No one can question the authority that Spencer P Jones does (or maybe I should say should???) pull in the Australian music scene. His work as part of the Beasts Of Bourbon, in his band The Johnnys, playing guitar for Paul Kelly and in his own right is excellent. So when he champions a relative unknown you have to at least give a cursory listen. However I came at this from a slightly different angle. My friend Glen happened to catch Archer playing in a Melbourne pub called the Drunken Poet and was suitably blown away by his Australian take on the Delta Blues. Furthermore, the little gleaned about the man warrants a mention - he has a couple of kids who are all named Archer, he lives "out bush" somewhere in central Australia, and he gave Glen his CD-r which he had in his back pocket, wrapped in newspaper. That was enough for me. Then I did listen...this is truly mesmeric. Glen put it best when he said the first listen was "like an Alan Lomax recording of Johnny Cash." And if SPJ is on board too - expect to hear something else from him in the next twelve months...
Archer - Track 1
Archer - Track 4
