The long road to reclamation

ARTISTS meet their audience in unexpected and often profoundly moving ways.

For singer-songwriter Pete Murray, at the tail end of the most mammoth 60+ date tour of his career, it happened two weeks ago on a street in Brunswick Heads.

“We were taking photos, and a woman came up to me and she was just shaking – her fiancé

had just passed away and they’d only buried him the week before,” Murray said.

“They had gone to my Tweed show together a couple of months ago. They had a beautiful time, and they had a special bond with my songs.

“She said she’s been listening to some of my songs to help her heal. I love that my music can do that for people.”

The multi-platinum-selling artist has sold over 1.2 million albums since his 2001 debut, The Game.

His 2003 sophomore album Feeler cemented his status, with hits such as Better Days and So Beautiful etched into the memories of a generation.

The new record, Longing, is due out on October 3, with Murray offering fans the chance to win luxury accommodation, VIP tickets and a meet and greet with the artist at his Byron Shire show.

Despite the hectic touring schedule and promoting a new record, Murray has carved out the time to ‘pull a Swifty’, as he describes the reclamation of his music from his former record company.

With shades of Taylor Swift, who led the charge for contemporary artists wrestling to reclaim ownership of their work, the songwriter is determined to reimagine his ownership over his material.

“I’ve actually paid all the money back to the label that I owed, but I will still never own those songs, Sony does – and they own most of the earnings from them,” he said.

“When you’re a younger artist signing to a label, you don’t realise that the master is something that you really should have because it’s what you earn a royalty from.

“A musician can’t tour all the time. You need downtime from performing to write songs, practice, record, and hone your craft – and royalties are what you live on.

“I’ve re-recorded around 20 songs so far, the major ones that I thought I needed to do and that I think people want to hear.

“My ambition is to make the new versions as good, if not better, and hopefully people will like them even more than the originals. That’s my goal.”

Murray plays Hotel Brunswick on Friday, October 3.

For information and tickets, visit petemurray.com