and 1996, he served as the vocalist and front man for the Screaming Trees, a trend-setting grunge band from Seattle.
Beginning in 1990 he launched an overlapping solo career, creating thoughtful, singer-songwriter material deeply influenced by the blues. He had originally planned to join with Kurt Cobain, Pickerel, and Chris Novoselic, and record an EP of blues songs. The sessions, however, were never completed, and Lanegan went on to release his first solo album, The Winding Sheet.
The album included “Where Did You Sleep Last Night,” originally recorded for the earlier project (and later to appear on Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged). The real shocker for Screaming Tree fans, though, was Lanegan’s low-key approach to his solo work, as he relied on acoustic guitars to interpret his haunting lyrics. It was only with his 1994 follow-up, Whiskey for the Holy Ghost, that Lanegan’s solo career came to the forefront.
Following the release, Lanegan returned to the Screaming Trees to record Dust. Released in 1996, it would be the band’s last album, leaving Lanegan free to pursue his solo career. In 1998 Lanegan returned with his third solo album, Scraps at Midnight, before strarting a part-time residency in 2002 with the Queens of the Stone Age (QOTSA). He temporarily left the group in 2003 to record Here Comes That Weird Chill with the Mark Lanegan Band.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks in Lanegan’s growth as an artist was drug abuse. “The only time that I could work … was when I would stop for a while,” he told the Seattle Times. “That’s why in 10 years I only made three records. It wasn’t something I was capable of.” Lanegan’s abuse of heroin and crack cocaine eventually left the singer very ill.
He had watched a number of friends, including Kurt Cobain, become drug casualties, and feared he was on the same path. “I almost did (die) many times,” he told the Seattle Times. “And tons of my friends did.” Finally, with the help of the Musicians Assistance Program, he entered a drug rehabilitation program in California.
In August of 2004 Lanegan released Bubblegum, an album that delved deeply into the singer’s past. Songs like “Methamphetamine Blues” harked back to traditional rural blues but added a contemporary twist with references to the pain of drug addiction.
Lanegan returned to Queens Of The Stone Age at the end of 2004 to record Lullabies to Paralyze (released in 2005), and joined the support tour during the spring of 2005. “My relationship with these guys is one of the most satisfying that I’ve had,” he said of playing with the group. “It’s great to play with, essentially, my best friends.”
He returns to Australia following the release of his new album Blues Funeral in 2012, his first offering since 2004’s Bubblegum.
Lanegan will be performing solo with Dave Rosser, guitarist of The Gutter Twins.
Mark Lanegan (USA) Solo Show
Monday 4th March 2013
Ding Dong Lounge
Tickets on sale now via oztix
