Honky Tonk Highway

Canadian singer/songwriter/road warrior, Fred Eaglesmith (and, finally, with his Flying Squirrels band) is heading back down to Australia at the end of this month for an Eastern Coast tour beginning at the annual Easter weekend Blues and Roots Festival at Byron Bay on Friday and Saturday March 25 & 26. On Sunday the 27th they're off to Taylors Arm for an appearance at the Pub With No Beer Festival. The Pub With No Beer is, of course, the hotel immortalised in the great Gordon Parsons/Joe Cooper song made internationally famous by the late Slim Dusty. Taylors Arm is a short drive inland from Kempsey and Macksville for anyone thinking of taking the trip. Working their way down the NSW coast, Eaglesmith and his band drop into Newcastle on Wednesday March 30 for a night at the Northern Star Hotel. Then it's off to Sydney for Fred and the Squirrels, where their first gig is at the Vic On The Park Hotel in Marrickville on Thursday March 31. The following night, Friday April 1, they'll be at the Bridge in Rozelle before heading off to Melbourne to wind up the tour on Saturday April 2 at the ESPY (Melbourne cutesy for the Esplanade Hotel in St Kilda).

For those unfamiliar with Eaglesmith's music and character, have a look at the schedule and then have a brouse around the site. He rarely covers others' songs and his own material is as good as anything you'll hear. He's a wordsmithing raconteur and an excellent musician. The addition of the Flying Squirrels make this a not-to-be-missed occasion to catch Fred with his own touring band at least once. Don't say I didn't tell ya!

PS: There's also a Fredheads digest if you want to see what others think of Fred. The photo above is a bit out of date (the dreadlocked Darcy is no longer with the band) and there's a female drummer (Kori) these days. More on all that later.