Cleves, Carl & Bouas, Parissa

Two of Australia’s finest singer-songwriters, Flemish born nomad Carl Cleves and Greek-Australian songbird Parissa Bouas meld a satchel of styles to “create a wonderfully textured quilt of beautiful and meaningful songs.“ Carl’s unmistakable guitar style is utterly captivating, whilst “Parissa has a voice that would aggravate angels with its beauty.”

Australia’s definitive coffeehouse couple weave stories with songs, touching a deep vein of humanity that leaves audiences moved, uplifted and crying out for more. In 2009 their new CD "Austalian Stories", recorded by Gunter Pauler, will be released by cult German label ‘Stockfisch Records’.

They have won many Australian awards including MUSICOZ- BEST FOLK SONG, ASA- BEST LYRICS, NCIEA- BEST ALBUM, ASA- BEST COFFEEHOUSE. Their latest CD, ‘Turn Back the Tide’ is very much a CD of our times and many of the songs tell stories, like ‘The Bethlehem Bell Ringer’, ‘The Coniston Massacre’ & ‘The Lion of Kandahar’. They have headlined at all major Australian folk festivals and toured internationally to Europe, Latin America and Madagascar.

Their music can’t be easily labelled. Whilst it’s true to say there is an ethnic flavour, there is also a strong folk/roots component, that combined with their singer/ songwriter style, delivers a unique musical experience that skirts many boundaries.

“If they could be said to have a base style it stems from the Gaelic / Irish axis which connects us all to our history, whether you like it or not. But it doesn’t end there. In fact it’s just the beginning as essential Australianness is put through a variegated multi-cultural blender that demonstrates how all music can be honestly linked if treated sympathetically.”

“Anyone with an interest in good acoustic music with an international flavour won’t be disappointed”

Debra Manskey, Australian Songwriter Magazine

“If you’ve seen Carl & Parissa live you will have a good idea what to expect: warmth generosity, humour and fantastic musicianship."

James Rigby, Folk Alliance Australia

Carl Cleves, originally from Belgium, has accumulated a bottomless bag of stories, rhythms, languages and guitar styles during his nomadic life, which has led him to perform in almost every continent, resulting in highly original songs. In Brazil where he was a band leader for seven years, he released 2 acclaimed albums. An excellent guitarist, singer and storyteller, Carl’s adventures have included stints as an antelope trapper in Uganda, relief worker in cyclone struck India, radiobroadcaster and ethnomusicologist in Africa and fisherman in the South Pacific.

At festivals across the country Carl conducts story telling, lyric writing and song writing workshops. Carl’s first book, ‘Tarab: Travels with My Guitar” was published in July 2008 by Transit Lounge. His recent solo CD’s are: All Alone 2007; Tarab 2008.

Parissa is an extraordinary singer and songwriter who finds an emotional context for every genre. In Brazil they named her ‘Patativa’, after a bird renowned for its singing. Daughter of a Greek sailor, she inherited his love of Latin music and honed her formidable percussion skills whilst touring throughout Latin America with an Andean Folkloric group. Parissa has written some classic, catchy songs that people sing around the country, such as “Mother’s Song” , “I’ll Be With You Tonight” & “My Spirit”. In 2000 she co- wrote the anthemic “Put Your Hand in Mine” for the Woodford Millenium Fire Event Choir of 700 voices, which she also conducted. The performance before a crowd of 20,000 was beamed across Australia and to 1.6 billion people in 61 countries.