Review / Book Review
Tex Perkins
Tex

Macmillan Australia (2017) — T

Tex Perkins – Tex cover artwork
Tex Perkins – Tex — Macmillan Australia, 2017

Pizzazz. 
Omph. 
Attitude.
Sensibility.
A sardonic sense of humour.
Charisma.
Swagger.

If your music depends entirely on that, the dependency is too great.

So much for the basics.

See, you could claim that Tex Perkins and his incarnations have had a more than profound impact on my ever since I planted a foot on terra australis. 

Tex Perkins has been in the game for close to four decades. 

He oozes the aforementioned qualities yet his oeuvre stands for itself.

More than three decades of versatility and effortlessly moving between a range of genres and incarnations, while still retaining his own DNA.

Tex Perkins has fronted some of the most spirited best bands Australia has to offer, e.g. The Cruel Sea, The Beasts Of Bourbon, Tex, Don & Charlie, Dark Horses, Thug, The Ladyboyz and many other projects, including performing as Johnny Cash in the acclaimed Man In Black theatre show. 

His memoir Tex documents a life less ordinary.

A life that has been lived the hard way and against the odds.

Having been raised as a Catholic and socialised in the narrow minded streets of Brisbane, the book starts with Gregory Perkins’ escape to Sydney and sheds light on his metamorphosis to “Tex” and the frontman personality that would first front odd bands before finding mainstream exposure as the iconic frontman of internationally acclaimed outfits and with it success, its trappings and spoils.

Gigs. Albums. Tours. Fights. Feuds. Arrests. Drugs. High times. Low roads. The good life.

A tour de force of a life documented and driven by Tex’s dry wit and idiosyncratic energy.

9.0 / 10 — T • July 31, 2017

Tex Perkins – Tex cover artwork
Tex Perkins – Tex — Macmillan Australia, 2017

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