Honky Tonk Highway

OK - these guys are in Newcastle tonight and I can almost smell the music! A workmate saw them up at the Byron Bay Blues Festival and he reported a great gig and one of the "finds" of the festival (for him). They'll be turning up at the Vic On The Park Hotel at Enmore tomorrow night and the way I'm feeling right now, I think I'm gonna have to go - which will make it two nights in a row after I take in my preferred gig at the Bridge Hotel in Rozelle on Friday night. The above pic may not (again!) show the exact band coming with Fred but I CAN recognise a few of them - the guy in the dreadlocks (Darcy) is unfortunately no longer the Squirrels' bass player so he's not coming and I can't see the drummer at all. Good Fredhead Friends in Canada say the following is the line-up on this tour:

Willie P Bennett, Mando + Harmonica (centre)
Dan Walsh, Dobro, Baritone Guitar, & Gibson ES 335 (left)
Roger Marin, Pedal Steel, Fender Telecaster (2cnd from left)
Kori Heppner, Drums (Merch Queen as well)
Luke Stackhouse, Bass

. . . and, of course, the big bloke on the right is Fred. Try to get to at least one of these concerts 'cos it may be some time before Fred brings his band out again! (By the way, did I tell you I once drove Fred from Newcastle to Sydney after a gig? :-))

The heading of this piece refers to the following:

My good friend over at the Mule pointed out how much she enjoyed Fred Eaglesmith's version of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah taken from a CMT Christmas special compilation. As much as I enjoyed Fred singing the song, I was curious as to why he only sings the first and last verses of Cohen's original lyrics:

(First)
Now I’ve heard there was a secret chord
That david played, and it pleased the lord
But you don’t really care for music, do you?
It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift
The baffled king composing hallelujah

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

(Last)
I did my best, it wasn’t much
I couldn’t feel, so I tried to touch
I’ve told the truth, I didn’t come to fool you
And even though
It all went wrong
I’ll stand before the lord of song
With nothing on my tongue but hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah

I've enjoyed Cohen singing his own song, as well as k d lang's anthemic version on her Hymns Of The 49th Parallel CD but I've never really enjoyed the second and third verses of the song:

(Second)
Your faith was strong but you needed proof
You saw her bathing on the roof
Her beauty and the moonlight overthrew her
She tied you
To a kitchen chair
She broke your throne, and she cut your hair
And from your lips she drew the hallelujah

Hallelujah, hallelujah
Hallelujah, hallelujah

(Third)
You say I took the name in vain
I don’t even know the name
But if I did, well really, what’s it to you?
There’s a blaze of light
In every word
It doesn’t matter which you heard
The holy or the broken hallelujah

Really don't blame Fred for dropping those verses - or even if in fact he had anything to do with it. Maybe time was a factor. Maybe I'm just missing something. Maybe I need a bottle of red wine with a Canadian to understand it all!

Further enquiries about Hallelujah - with a heads-up from Fredhead Frank Eaton who, via the Jason Hammond web site, transcribes (with others) many of Fred's chords and lyrics, - uncovered a Fred co-written song (with Canadian singer/songwriter, Jenny Whitely) entitled Hallelujah Haircut which has a bouncier beat, a much less spiritual base and some damn fine singing from the Whitely woman - listen here (click on her name and wait for the music to come on). Think I'm gonna follow this whole record company - Black Hen Music. Next stop - maybe a quick review after tomorrow night but definitely a full round-up after the Bridge show.

Say the word "appalachia" and immediately ears prick at what might be following. Mostly around here it would be about music, and deservedly so, but there's more . . . the mountains, the Indians, the diversity of immigrants and on and on! A mob called the Sierra Club have organised and published a DVD, CD soundtrack and a book outlining the Appalachias from go to whoa. It's also going to air on PBS in North America in April - which means we may get it down here next year some time! It even has the last interview with Johnny Cash. Check it out here.

(Link courtesy of Fredhead "hbn" on the above-mentioned Fred Eaglesmith Digest).

Nothing like a catchy name to get 'em in, I say, and Keith Newman - he of the powerhouse beat behind such bands as 50 Million Beers, The Margharitas, Kinghorse, Simon Bruce and occasionally dropping in with Hunter & Suzie Owens and Rob Luckey - has his (own band) debut at The Riverview (where else?) this coming Easter Sunday at about 5.30 pm. There's not a great deal on so throw an old shirt on to cover the choc stains from the Easter Bunnies (Bilbys?) and get on over for what Keith is promising as an evening amongst the musical vibes of Jon Cale and the like. Ben Little on guitar and vocals and Pat Salvin on bass & vocals. Don't say you weren't told!

Almost choked on my porridge when I started reading an article about a couple of Japanese girls who punk up songs better known coming from Madonna, the Ramones, Junior Brown or Patsy Cline - and they sing them sometimes half in Japanese and half in English! Well, they've got my attention . . . now to work on the Japanese Consulate in Australia to promote a cultural exchange tour. More . . .

The Mad Monk . . .

Is it just me or is anyone else getting a feeling of perverse satisfaction out of this?

I know I've seen this guy somewhere before - thought it was supporting one of my favourite songwriters, Guy Clark, years back but it's not in his list of people he's performed with so I may be wrong. Whatever, he was a wizard on guitar and a fine singing voice. I've just received this flyer from one of the Margharitas who may be playing a song or two at the gig listed below. I know it's late notice, wet and cold but it's LIVE music we're talking about . . . work will prevent me from attending but . . . here's the gist of the Marghi email:

Dear Friends,
Another friend of ours is playing the Cat and Fiddle tomorrow night in Balmain: Wayne Gillespie (former New Zealander and now Sydneysider), together with UK guitar-meister Nigel Gavin (see below for reviews and info), from 8pm, $15. And there may be a tiny guest spot for a Margharita in there as well...brave the weather, come along and start your Easter Weekend early!

Claire Margharita x

More details here.


Easter Fare . . . .

I was going to do a preview of all the Easter Weekend fare but time has its own way of doing things so I'm just going to point to the two big gigs at Cockatoo Island and Byron Bay and let your fingers and eyes do the walk . . .

That's the two big brothers out of the way so we'll cut to what's happening in Sydney (honky tonk-wise) over Easter. There's more than enough in my Gig Guide (right) to satisfy my bunnikins wishes but if you know of anything else let me know! Such a bloody pity that The Murray Hillbillies and The Satellites are both on Saturday night! If you like your country/honky tonk raw and dancin' it's the Hillbillies. If you enjoy some good rockabilly and slick dancin' then it's the Adelaide-based Satellites. Me? I'm just an old-fashioned guy!

Dylan . . .

My good friend and compatriot in fine music over at the Mule pointed out what a great night the monthly Dylan gathering was on Monday night. To fill in the story a little, I feel some mention should be made of the appearance (besides Melbourne-based Queen of Dark Soul, Cindi Boste) of up-and-coming folk-singer songwriter, Simon Bruce. Simon's been based in Nashville for a year or so and he's sorta treading water back in Sydney while he gets his CD finished and hopes to be back in Nashville by about August. This kid showed a lot of promise from the first time I heard him sing early Dylan songs in a Redfern backyard probably four years ago. He's come a long way since then. Simon's also been known to drop in with Rob Luckey and The Margharitas on the odd occasion - yet another reason to keep an eye on the GG (right)! The monthly Dylan gatherings are worthy of a story on their own but it's too late to do it now. Suffice to say they're held at the old Australia Hotel (now The Abercrombie Hotel - corner Parramatta Rd and Abercrombie St, Broadway - opposite the old Sydney Morning Herald building) every THIRD MONDAY of EACH MONTH - 7pm. Anyone with an interest, not only in Dylan but in good music in general (plus a couple of drinks to grease the soul) is welcome to attend. If you feel like a bit of a jam, come on down and help out our resident Dylan-freak musos (Thanks Dennis Aubrey, Peter Cox and Terry Darmody).

For the two of you who read this, I can say without any reservations - at all - the Inner West is about to be served by what might be called the "new home" of country/honky tonk music. The Balmain Bowling Club (BBC) was, once again, in full party mode last night when the Hunter & Suzie Owens Band took to the stage after a long absence following their unfortunate demise, almost a year ago, from their old Orange Grove gig. Arriving just in time to get the break after the first set, it was obvious the word had filtered out to almost all of the regular followers of this excellent band. A measure of the type of crowd it was can be gauged by the amount of time meeeting and greeting rather than listening to the music once the band started the second set. It was as if Hunter & Suzie had put on a party and it was an open invite . . . with everyone accepting!

With so many close friends and familiar faces packing the recently-refurbished lounge of the BBC, it reinforced the feeling to many of us that this band is the hub of a friendly network of like-minded folk who like their music, dancing and a few drinks. It must be coming up to nine years since Hunter & Suzie set out as an acoustic bluegrass band at the Tatts Hotel in Rozelle and last night saw them take yet another step further along that road with one of the best line-ups of their continually-evolving state. Not that they're a bluegrass band anymore - at least not in the style of all those years ago. We've seen it all before - a while back - at the Orange Grove and the Tatts and we've possibly seen them in a more up-tempo mood now and again but, for their first night back after almost a year, the band rocked and swayed many of their hits and popular choice songs back into the heads of their faithful followers. In top gear, they're possibly the best bar-room band in the Inner West - along with their alternate-Friday-night-at-the-BBC compatriots, Rob Luckey and the Lucky Bastards.

Hunter told me the next day he'd almost had a nervous breakdown as the gig came around to reality and he even admitted a couple of flubbed lines and notes. If he did, I don't think there would be many who noticed. Behind Hunter's almost faultless vocals and rhytym guitar, he has an excellent engine room driving the band: Doug Bligh, possibly the most under-rated drummers in Sydney and Hunter's partner-in-all, Suzie, on impeccable electric bass. If you were there you may also have noticed that "man from the mountains", Jake Lardot, picking up where he left off a year back with his controlled guitar lines and explicit solos. I say explicit here, because we have seen Jake set the place alight with "explosive" solos when the band played rooms which didn't have a soft carpet of a hundred or more patrons filling all the spare sound spaces. If I can say one thing, it would be to request a tweak in the volume when there's another crowd like that. But, because it was their first night back and most of us were too busy "networking" again to notice, I'll say bloody good gig, guys!

Last, but certainly not least, in the line-up is the incomparable Tomi Grasso on pedal steel who can send shivers down the spine on a good night and send you into a dream-state on any other. Hunter & Suzie have always been able to connect with the best in the business when they need players to fill in or to take a residency in the band, and hopefully Tomi will be able to stick around as a permanent member for a long time. And have I mentioned before, most of the numbers this band plays are penned by Suzie with the odd one from Hunter. Superb! Of course they always throw in their (and our) favourite cover songs from the likes of Steve Earle, Jimmie Rodgers, John Prine, Dylan, etc.

There was a couple of grumbles about the venue - ". . . it's too much like a club, etc . . ." - but I really don't know what these people want out of a venue. It has dirt cheap drinks, friendly and helpful staff, it's clean, warm, close to public transport, has a reasonable dance floor and is a good sounding room. If there is ANY complaint, it would have to come from the non-smokers (who else!). That issue will probably be resolved forever in the next year or so when the new non-smoking laws begin to kick in, so if those few can manage to stop breathing for a while, they'll have it all! :-)

The BBC management were more than happy with the patronage (the best they've seen in years!) and Hunter & Suzie will be back with the same line-up in a fortnight (April 1) with Rob Luckey and his Lucky Bastards doing the Thursday night before Good Friday next week (March 24). Start time 8 pm. Hopefully this alternating arrangement will carry on into the future, making the BBC a possible home to Friday night country/honky tonk music in the Inner West.

On a final note, I'll leave it to a line from one of Hunter & Suzie's songs: ". . . . take me back to Friday night again!"

DIG Internet Radio - News - Fred Eaglesmith Touring For dig COUNTRY

On my daily jaunt across to Flop Eared Mule I was directed to an ABC dig radio interview with Bob Dylan. While there I came across a piece on Fred in the country section. It has a short outline on his career and his touring schedule. I ain't gonna stop plugging this guy until you all get down to see him - and the Flying Squirrels. Check it out! Link

Last Friday night saw the first of a series of gigs scheduled for the newly-renovated rooms of the Balmain Bowling Club. Rob Luckey and the Lucky Bastards made the most of a good crowd which was up and dancin' most of the night. This coming Friday (March 18) the much-missed Hunter & Suzie Owens band make their first appearance at this venue.

A comedy of errors and venue mismanagement saw this fine band kicked from venue to venue in order to find a suitable room to satisfy their solid base of fans. While it's been some time since they last played at the Orange Grove Hotel in a non-smoking mode, the Balmain Bowling Club offers a well ventillated environment which smokers and non-smokers alike should find suitable. The band will have the old line-up back, with Jake Lardot on lead guitar, Tommy Graso on pedal steel and Doug Bligh on drums. Not forgetting of course, the instigators of the outfit, Hunter Owens on rhythm guitar and lead vocals and Suzie Owens on electric bass (and, between them, being responsible for most of the songwriting material the band performs). That's not to say they won't do more than a few covers from the likes of John Prine, Dylan, Paul Kelly and a host of others.

The Balmain Bowling Club is in the eastern section of Darling Street, Balmain, and is at the bottom of the dip on the way to the Commercial Hotel at East Balmain. The music starts at 8pm and finishes close to 11pm (mostly to avoid noise-related problems with the neighbours) and the bar serves club-range drinks - meaning cheap! - until almost midnight. Check it out!

And for those who'll be out celebrating the Green with the hordes of Irish folk let loose in Balmain (and the greater area of the universe, in fact), Rob Luckey and the Lucky Bastards will be providing the entertainment for St Patricks Day, Thursday March 17 at 7pm at the abovementioned club. They'll also be playing this venue on the Thursday night before Good Friday (March 24) at 8pm.

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.

Dolly Parton On-Line / Photos / Exclusive / Country Music DJ Hall Of Fame Dinner

Almost as pleasing as the Sunday morning fry-up! Click the link for a pic of the young Catherine in a photo shoot with one of her idols, Dolly Parton, and Martina McBride. Taken just the other night in Nashville and there's another one there if you want to find it. Heaps of Dolly with that permanent smile! You can read about the whole gig here.

I wonder if that same young kid who used to travel from the Central Coast to Sydney to sing a couple of songs at Bill and Audrey's Hillbilly Jam nights (on school nights as well!) ever thought she'd be up there with Dolly? She certainly has a lot of presence. It goes without saying Catherine probably would have found it a more dificult path to travel if it hadn't been for the dogged support and encouragement from her father. The same goes for the unfailing support and musical input from Bill Chambers - he deserves at least a medal. Would Father of New Australian Country be going too far? Link

Just when things seem to be going OK . . . you've heard it all before!

Anyways here's a story hot off the Tennessean's presses (sure to excite the vital organs of any 60+ year-old) and posted to the wonderful P2 list by the unquestioned country music "gonzo" writer hisself, Jeff Wall:

Things might get Kinky at Billy Joe's nuptials

Texas alt-country king Billy Joe Shaver, 65, has a new album, a new DVD, an upcoming 60 Minutes segment, a new book and a new wife?

Indeed. But let's start with the music.

You might recall half of Texas' musicians gathered for a 65th
birthday party for Billy Joe, so starting May 17, you'll be able to
hear Robert Earl Keen, Bruce Robison, Kelly Willis and others sing on A Tribute to Billy Joe Shaver - Live.

The DVD documentary, The Portrait of Billy Joe, directed by Robert Duvall, comes out soon, as does his University of Texas-published book, Honky Tonk Hero.

Billy Joe has had a rough six years, years that include losing his wife after a long bout with breast cancer, and losing a son to drugs. That will be part of an interview he did with Dan Rather for a 60 Minutes piece in April or May.

And then there's the new wife, a 30-something woman he met at a
restaurant, a woman who doesn't listen to country music, who had
never heard of Billy Joe Shaver.

The wedding happens April 8 in Texas, and though Billy Joe is very much a born-again Christian, Kinky Friedman, who once fronted a band called the Texas Jewboys, will very much be a part of the wedding.

By the way, Billy Joe met his intended bride, Joanne Gray, a hospice nurse, only two months ago.

He told me yesterday: 'Things need to happen in a hurry at my age.'

As Kinky might say, mazel tov!

Wall's footnote: She's actually 43. Her daddy is an ex-marine who won the Congressional Medal of Honor and is in the oil bidness. I talked to him twice yesterday and he's happier than I have EVER heard him.

. . . and here's a pic of Robert Duvall and Billy Joe at the recent launch of the abovementioned DVD:





PROMISES, PROMISES . . .

Yeah, I know is was gunner do this and gunner do that but a few things got in the way. If I remember right, I was heading off to see Corb Lund at a local Jazz venue almost two weeks ago. I made it but it was such a strange night I decided to thrill you both with a long and unnecessarily detailed description of the whole shebang. Suffice to say I became so bored with my own verbosity I lost interest just about the time I was about to review Lund's performance. In short, the evening was sponsored by the Canadian Consulate in Australia to promote Canadian music. I'm so impressed with the many Canadian singer/songwriters I've come up against in the past so I thought this guy would put on a good show. He did. BUT!! Note to the Canadian Consul: If you're going to throw these things for free, you could easily go the whole hog and throw in the booze for nothing as well - especially if the main act is not coming on until 11.30 at night and your faithful patrons have been indulging in drinks across the bar at $6.50 a pop for a good three hours!

Anyway, Lund is no doubt an accomplished honky tonker and a sweet singer with an edge . . . also a fine writer and he appears to have the ability to get a crowd going. So why wasn't this crowd dancin' in the aisles? Personally, I think it was a combination of the venue's sound system (not loud enough for a decent rockin' country band) and the seemingly endless support acts, ranging from a lovely young pianist/singer to a straight folk singer back to the lovely young thing with a couple of harmonisers (all Canadian, of course!). All this while we're consuming next week's rent! I'd go see Lund and his band anytime or anywhere as long as they were being true honky tonkers getting stuck into the booze with us but definitely NOT at the Side On Cafe.

Here's photo of Corb Lund (guitar/vocal) and his band at a gig somewhere in Texas a while back . . .