Jo Meares released his new album 'BACK TO THE WORLD' in June 2018.

Recorded over 2 years in Sydney and Melbourne it involves an extraordinary range of musicians including...

Melbourne - Mark McCartney(guitars), Trent McKenzie(bass), Dave Milne(drums), Matty Vehl(piano)

Sydney - Murray Cook(guitar), Marc Denis(guitar) Justin Tauber(bass), John Butler(drums), Kari Pihl(piano/bv's)

Backing vocals by Jess Cassar

Violins by Michael Bridges

Jo will be releasing the vinyl version and touring the album in Australia sept-dec 2018.

'Back to the World' is available on Bandcamp(link below) and the vinyl will be available from October 2018.

https://jomeares.bandcamp.com/album/back-to-the-world-2

'...this an album that does something for you and something to you. In a live setting at one point I would probably shed a tear. Magnificent just doesn't seem to cover it and if I would give a higher mark I would. Outstanding...' 10/10 - Ernest Platt, Wildspiritz Rising, November 2018

'Back To The World' is another of Meares’ mini-masterpieces. The 10-minute closer, An Old Dog And A Shotgun, would be worth your time alone, would be the album standout, the reason to come here to hear this – but there’s not a single dud track. Once again he’s taken time to create something ‘whole’, a piece, an album that could, in another setting, stand up as film or book, a graphic novel, a macabre ballet. - Simon Sweetman, Off The Tracks, October 2018

TOUR DATES:-

THUR SEPT 20     GASOLINE PONY, SYDNEY with Michael Bridges(violin/saw)

FRI OCT 12           THE SPOTTED MALLARD, MELBOURNE, ALBUM LAUNCH with full band.

                               with special guests SIMON BAILEY and SHANE O'MARA from PONYFACE

THURS OCT 18     THE JUNK BAR, BRISBANE, ALBUM LAUNCH(solo)

                               with special guests THE SHIFTING SANDS

THUR OCT 25       THE DRUNKEN POET, MELBOURNE(solo)

SUN OCT 28          SWAMPLANDS, MELBOURNE with full band

SAT NOV 17           LEADBELLY, SYDNEY, ALBUM LAUNCH with full band.

                               with special guests THE DIRTY RAVENS

FRI NOV 23 .         ACLAND FOLK CLUB, ST KILDA, MELBOURNE with Mark McCartney(guitar), Dave Milne(piano)

SUN NOV 25         STANDARD HOTEL, MELBOURNE with full band

SAT DEC 08          CHARLIE’S LAST STAND, ARMIDALE With Michael Bridges(violin/saw)

SUN DEC 09 .       McCROSSIN’S MILL, URALLA with Michael Bridges(violin/saw)

FRI DEC 14           MERRI CREEK TAVERN, MELBOURNE with full band.

SAT DEC 15 .        RAILWAY HOTEL, MACEDON(VIC) with full band

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'KING OF THE CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN' Jo Meares' last album was released in June 2014

Produced by Charles Jenkins it features the guitar work of virtuoso Jeff Lang and the sublime harmonica work of Reuben Alexander
and Kari Pihl's beautiful piano work.

The haunting backing vocals were recorded by an all girl choir in an old church in Helsinki, Finland.

From Simon Sweetman at Off The Tracks....

'...the whole album hit me in a way that some albums do; something by Richmond Fontaine, say. Or Springsteen's 'Ghost of Tom Joad'. A complete thing, a completed album that plays out like a movie or a book or a stage-play. It’s there. It unfolds for you. You’re listening to it but you can see it in front of you – you can imagine, the mind wanders due to the beauty and intensity and integrity of the music and the lyrics. Big bold stories. Real'.

From Chris Familton's 4 star review at The Music....

Mood and atmosphere are key factors in the creation of immersive and transportive music and Jo Meares' new album is richly imbued with both. Eerie, forlorn harmonica; delicate and heart-wrenching piano; slow, shuffling drums; and exquisite guitar courtesy of Jeff Lang are the backdrop to Meares' tales of love, pain and emotional turbulence, rendered in the talk/sung style of Leonard Cohen yet invested with the gothic country ambience of Howe Gelb (Giant Sand) and Wovenhand. King Of The Crystal Mountain is a richly detailed and beautiful set of recordings from start to finish.