The Settlement

The Settlement is the name of Hamilton group formerly known as Buddha and the Chocolate Box. They established a large following in Port Fairy and Warrnambool and have since expanded nationwide, with a possibility of a showcase at Canadian music week and some shows in the States. The core Hamilton-based trio of Adrian Calvano (guitar, vocals), Matt Pitman (fiddle) and Shane Baker (bass) remain from the group’s Buddha In A Chocolate Box days, but since combining with Melbourne-based members Harry Pettit (drummer) and Jimmy Doheny (guitar)  the band has refined its music. Adrian Calvano was quoted in the Warrnambool Standard (20th Jan. 2017) as saying “In the Buddha (In A Chocolate Box) days, it was all covers – we were learning our chops - it was heavily ‘fiddle-dee-dee potatoes’ with the fiddle stuff and we wanted to get away from that sound a bit, away from the Irish reels. I think we became a bit heavier, rockier, (turned) more into Australian rock. A new album called Stand In The Middle, due in mid-February, although the first taste of the album, the single She’s Alright, which came with a colourful film clip that has had over 3000 plays on YouTube, has been around for a while.

On March 24th 2017 Anthony Brady published the following article in the Warrnambool Standard:

Settling in for success

THE release of The Settlement’s first album is drawing closer but the Hamilton band is far from standing still.The debut album will be released in July, preceded by the release of a third single in May.The band’s second single,Clean Trouble, was premiered on the Rolling Stone Australia website.The Settlement lead singer and guitarist Adrian Calvano said the endorsement from Rolling Stone was a huge moment for the band.“We were stoked about being recognised by Rolling Stone,” Calvano said.“We have a good team around us helping to spread the word about what we are doing.We have gigged pretty hard and we are building credibility in the industry and something like this really helps.” The Settlement has been together since 2015, having started life as Buddha in a Chocolate Box back in 2005.Calvano said the band is making the impact it had set out to when it began as The Settlement.“In 2015, we decided to really take our music seriously,” Calvano said.“We were sick of just playing covers, we wanted to get our own music out there.The change of name and a bit of a change in the line-up was a new beginning.”

The Settlement continues to grow a large fan base with their strong live shows.They have played major festivals across the country,from Gympie to Queenscliff and many in between.They have also played close to home, starring as one of the headline acts at the Music in the Vines event in Macarthur. The refinement of their trade continues both on and off stage.The band is just back from a four-day camp at a home stead outside Ballarat.Calvano said it was a valuable exercise.“It was very productive, it was great to wake up each morning and everything was there, set up and ready to start playing,” Calvano said.“We wrote, played and discussed what wanted to do and how we could do it.”The Settlement’s next major outing will be in Stawell during the town’s famous Stawell Gift carnival at Easter.