Steve Kilbey
b. England, though his parents emigrated to Australia when he was a child. As leader and main writer of the Church, Kilbey led the resurgence of interest in Australia for '60s music. His performances on the 12-string guitar evoked the sound of the Byrds and their ilk of the psychedelic era. The band enjoyed considerable success on the college radio network in the USA and on the European live circuit. This enabled Kilbey to enjoy a prolific output outside the confines of the band with the publication of a book of poetry and the release of several solo albums on the small independent Red Eye label. This solo work often proved a little more adventurous than that of the Church. A 1991 collaboration with Grant McLennan of the Go-Betweens resulted in the album JACK FROST, though otherwise his most important partnership was that with Donnette Thayer (ex- Game Theory) under the title Hex (his only other project to see release outside of Australia).