Join Toby Martin and Ðǎng Lan as they present their debut collaborative album 'Song Khúc Lượn Bay (Two Sounds Gliding) – a melding of traditional and modern sounds, ranging from epic Viet-Psych jam outs, to more intimate moments of gentle storytelling. It’s a gorgeous show exploring the diverse experience of modern Australia and features Lan and Toby singing and playing dan bau, dan tranh and guitar. Support for the show is coming from local legend Mark Monnone (The Monnones) performing an opening set. The Merri Creek Tavern is standing room only, but seating will be provided for punters with a disability.

Đăng Lan arrived in Australia in 1975 as a refugee from Vietnam. She was a renowned musician and singer in Saigon, and once settled in Sydney continued to work as a singer of traditional Vietnamese folk song and an in-demand performer on the instruments đàn tranh (zither) and đàn bầu (monochord). Toby Martin, born in Melbourne in 1975, is an acclaimed songwriter, rock/folk musician and singer/guitarist in the rock band Youth Group.

Lan and Toby met while working on the Songs From Northam Avenue music project in Bankstown, western Sydney, in 2015. During a residency with Urban Theatre Projects they began experimenting with songwriting and combining their musical styles. They wrote a series of songs about journeys to and from Australia, about family, and about belonging. They also re-arranged traditional Vietnamese folk songs as folk-pysch-rock songs. They sang these songs in a mixture of Vietnamese and English. The resulting album 'Song Khúc Lượn Bay (Two Sounds Gliding) represents a meeting place between two people and two musical traditions and is due out on AMC Music on February 16th.

Lan and Toby have performed together at Casula Powerhouse for Sydney Festival, Bankstown Arts Centre and for the lunar new year at the Phước Huệ Buddhist temple in western Sydney. They are often joined by rockin’ rhythm section Bree van Reyk (drums) and Matthew Steffen (bass), who also played on the album, which was produced by Bob Scott.

The first single Qua Cầu Gió Bay (The Wind on the Bridge) is a well known traditional song of Vietnam. It has the universal themes of secret romantic dalliances, and lying to your parents. In this version we raise the distortion levels to find some darker overtones, as Lan wails on the đàn bầu!

The second single God's Will is a song co-written by Lan and Toby and based on a long conversation between them. The song is about a dream Lan had about having a son - a dream that turned out to be true - and is a cosmic investigation into deep maternal love.