Mr Dalliard

 The architect behind the artist hitherto known as Jack Robins, Mr Dalliard has tired of being (quite literally!) the back-room brains of the outfit and now feels it time to claim his rightful place. Hence, Mr Dalliard will now perform the songs previously presented by Jack Robins, which he feels deserve more respectful and respectable presentation than the rather unkempt and frankly shameful persona offered to date by the aforementioned, who, Mr Dalliard considers, has rather let himself go.

Since, however, Jack Robins is known to several members of the public and music industry through his previous presence, Mr Dalliard wishes to reiterate some of the more positive aspects of that presence to ease the transition. Hence the following, which Mr Dalliard wishes you to read substituting his name for the previous persona.

Jack started writing songs in his early teens; he thinks he’s getting the hang of it now.

A singer, guitarist and songwriter with a wealth of experience both in Australia and overseas, Jack has played with a variety of bands, including The Units and The -ists in Adelaide and The Pleasure District, The Sleepwalkers and The Last Priests in London. He has also played extensively in the London acoustic club scene.

Jack writes literate, nuanced and sophisticated songs inspired by great country and pop songwriters like John Prine, Jimmy Webb and Willie Nelson, with a dash of Jacques Brel thrown in, then delivers them in a clear, expressive voice underpinned by a sympathetic and complementary finger-picking guitar style. His work has received praise from sources as diverse as singer-songwriters’ singer-songwriter Charles Jenkins and Grammy-winner Terry Britten.

His songs have made the final of SCALA's Festival of Original Music song competition for three of the four years in which he entered, winning in 2014 with his song ‘Walking On’, and gaining a commendation in 2015 for ‘This Will Pass Over’ and in 2017 for ‘Cheating Moon’.

Videos of Jack's performances of these songs at the finals are available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dd-yBxsj6wk, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FcWuoRkwgQk and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3x3pGiCfEfI&list=PLVlAl2fi0aHlq-y7U78KvHRjcRZnMQULe respectively. A video of Jack with the Pretty Problems live at the Wheatsheaf Hotel in November 2020 can be viewed here: https://www.facebook.com/watch/live/?v=329555531431101&ref=search

Jack released his first acoustic album Notes in March 2019. The album and the first three singles from it, 'If', 'Cheating Moon' and ‘This Will Pass Over', are now available to stream or purchase on Bandcamp (https://jackrobins.bandcamp.com/releases) and all major streaming services.

Jack (henceforth Mr Dalliard) performs either solo or with various permutations of The Pretty Problems, featuring Greg Blanch on pedal steel, Stephen Loss on bass and Andy Przygonski on drums, occasionally augmented by Darren Zaza on electric guitar and Emma Luker on fiddle.