About Me
A righteous three-piece with a thumping good pedigree, Pontiac Slim are set to turn heads and puncture eardrums with the release of their first, independent EP, Down So Long.The blues-roots trio specialise in savvy reinterpretations of roots classics, augmented by hook-laden originals. Drawing on the rich traditions of the blues – from Muddy Waters to vintage UK Invasion Cream and Stones – Pontiac Slim deliver blistering sets built in equal measure from raw energy and well-earned chops.And, frankly, what chops.Drummer Lawrence Nulty is the skinsman for Tamworth Golden Guitar recipients and country legends The Sparnetts, and also plays in good-time ska outfit Big Fat Skank, and rising Croxton Records act The Underminers.Guitarist Tristan Varga-Miller is well known to Melbourne music fans because of his long years in St Kilda’s iconic, not to mention notorious, punk outfit The Fuck Fucks. Among many other gigs, he also distinguished himself in the very different world of central Victoria’s bluegrass exponents, Honey Rice Childe.Bassist and vocalist Stephen ‘Irish’ O’Prey provided the soulful underpinning to The Badloves before joining Weddings Parties Anything. He has also released a solo album, Pink Slip, and done session work with stars such as Joe Camilleri and Daryl Braithwaite.Down So Long, set for release mid-September, finds the band – together since mid-2006 – delivering a muscular five song set recorded live at St Kilda’s Greyhound Hotel. The band give special treatment to The Doors’s ‘Down So Long’, Cream’s ‘Spoonful’, Muddy’s ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’, the traditional ‘CC Rider’ and The Stones’s ‘Walkin The Dog’.Recorded at only their second gig, the EP amply demonstrates Pontiac Slim’s delicious combination of power and skill, and provides a fine introduction to a broad repertoire which also includes selections from the likes of Johnny Winter, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Hendrix, early Fleetwood Mac and ZZ Top.Since recording Down So Long, Pontiac Slim have played gigs at the Greyhound, Pint on Punt, the Old Hepburn Hotel (in Hepburn Springs), and Victoria’s cool hidden secret, the Glenlyon General Store.
