New Festival Launched to Honor Late Bad Seeds Musician Conway Savage

The life and legacy of late Australian musician Conway Savage will be honored with the launch of a new music festival in Ireland.

The event, dubbed These Are the Waves: A Celebration of the Music of Conway Savage, is set to take place from Sept. 12-14 in Irish county town Dundalk.

Per a report from the Dundalk Democrat, Savage’s lasting relationship with the location began in 2000 when he performed at Dundalk’s Spirit Store venue alongside Falling Joys’ Suzie Higgie. Having also launched a creative relationship with local musician Mark Corcoran, Savage would perform in Dundalk many more times and recorded at the local Tumbleweed Studios on numerous occasions.

Taking place at Spirit Store, the forthcoming festival is set to feature a number of musicians close to Savage, including former Bad Seeds bandmate Mick Harvey, and Higgie, who will contribute a full performance of the Soon Will Be Tomorrow album she and Savage released in 1998.

Additionally, the lineup will feature PJ Harvey collaborator Terry Edwards, alongside Jim Yamouridis and Robert Tickner, who had previously collaborated with Savage at some point either in the studio or in his band.

Having performed since the early ’80s in bands such as Feral Dinosaurs, Dust on the Bible and Happy Orphans, Savage rose to prominence in 1990 when he joined Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds as their pianist, organist and occasional backing vocalist. He remained with the band for 27 before departing in 2017 to undergo treatment for a brain tumor. 

In September 2018, it was reported that Savage had passed away as a result of his ongoing health battle at the age of 58.

“Conway was the anarchic thread that ran through the band’s live performances,” the band wrote in a statement following his passing. “He was much loved by everyone, band members and fans alike. 

“Irascible, funny, terrifying, sentimental, warm-hearted, gentle, acerbic, honest, genuine – he was all of these things and quite literally ‘had the gift of a golden voice,’ high and sweet and drenched in soul.”