Comprised of Melbourne, Australia-born, New York-based drummer Jim White, who’s best known as a member of the internationally acclaimed instrumental rock act Dirty Three and for collaborating with an incredible list of equally renowned artists including PJ Harvey, Nina Nastasia, Cat Power, Bill Callahan a.k.a. Smog and others; and beloved Crete-born vocalist and laouto player Giorgos Xylouris, the son of renowned vocalist and lyra player Psarandonis Xylouris, best known for leading the Xylouris Ensemble, the world music duo Xylouris White can actually trace their origins to when the renowned Cretan and his ensemble was touring Melbourne in the early 1990s. At the time, White was a member of Melbourne, Australia-based avant rock band Venom P. Stinger when he had met and befriended Xylouris, who later would collaborate with the members of Dirty Three whenever he was in Australia –and interestingly enough, the members of Dirty Three had at various points have publicly cited the renowned Cretan and his father as influencing their sound and approach.
And although White and Xylouris had known each other for quite some time, it wasn’t until 2013 that they decided to collaborate as a duo, a process which was accelerated when White played with Xylouris and Psaradonis at an All Tomorrow’s Parties festival that was specially curated by Nick Cave. Interestingly, the duo’s long-held mutual admiration has influenced how they the write and perform music — and in some way, it’s almost as though the duo is dancing together, as at any given point, they could be accompanying and leading each other, simultaneously and in a very fluid fashion. Interestingly, the duo’s debut Goats was influenced by Xylouris’ poetic analogy for their creative approach “Like goats walking in the mountain. They may not know the place, but they can walk easily and take risks and feel comfortable. Really, the goats inspired us.”
The duo’s sophomore effort Black Peak furthers their goat analogy as the album’s title is derived from a famous Cretan mountain, and the album, which was “recorded everywhere,” as Xylouris says in press notes and produced by Fugazi‘s Guy Picciotto reportedly has the band expanding upon their sound while focusing even more on ancient traditional sounds while having a subtly modern take, as the duo pushes each other harder, as you’ll hear on the rollicking and stomping album title track “Black Peak.”
The duo will be on a Stateside and Australian tour throughout November and December, and it’ll include a November 18 stop at National Sawdust. Check out the tour dates.
Tour Dates
Nov 15 – Northampton, MA – Iron Horse Music Hall
Nov 16 – New Haven, CT – BAR Nightclub
Nov 17 – Providence, RI – Columbus Theatre
Nov 18 – Brooklyn, NY – National Sawdust
Nov 20 – Somerville, MA – ONCE Lounge
Nov 22 – Burlington, VT – Arts Riot
Nov 23 – Montreal, QC – La Vitrola
Nov 24 – Wakefield, QC – The Black Sheep Inn
Nov 25 – Toronto, ON – The Drake Hotel
Nov 27 – Detroit, MI – Third Man Records
Nov 29 – Philadelphia, PA – Boot & Saddle
Nov 30 – Washington, DC – DC9
Dec 1 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Café
Dec 2 – Louisville, KY – Zanzabar
Dec 3 – Chicago, IL – Beat Kitchen
Dec 4 – Cleveland, OH – Beachland Tavern
Dec 18 – Melbourne, Australia – Melbourne Recital Centre
