Scott Darlow’s Deadly Heart tour to visit the South West - encouraging important conversation

A Melbourne-based Indigenous rock artist is set to visit the South West later this year as part of a national tour, inviting important conversation through classic Aussie rock and roll. Yorta Yorta man Scott Darlow will bring his Deadly Heart tour to the region this August and September, playing five shows across Bunbury, Busselton and Dunsborough, in anticipation of his new album to be released on October 27. The titular single is already available to stream and features The Jezabels’ Hayley Mary — the pair meeting through a songwriting hub. But the pub rock number is more than just a foot tapper, exploring the Nation’s ability to really walk as one with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and asking tough questions around how one can elicit change to work towards a stronger and united future while remembering an important past. “Deadly Heart is something I tried to write that’s parallel and horizontal simultaneously,” Darlow said. “On the one hand, it’s about a couple just trying to stay together, but it’s also about a nation that’s trying to come together. I wrote it through the pandemic, about us as a nation continuing to journey together and listen to each other. “To sit and listen to each other’s stories, so they can become our stories.” He hopes the musical medium will open up conversation with people who may not necessarily consider the topic otherwise. “Music can sometimes articulate what your heart is feeling,” he said. “For me, it was Somebody That I Used to Know by Gotye . . . it was this lightbulb moment of how powerful a lyric can be, to bring back so many emotions and express exactly what your feeling — even if you didn’t realise you were feeling it. “I’ve been really lucky to have the support of rock radio and I hope this album connects with listeners who are searching for these stories that I want to tell through my music so we can continue to bring our nation together through these personal stories I’m sharing with them.” A free tour, directed at bringing back the “legendary pub rock scene” of yesteryear, Darlow will also visit a number of schools and prisons around the country — including the Georgiana Molloy Anglican School and Cornerstone Christian College, in a bid to share his music and culture as far as possible and open conversations about identity. The Deadly Heart tour will be in the South West from August 25 to September 2, with free public shows at Froth Craft Bunbrewery, Har Bar Dunsborough and Hally’s Bar Busselton on August 25 and Setpember 1 and 2 respectively.