Nathan Cavaleri plays Byron Speakeasy

GUITARIST and songwriter Nathan Cavaleri is bringing his intimate tour to Byron Theatre’s Speakeasy series on January 7.

The former child prodigy was a regular on concert stages and television screens in the late 1980s and 1990s and was described as ‘the world’s youngest blues guitarist’ when he burst upon the scene at seven years old.

By age 12, Cavaleri was at the centre of a US bidding war between the labels of Prince, Madonna and Michael Jackson. He jammed with Mark Knopfler, toured with B.B. King, and played at the Kennedy Centre for the Clintons alongside Etta James and Bonnie Raitt.

On ABC’s Australian Story in 2022, at age 40, Cavaleri revealed candid details of dropping out of the industry in his 20s and events of the intervening years. Talking with this masthead, he said it was a pivotal moment.

“I learnt there were a lot of people who knew about my career and my life, but there was a whole heap that nobody knew,” Cavaleri said.

“I was just that kid who played with Jimmy Page and Tommy Emmanuel and was on, Hey, Hey, it’s Saturday all the time.”

Insomnia, anxiety and depression led to an extended time out for the musician, finally returning to the stage and studio in 2019.

He has also become one of the biggest Twitch streamers in the world, a platform he loves and credits as a career turnaround.

Of all his battles in adulthood, none were more formative than enduring leukaemia from the age of five, finally declared in remission after seven years of treatment.

“I wouldn’t have had the passionate and emotional connection with my music if I didn’t go through that,” Cavaleri said.

“I had learned how to play guitar before I was diagnosed, and I learned enough to digest my emotions through my music.

“When I was able to look at footage of myself without feeling awkward, I’d scratch my head and wonder why somebody like Jimmy Barnes or B.B. King wanted me to tour with them. I’d look at the footage and realise there was a fire there. There was just so much emotion, and I’m not just playing the music.

“That’s what those guys love, and that’s what blues and rock is all about, and I don’t think I would have had that if it hadn’t been for those early experiences,” he said.

To hear the stories and Cavaleri’s insatiable musicianship including material from his last album Demons, information and tickets are available at thebyronspeakeasy.com