King Curly - About

KING CURLY / Stephen Appel 2023

Hailing from the Blue Mountains NSW, King Curly is the invention of local singer/songwriter Steve Appel – a long time enigma of original Australian music. Over 20 years with a changing mainly acoustic ensemble he has been capturing the hearts of music lovers and some of biggest names in the business while remaining virtually unknown to commercial airwaves.

King Curly has toured by invitation with acts as diverse as k.d Lang, Paul Kelly and The Cat Empire throughout Australia, Europe and the US.

After a long absence from the stage, building alternative-design mud houses, Steve Appel has re-emerged to showcase new material aptly named 'Songs', many of them written with his long-time friend and lyricist Daniel Creighton and recorded alongside musicians Steve Grieve (guitar) and Johnny Graffham (pedal steel).

Grieve first earned his reputation as a first rate axeman playing the biker bars of Canberra in the 80s as ‘Steve Grieve and The Mourners’ and since then has toured with the likes of Christine Anu and Margaret Urlich. Johnny is a fine craftsman with his own line of guitars and along with fixing cars, and pretty much anything else, he is a respected pedal steel player working with luminaries such as Rob Hirst.

It is this three-piece currently touring as covid restrictions allow.

Appel is a true creative. His songs and his buildings are beautiful and relevant to the times.

Reviews:

Don Walker, Australian songwriting legend: "The cats know who the real cats are... Steve Appel a.k.a King Curly, is as good as any songwriter on the planet and as beautiful as any singer" (The Guardian May 2023)

Paul Kelly. Australian songwriting legend: "King Curly... slipped into my town two weeks ago like ghosts. Some of us who were at the visitation are still walking around as if in a spell. The name should be shouted from the rooftops, their records playing in the cafes, their songs on the radio. Lend an ear to the music of King Curly. Give it fair play. You shall not go unrewarded" (Open Letter of Introduction)

“Tiny Tim meets the gritty story telling of Lou Reed in songs that bring to life avenging zombies, ukulele bumblebees, possessed pianos and a certain air of quiet, smalltown romance, against an impossibly beautiful backdrop of chook-shed instrumentation”. (Michael Dwyer - The Age)

“…music is born of the desire to right wrongs and to punish evil. In that respect, his spiritual forefathers are Robin Hood, Batman, Moses etc. Medicine for all of us in a time when Evil is enjoying a stronger-than-usual stranglehold on the world.”

SEE KING CURLY PERFORM LIVE

LIVE https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyC4tnJiYABRWNDoAqk3KzoyMbthvv-AW

LISTEN TO KING CURLY SONGS

DEAR WORLD

https://youtu.be/yktdr_-iRak

BUMBLEBEE HAS NO HOME

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nk0BUf80umU

CALLING FOR FIRE

https://youtu.be/RhoGIqkujw8

FAMILYMAN

https://youtu.be/2w_z52Nvyfc

MUSIC AVAILABLE AT ITUNES: