The greatest hits from Aussie band The Church will be played in a new format by their frontman Steve Kilbey at an intimate gig in Port Kembla this month.
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Kilbey will perform solo with a 12-string guitar at The Servo on August 26, playing the band's singles from 1980 to 1992 - think hits like The Unguarded Moment, Under the Milky Way and Almost With You.
It's part of a short solo tour with dates in Bowral and also Bermagui before embarking on grander venues in September with his troupe: Ian Haug, Jeffrey Cain, Tim Ebandit Powles and Ashley Naylor.
"I need to work, I like to work, it's a good thing, there was a bit of a gap and a week to fill in," Kilbey said honestly.
"It'll be completely different to The Church stuff, they're a big noisy band with a light show. This is just me and a 12-sting guitar."
While many might associate Kilbey to Canberra or even Sydney, the musician began Australian life in the Illawarra after migrating as a "10-pound pom" during the 1950s.
We turned up in Unanderra, and lived in a caravan for half a year," he said.
They moved to Fairy Meadow before his dad bought a block of land in Dapto for their permanent family home.
"I had a really idyllic childhood," Kilbey said.
"Roaming around the bush, all the houses were being built, and kids were climbing around in these brand new houses and jumping off in sandpits. It was an innocent age, you could be 7-year-old and roaming around the neighbourhood when it gets dark ... it's a really special part of the world."
Kilbey moved to the nation's capital when he was 16, where he formed his first band Baby Grande in the mid-70s.
A few years later her formed The Church which was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 2010.
Some two dozen albums later, the group will release another new album by year's end hopefully, ready to tour the US in 2023.
Steve Kilbey plays The Church singles from 1980 to 1992, The Servo in Port Kembla, Friday August 26.
He will also play Murrah Hall in Bermagui, Saturday August 27; and The Venue in Bowral, Sunday August 28.
- THU 01 SEPT: THE ASTOR, PERTH
- FRI 02 SEPT: THE RIVER, MARGARET RIVER
- SUN 04 SEPT: THE GOV, ADELAIDE
- THU 08 SEPT: THE METRO, SYDNEY
- FRI 09 SEPT: THE PRINCESS THEATRE, BRISBANE
- SAT 10 SEPT: NORTHCOTE THEATRE, MELBOURNE
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