He’s living in Nashville these days but singer songwriter Rick Price still calls Australia home and is touring the country for the next fortnight.

Performing at the Capri Theatre in Goodwood this Friday night, the man who shot to fame in 1992 with “Not a Day Goes By” will be haunting our Old Hallows Eve with his soulful vocals.

The following night, he will head to Encounter Bay to perform at the Beach House Café before jetting off to WA.

Coming to us from a tour in the US with Tommy Emmanuel, Price says he’s been enjoying playing with the Australian guitar legend.

“Tommy’s great. He’s going a million miles an hour as always. He actually came into my studio in Nashville before I left and played on a song on my new album and he’s just playing better than ever,” he says.

“Tom’s always been like an older brother to me. He is an inspiration because he is so unbelievably passionate about music and performing.”

After his Australian tour, Price will re-join Emmanuel in Europe to tour, but until then, Australia will play host to this valued export.

Having moved as an 18-year-old from the small, country town of Beaudesert in Queensland to pursue music, Price moved to Nashville for much the same reason.

“I’ve been living in Nashville for five years. It’s a music city and I’ve been going back and forth for many years writing and recording there,” he says.

“I went on a tour with Tommy in 2010 and I had a three year working visa and decided to stay on, but Australia is still my home. I always say, ‘Be careful walking down the street in Nashville, you’ll trip over an Australian!’ They’re everywhere!”

With a back catalogue of eight studio albums and a new album set for release in 2015, this weekend, Price promises an evening of variety with a setlist showcasing his recent and not so recent music.

“I’m going to be playing a selection of the greatest hits and probably a couple of misses,” he laughs. “I’ve made a lot of records so I’ve got a pretty huge catalogue of songs now but I’ll be playing a bunch of new things from my new album called Tennessee Sky.”

Tennessee Sky has been a possibility for Price due to a Pledge Music campaign where fans fund the recording and have an opportunity to connect with the artist.

“The pledge music campaign is a great platform and a really fantastic way of connecting personally with fans and making them part of the recording process. It also means they can pledge for many items, aside from just pre-ordering an album,” he says.

“I’ve had people singing on stage with me, VIP guests backstage, singing lessons, song writing lessons; it’s really been amazing. The singing on stage thing has been really terrific. They choose one of my songs and come up on stage and sing it with me.”

Tennessee Sky, which Price says has a different flavour to previous albums, will be available for release in February and has been funded by his fans and supporters.

“The inspiration for the album is harking back to old gospel so that’s been interesting. I’m not a religious person but the record has a gospel vibe so I guess that’s what’s driving it,” he says.

Until that album is released, catch him at 8pm at The Capri on Friday 31st October or The Beach House Café in Encounter Bay, Saturday 1st November, for an intimate evening of soul, blues, roots and pop, supported by Ian Bushy Martin.

Ticket are available by clicking here and you can find out more about what Rick Price has been up to here.

Interviewed by Libby Parker

Photos courtesy of Rick Price

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