Dan Sultan was born in Alice Springs to an Irish father and Aboriginal mother. Raised in Melbourne, he started playing guitar at the age of four and wrote his first song at ten. He recalls being taken by his mum to her friend’s rockabilly band and thought, “That’s what I’d like to do” and by his teens he was playing in local punk bands. In 2000, he struck up a musical partnership with country- and punk rock loving guitarist/songwriter Scott Wilson, a charismatic individual with a slight Mink DeVille look about him.
Both Dan and mentor Scott recorded their debut album ‘Homemade Biscuits’ in 2006, which was followed by their second and current album ‘Get Out While You Can’ in 2009.

Although Dan Sultan’s band is usually comprised of seven members, only four played at the recent support slot for Corinne Bailey Rae at Somerset House. With a set that barely lasted half an hour, Dan Sultan did a fantastic job entertaining the crowd with his unique and energetic music. His backing band were the aforementioned Scott Wilson on guitar plus vocals, Gina Woods on keyboards and Josh Jones on bass.

With a sound that fuses generations of styles as diverse as rock, blues, rockabilly, soul and even country, the opening number was ‘Sorrowbound’ from the current album – a ballad-style mellow tune about a love that is, well, sorrow bound… The beauty about Dan’s voice is that one really can feel the emotions he sings about, they genuinely seem to come from the heart and not just from the lyric sheet. In fact, this is something that fellow songwriter Scott Wilson mentioned, namely that the lyrics are honest and heartfelt.
Next was the more upbeat ‘Voices’ from the first album. With its driving beat, the song emphasizes not only how well the musicians compliment each other, but how much rockin’ fun they have in the process.

‘Dingo’ with its nod to rockabilly and skiffle (minus the washboard) was another gem, while ‘Old Fitzroy’ is not only a single in the band’s native Australia, but one of the best country-rock ballads ever written and performed. On the subject of best songs, ‘Never Let You Down’ comes pretty tops, too. Unashamedly honest and full of bittersweet soul, this one is a firm candidate for a next single release and went down a treat with the audience.

Dan really got into the swing of things, as did the crowd. Sadly, the set was way too short to showcase the whole musical range and brilliance of this band, but the few numbers performed were an indication that in the future, we will hear a lot more of Mr. Sultan from Down Under.