Five time ARIA Award winner and respected as one of Australia’s iconic musicians, Ian Moss delivers an unforgettable sound – not only as a telling soloist on guitar but especially with his silken voice, ringing with clarity and resonating with pure soul. While primarily recognised as an axeman of unusual tenacity and sweet melodic sensibility, Ian’s distinctive vocal is the essential signature of his soulful, bluesy muse – as it has been since his first tentative foray into music during the early 1970s.

Born and raised in Alice Springs, Mossy started playing guitar in local teenage bands but moved to Adelaide after failing one of his high school years. Fate intervened when he answered an advertisement for a guitarist in a shop window in 1973, joining the band that was to become a legend in Australia – Cold Chisel. They hit the road and paid their dues, playing countless one-night stands across the country. By 1980, with the release of the seminal East album, Cold Chisel was the biggest band in the country. Moss’s voice began to shine through such seminal Cold Chisel songs as Never Before, Bow River (written by Moss) and a gorgeous rendition of Ray Charles’ Georgia.

While the band’s demise in 1983 closed an important chapter in Ian Moss’s musical career, enjoying the status of Australia’s best guitarist, Moss carefully evolved into a solo artist of the same calibre. Ian has recorded 5 solo albums; from his ARIA #1 debut effort Matchbook, featuring hit singles Tuckers Daughter and Telephone Booth, to the raw bluesy rock of Petrolhead, to the acoustic Six Strings and Let’s All Get Together albums. Whenever he went back out on the road, Moss’s live shows drew a hoard of Chisel faithful and a league of new fans and showed him to be an especially dexterous musical stylist; not just a rock player, not just an acoustic strummer, but a truly seasoned and rounded musical talent.

In 2008, Moss was on the Australian television series It Takes Two, showing a side of his musical character that surprised many listeners and made him a viewer favourite. “It showed that there was a different side of my music that hadn’t really been heard by enough people before.”

Mossy’s new album Soul on West 53rd features fresh takes on classic soul songs. I was seven when I first heard Sam Cooke sing Good Times and Ain’t That Good News, and even then it was jaw dropping. Soul music instantly connected with me. I’ve always had a soulful, bluesy take on things but in recent years it’s become more pronounced. When I started doing acoustic shows, a few classic soul songs kept creeping into my show, like Let’s Stay Together. People started hearing my voice differently; hearing that this was a niche that showcased the very best of my vocal abilities, so I suppose a soul album from me was kind of inevitable. With songs from the likes of Sam Cooke, Al Green, Otis Redding and Levi Stubbs, recorded in New York. When audiences hear the power and excitement on Soul on West 53rd, it will reinforce what Ian Moss has to offer as a vocalist and guitarist of repute.