Mason Rack

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Mason Rack originates from Southport on Queensland’s sunny Gold Coast. With his outstanding vocals, guitar and Weissenborn lap slide guitar, Mason delivers high impact performances to audiences everywhere he and his band appear. Mason is a local artist with incredible talent and passion for his music! Together with his band, Mason feels most comfortable playing blues, alt-rock, and roots originals.

Mason was born in the Southport Hospital, Queensland, and started performing at the tender age of 6 playing to charmed audiences with his dad. His father BILLY RACK was a multi-talented jazz musician,   an awesome muso and all round legend. Mason said “he was the nicest man I ever knew, a lovely guy, I’ve always been around his music”.  Mason was raised on jazz, rock and surfing. He looked set to have a career in surfing, but the lifestyle he was living had other ideas. After a visit to re-hab, music was the saving grace…

His influences include: Tom Waits, Tex Perkins, Jeff Buckley, Ben Harper, Violent Femmes, Dave Mathews, Rolling Stones, old blues masters, etc. Songwriter/performer Mason Rack is a natural entertainer, from a tapestry of slide guitar, deep broken glass vocals and story fuelled blues rock. In his own words “I just want to bring the best, meanest, horniest, rockin’, swampy, smokey music to my audiences” and  “It is a show, more than just the music, it’s a visual experience too”.

He has played alongside artists like Phil Emmanuel, Tex Perkins, Lisa Hunt, Renee Geyer, Xavier Rudd and Jimmy Barnes. Invited to the 2008 Adelaide International Guitar Festival, and again for 2010. In March, they supported Jimmy Barnes and this year also playing at The Byron Bay Bluesfest, Great Noosa Camp Out, Cairns Blues Festival, Saltwater Festival, Blues On Broadbeach, as well as many more, plus another tour of summer festivals in Canada -Tremblant, Nakusp, Calgary, Fire N Water, Rarearth.

Mason’s guitar chops and performing skills are recognized Australia wide. Mason’s shows are spell-binding! Canada festivals request him for return visits. His Australian fests include Woodford Folk Festival, Blues On Broadbeach, Byron Bay Bluesfest, Australian Blues Music Festival-Goulburn, “The best new blues/roots act ever seen” – Gympie National Music Muster.

He pumps out his music and people can’t help but stare…. Mason Rack excels on Weissenborn lap slide and “Marilyn” the blonde guitar, to pour out tunes influenced by blues, southern stomp, swamp, classic rock and alternative music. Their music is a collection of rock/blues/roots with flashes of Tom Waits and Hendrix, melting towards Ben Harper, with screaming slide, big bass, big drums, big interactive show, and, wait for the surprise in the latest performances – a drum trio/duel thing involving all three band guys in a moving percussion display – it’s stunning. Hard to describe – see it for yourself! … Mason also does this drum thing in the audience, where he plays on the tables, chairs, walls, bar etc, only to return to the stage to duel it out with apocalyptic drummer extraordinaire, Joel “Thunderfoot” Purkess from Edmonton Canada. It is a must-see thing! and welcoming new bassist Ross Prior. Funky.

Mason says “I can remember the first song I wrote. I had just broken up with a girl and wanted to express just how I felt in a song, I don’t play it much these days but I still like it, and still remember how it felt to write it…….A lot of songs have come from that space of hurt and heart break, for me it seems the pain helps to draw deep feelings, words, energy, momentum, and though heartbroken I feel relief to have expressed myself, to have unloaded the pain, to have voiced it, to have addressed it , and then to share it. Now though, my songs are not always about her leaving him or pain, today I like writing woven lyrics of life and success in hardship. Also, I like writing about a subject and bring it to life by calling it [the subject] she, or him…the connection between things in general and me [a human being] are very relevant, and some songs are just fantasy…I love getting lost in fantasy. REALLY…”

Mason Rack Band has 4 cd releases – Night Train, Show Me Yours, Join Hands – with award winning song ”Dust” as heard on JJJ… and hot off the press 2010: Live In Canada – double cd.

“Seen Her B4”  is in the finals for ISC Int’l Songwriting Competition in 2010 and Mason won the 2007 Q-Song Award “Best Blues & Roots Song” for “Dust” together with Sydney legend Steve Balbi.

Having just released the new double cd “Live In Canada” -from their third festivals visit across the pond in late 2009, it’s time to bring out some new songs for a play – and Mason Rack Band “guarantees satisfaction” as one of the hardest working bands around.

“I think I’ve grown up a little bit in the music world. When I first started off, I was playing with my dad, playing drums and stuff, but then I got to my teens and my early 20s where I was in a heavy metal band. Eventually,” he continues, “I came around to the blues and other music that’s kind of in that genre, or a sister to that genre. I think it’s a natural progression to get to that sort of place where there is a much wider demographic of people that like that music. We love it because we get parents bringing their kids, and kids bringing their parents to it. We like that kind of thing — we love it.”

New Release Jan 2010

 “This recording really captures the energy of the band, and with top quality audio production to match.

It makes you feel like you are there in the audience, and wish you were”  John Ward. Only Blues Music.