Tex Perkins & Matt Walker: Two Guitars, a Living Room and a Fire Burning

Sometimes the best records don't need a studio, a dozen musicians or six months of tinkering.

Sometimes you just need two blokes who know how to play together, a living room and a microphone left running.

That's pretty much where Tex Perkins and Matt Walker found themselves when they made Before The Show, their debut album as a duo, out now through Cheersquad Records & Tapes.

On paper, the pairing makes perfect sense. Perkins and Walker have been crossing musical paths for years, sharing stages as a duo and playing together in The Fat Rubber Band and The Cruel Sea.

By now, they know how the other one moves. And you can hear it. First take, best take

In the winter of 2025, Walker set up his mobile recording rig in his living room. Then they played. Every performance on Before The Show was recorded live and captured as a first take.

No endless edits. No chasing perfection. No attempt to scrub away all the little noises that prove human beings were actually in the room. In fact, some of those noises became part of the record.

Feet tapping against wooden floorboards. The crackle of an open fire. The sound of two musicians responding to each other in real time. Put on a pair of headphones and you're not listening to something that feels like it was assembled piece by piece inside a studio.

You're sitting in Matt Walker's living room. Or at least somewhere pretty close to it. Leave the rough edges on There's a temptation with modern recording to fix everything. Move that note. Clean up that noise. Replace that take. Put the vocal back in tune. Make everything perfectly straight.

Before The Show heads in the opposite direction. The future-blues of “A Little More Time” rolls forward with an easy momentum, while “Maybe Tomorrow” brings twelve-string jangle and the pair's vocal harmonies into the picture.

On “The Truth,” Perkins turns his attention to something less certain — the idea that sometimes nobody really knows who was responsible, and perhaps we never get the answer anyway.

Then things get a little stranger. The acoustic foundations remain, but additional instrumentation starts pulling parts of the record into a more atmospheric and slightly surreal folk-blues world.

“I Have My Doubts” wanders furthest into that territory, opening another door in what initially appears to be a very simple record.

That's the trick. Simple doesn't necessarily mean small. Two musicians who don't need to prove anything. There's a lot of history sitting in that living room.

Tex Perkins has spent decades as one of Australian music's most distinctive frontmen and storytellers, moving through The Cruel Sea, Beasts of Bourbon, Tex, Don & Charlie, The Dark Horses and plenty more along the way.

Matt Walker has built an equally deep reputation as a guitarist, songwriter, producer and musical collaborator. Put the two together and there's no real need for anyone to show off. That's probably why Before The Show works. It sounds like two musicians who trust each other enough to leave some space.

One starts something. The other knows where to go. Nobody needs to fill every gap. Nobody needs another take. Just play.

Taking the living room on the road The obvious challenge now is taking a record this intimate and putting it on a stage. Perkins and Walker aren't planning on turning it into something bigger. They're bringing the living room with them.

From October into November, the pair will head around Australia with little more than guitars, voices, songs and stories.

Alongside material from Before The Show, they'll reach back into their respective catalogues, pulling out songs that make sense in this stripped-back setting.

And because the whole thing is built around instinct rather than rigid arrangements, chances are no two nights will be exactly the same.

That's probably how it should be. After decades of playing music, Perkins and Walker have made a record that doesn't sound particularly interested in impressing anyone.

It just sounds good. Two guitars. Two voices. Feet on the floorboards. A fire crackling somewhere in the room. And somebody remembered to hit record.

Tex Perkins & Matt Walker — On the road

October 10 — Milton Theatre, Milton NSW
October 11 — Tilba Winery & Ale House, Corunna NSW
October 16 & 17 — Trinity Sessions, Adelaide SA
October 18 — Big Easy Radio, McLaren Vale SA
October 30 — Factory Floor, Marrickville NSW
October 31 — Centro, Wollongong NSW
November 1 — Avoca Beach Theatre, Avoca NSW
November 5 — The J Theatre, Noosa QLD
November 6 — Soundlounge, Currumbin QLD
November 7 — Lefty's, Brisbane QLD
November 12 — Brunswick Ballroom, Brunswick VIC
November 13 — Memo Music Hall, St Kilda VIC
November 14 — Theatre Royal, Castlemaine VIC
November 15 — Archie's Creek Hotel, Archie's Creek VIC
November 19 — Town Hall, Hobart TAS
November 20 — Island State Brewing, Devonport TAS
November 21 — The Tramsheds Function Centre, Launceston TAS
November 22 — Spring Bay Mill, Triabunna TAS
November 27 — Tank Arts Centre, Cairns QLD