Way to Blue - the songs of Nick Drake

Way to Blue: The Songs of Nick Drake curated by Nick Drake's original producer, Joe Boyd (at the helm for two of the Drake albums - Five Leaves Left in 1969, and Bryter Layter in 1970), combines live recordings from 2 remarkable concerts at Melbourne Recital Centre 15 and 16 November 2011 and another at The Barbican Centre, London in January 2010.

Here, renowned contemporary singers, united by their reverence for the work Nick Drake left behind collaborated with those who were actually involved in those unforgettable original recordings. The band and string section is led by musical director Kate St John, anchored by double bassist Danny Thompson, who played on many of Drake's albums, and features the original orchestrations arranged by Robert Kirby in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Sadly, Kirby passed away very recently, but not before conducting the string section at the UK's very first Way To Blue concert in May 2009. Now, Way To Blue has become a tribute to Kirby as well as Drake.

The special guest artists who sing and re-interpret Nick Drake's often hauntingly poetic material include: folk rediscovery Vashti Bunyan, Scritti Politti front-man Green Gartside, psychedelic pop maverick Robyn Hitchcock, stunning Irish singer Lisa Hannigan, American soul powerhouse Krystle Warren, UK success-story Scott Matthews, Teddy Thompson, Luluc, Zoe Rahman, Neill MacColl, Shane Nicolson, Kate St John and Danny Thompson.