Holy Toledo Batman!
This year has rocketed past. Moved into the new house mid October and things had been wild leading up to that and wilder still since. There’s about 4 years of packed boxes to be slowly unpacked… Hence the lack of updates. (I say knowing full well I’m rubbish at this regardless!)
Anyhoo…
Since April:
I did a wee tour with Louisa around Tasmania which was gorgeous. It was lovely to drive around a place I grew up in and have now moved back to with a big change of perspective. Thanks to all the folks who came out to see the shows and all those hard working house concert hosts! I’m looking forward to more music with Louisa in the future, including some guest playing on her forthcoming cd.
I took the Circuit out for a couple weekends of concerts in July through NSW and Tasmania (with a sneaky show in Melbourne) and had a ball. The material really comes alive on stage and it is wonderful to hear the set expanding from the “template” that was solidified in the album. We have more planned for the band so stay tuned!
There have been shows dotted through the year with my old picking pal Pete Daffy and with the “boyhood dream of mine” band, the Ramblin Roses. All these things are projects I want to expand on now that the move is complete and I have a house sized piece of headspace free. 2019 is shaping up to be a great year!
September saw the commencement of a record for the Honeyfields (nee The Beenies). We caught some really lovely song choices and beautiful playing and singing out in Blackwood and between a tank’s worth of tea and a good fire there is going to be a lovely record. I love those sort of projects where the music gets gently made and is quietly observed by the microphones.
The Dorrigo festival was a definite highlight most recently with the Circuit stretching out for some festival gigs and myself and Kate Burke getting to road test our duo material before hitting the studio the following week. These two projects have run in parallel it seems, and both are really starting to hit their stride. Early November and Kate came down to Tassie to record for three days in between duo concerts. This is another record I’m ferociously excited about. I get to indulge all my mandolin/bouzouki wishlists which I reckon has been brewing since I first got a mandolin 21 years ago. We are due to launch that album at the National next year and I can’t think of a better place.
Between then and now I have been getting principle tracking down for Ruth Hazleton’s bold new album. She will no doubt have her own way of describing this music, but for me it conjures up the rise of early 90’s ambient electronica, straight out rock and roll, groove music that parallels with old time, and classic balladry from the late 60’s folk revival. Very interesting. Justin Olsson and Oscar Neyland were wonderful in the studio on Drums/Percussion and Double Bass and it’s shaping up to be a great new project and sound for Ruth.
The whole year I’ve been working away at some school projects supervising some string music ensembles and my TAS and VIC world music orchestras. We’ll be bringing some repertoire to the Cygnet Folk Festival so come along!
There’ll also be albums completed by the Homegrown Collective, Laura Flanagan and Colin Scott. Keep your eyes open for those!
That’s all for now. I’m sure there’s other stories I’ve forgotten to tell but I’ll try be more regular in this effort for 2019!