The Year That Was..2010

Wow. Yet another year has passed us by. Here’s a quick run down of what took place in 2010.

Rewinding back to January, Josh took off on his solo tour with Russell Crawford, before finding himself on a co-headline tour in the UK with Emma Pollock in March. He was then back in Western Australia to play the Joondalup Festival towards the end of March. (I still can’t believe he played, after i had moved to Melbourne, nice one JP)

Earlier in the year, Josh started a Myspace for his old band, An Empty Flight, for those of you curious to hear. In April, Josh headed to the Triple J studio to unleash the first Basement Birds single, Waiting For You. Those weeks/months to follow saw the Basement Birds on a media rollercoaster which included Sunrise appearance, Triple J Like A Version, APRA performance, Channel [V] Guerilla gig and much more!

May saw Josh make appearances at Songs For Stories and the Sydney’s Writer’s Festival, then the Go Between Bridge Concert in June. In July the Basement Birds’ album was released (after previously releasing bundles on iTunes), it debuted at #12 on the National ARIA Physical & Digital combined charts, and #1 on the AIR 100% Indie Charts.

In August, the second Busking For Change took place at the Annandale Hotel . The total raised was an outstanding $17,170. All of it went to the Indigenous Literacy Project (ILP). (I was lucky enough to be flown from Melbourne to attend the gig – a huge thanks again to Josh and those at Wonderlick)

Finally the time had arrived and the Basement Birds hit the road in August for the Good Evening and Good Night Tour, playing shows in capital cities and a festival or two. In September, Josh Pyke received an ARIA nomination for best Music DVD for his release, The Lighthouse DVD while the Basement Birds were nominated for Best Adult Alternative Album. Josh Pyke was also nominated for Channel [V]‘s OZ Artist of the Year.

Something else I should mention, in addition to his solo and Basement Birds music, Josh has been working on other projects. What You’re Thinking a track from Passenger‘s latest album features Josh Pyke on guest vocals, and Josh co-wrote Cotton Wool which features on Katie Noonan & The Captains latest album. And I read online that Josh features on 360‘s album Falling & Flying which is out next year.

Phew! I think that just about covers everything that took place this year..

Basement Birds play Woodford Folk Festival and Pyramid Rock over the next few days and Josh plays Mooloolaba Festival on the 31st! Don’t forget, there’s still time to vote for the Basement Birds in Triple J’s Hottest 100. Last but not least, Josh Pyke hits the road in January with Passenger for a small run of shows, and he told us on Twitter that he’s off to New York in January to finish writing for album three!

And once again, thank you ALL for supporting Friends of Josh Pyke. I hope to see you all again in 2011!

-sabi