Nigel Foote ~ Biography ~ Song Notes

 

Nigel Foote was born in London to an English mother and an Australian father. He grew up in Sydney from the age of four, in a home filled with laughter, music and candlelight. Nigel played piano as a child and can remember his grandmother, Dorothy (one of the Fuller Sisters), singing folk songs in the garden.

Perhaps Nigel’s “easy mastery of melody”, as Judy Small puts it, has come from hearing those beautiful tunes at such a young age, or perhaps it’s simply in his blood – but whatever the reason, his Celtic heritage gives his songs a melodic strength that places him amongst Australia’s most evocative songwriters.

Nigel married Dawn Egan (a traditional folksinger), and also took on the role of father to her six-year-old son Damien. The family settled in the Blue Mountains in 1983, where Nigel and Dawn soon found they were in demand for their atmospheric music and they established themselves as full-time folk musicians, playing more than one thousand gigs in the region over the next few years. Nigel also began teaching folk-blues guitar the same year – passing on the knowledge – a tradition he continues to this day.

During the International Year of Peace (1986), Nigel released an anti-nuclear “single” in association with Greenpeace. Although the record gained modest airplay in Australia and Germany, both songs on the disc won songwriting awards – including a prestigious Pater Award – critical acclaim that prompted Nigel to release his debut album Dangerous Game.

The record marked Nigel as an original and evocative singer-songwriter and an outstanding acoustic guitarist, adding another Pater Award plus the Australian Songwriters Association’s Rudi Brandsma Award to his growing list of credits.

The music from that album is woven through the fabric of the Blue Mountains community, with songs such as 83 Ordinary People (The Granville Song), used in the music curriculum at the Blue Mountains Grammar School, The Bushfire Song, and Dangerous Game adopted by the Damien Trimmingham Foundation for its healing effect.

In 1986 the Blue Mountains City Council invited Nigel to place his anti-nuclear record and lyrics in a time capsule, now buried at Echo Point, as part of the International Year of Peace celebrations – to be unearthed next time Haley’s Comet orbits the Earth in 2061.

Nigel has always been involved with the Blue Mountains folk scene in one way or another – as a performer, event organiser, songwriter and guitar teacher. However, as a non-touring artist he is relatively unknown outside the mountains – a man who stands in the wings, quietly weaving another thread in the tapestry of the Australian music scene.

Nigel won the Folk Award in 2006 and 2007 at the Blue Mountains Music Awards for songs from his latest album Home By Dark. The album was produced by Andrew Knight and features some of the Blue Mountains finest musicians.

Home By Dark is available on iTunes.

(For full reviews, see the Reviews/Awards page)

The great marriage of words and music is too often discarded for the lure of making quick money in today's lucrative music market. But if you are willing to explore further beyond the tease of commercialism, there are still artists in this world writing and performing works of a truly exceptional standard, songs that inspire and touch us, melodies that will echo through the years. Nigel Foote is one of these artists.

Paul Jarman, Stix

Beautifully crafted songs … wonderful musicianship … worth the wait!

Judy Small

Nigel Foote’s long-awaited second album, Home By Dark, is exceptional ... one of our finest musicians.

Radio BLU FM

A beguiling album … highly recommended!

Pat Drummond

In the style of Iron and Wine and the great Americana folk artists, Katoomba's own Nigel Foote is carving a spot for his own name in the wordsmith world that is the folk scene ... Respectful of the past, yet always lyrically inventive, Home By Dark is beautiful, subtle and intimate.

Morris Bryant

Song Notes ... coming soon