My first listening experience with The Hello Morning was in my kitchen.  Rummaging through a pile of demos on the counter, I came across these soulful sounding country boys.  Surprised to find out that they weren’t forty year old men (singer Steve Clifford has an extremely mature voice), and were in fact dashing young fellows, I began listening to their songs more regularly (and became their number one fan).  Seriously.  These boys have something.

One relaxing Sunday afternoon, the band got together and played some tracks off their upcoming album (due for release later this year) in David Bromley’s studio.  After watching Mr. Clifford sing a delightful stripped back version of “Drive You Home” featuring Bertie Blackman, cameraman Davey Sams and I said we needed these guys in our cameras and on our website.

That evening we were lucky enough to film and record one of the most beautiful, intimate performances we may ever see.  We set up our cameras to film  The Hello Morning play their cover of “Don’t Let The Green Grass Fool You” (originally sung by Wilson Pickett) but we were just waiting on Dan to arrive. Assuming Dan may be a mysterious member of the six-piece that I hadn’t yet met, I didn’t ask questions.  And in came Dan.  Dan Sultan, one of the most renowned artists on the Australian music scene at the moment.

The sense of pride in watching these young Victorian boys grow into such professional, seasoned musicians was no less than overwhelming.  With Joe Cope on keys, Steve Clifford on guitar on vocals and Dan Sultan stood casually with his hands in his pockets, these young men belted out an outstanding performance.  One could have sworn it was a Sultan Vs. Clifford sing off.  Not such a bad thing, I can assure you.

I can still confidently say that this is one of the most special performances I’ll ever see.

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Words by Charlotte Abroms.