Getting Realistic…all over again

The guys and I are steaming along, writing, rehearsing and working up to recording. Steve has two new original tunes in the set now, I have a few more, and we’ve just worked on a cracking version of  ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ by The Fabs.We debuted these new songs @ The Mount Dandy Pub last Sunday and they all went down really well.
Looking for gigs in Melbourne is a pain in the rear tho’…too many messages left on too many answering machines/voicemail services.

ps-here’s the link to our Press Kit: http://www.sonicbids.com/PhilSmith2

Please let us know what you think.

Our Little Baby

After much waiting and anticipating, our new CD is here!

‘My Little Baby’ is a 4 song CD single (apparently E.P.s dont exist anymore) which the band launched last Friday night @ Burrinja in Upwey, Victoria.

This was a huge night (photos here) of music and laughs. Kicking off the festivities was Alex Legg, one of our favourite artists, engaging the assembled throng with his wry songs and spot-on banter. After a short interval, the Realistics were onstage running through tunes from my solo album, ‘All Things Considered’, before turning to the new tracks from the new single. The ensuing encore of The Temptations’ ‘Aint too proud to beg’ had me dancing on the floor with the punters, and as the audience left the building, smiling and rock-sated, the band were keenly aware of the huge goodwill and audience participation that had been generated that night. Kudos to everyone who came along, and to those that have since contacted us via email etc. Thanks for Rockin’ Out!

Keep your ears peeled for the album! Cheers, Phil Smith.

Lyrics

Lyrics from

Phil Smith & The Realistics “My Little Baby” CD single…

‘My Little Baby.’

This song was written on my new piano (thanks Steve) one night while waiting for my wife to come home from a country trip. It’s a self explanatory toon…

My Little Baby says she’s comin’ home tonight

Wait by the window, hope everything’s alright

My Little Baby’s comin’ home tonight

Take out the garbage and leave on the light

My Little Baby says she’s comin’ home tonight

My Little Baby’s got a mountain for her heart

South of the river, that’s where the dancing start

My Little Baby’s got a mountainous heart

Aint no valley gonna keep us apart

My Little Baby’s got a mountain for her heart

Everyday’s a new expression

I feel it washin’ over me-YEAH

My Little Baby says she knows we will never part

I feel inspired, I’ve done right from the start

My Little Baby says she wants me to know

As long as I love her, she’ll never go

My Little Baby says she’s stayin’ here with me

My Little Baby says she’s comin’ home tonight

Wait by the window,  I hope that everything is alright

My Little Baby’s comin’ home tonight

Take out the garbage and leave on the light

My Little Baby says she’s comin’ home tonight

My Little Baby says she’s comin’ home tonight

My Little Baby says she’s comin’ home tonight

‘Glad that I made it this far’

This song came from the first line, which I had buzzin’ around in my head for days. When I sat down to write it, it all came out at once. The most autobiographical thing I’d written in ages. Love this one.

I was raised in the shadow of a mountain with the sun on my face

And it took me many years to finally fall from grace

While the weight of the world was a jumpin’ up and down on my case

I stood up far too quickly and I lost my place

Stood up far too quickly and I lost my place

By the time I was taken on a journey where I couldn’t get back

I was halfway home to nowhere and I faded black

All the lovers and the mothers and the others that I met on the way

Would testify that they could let me slip away

And I don’t know what to do, don’t know what to say

I’m just glad that I made it this far

I was raised in the shadow of a mountain with the sun on my face

And it took me many years to finally fall from grace

All the lovers and the mothers and the others that I met on the way

Would testify that they could let me slip away

And I don’t know what to do, don’t know what to say

I’m just glad that I made it this far

I dont know what to do, I dont know what to say

I was raised in the shadow of a mountain with the sun on my face

And I don’t know what to do

I’m just glad that I made it this far

I don’t know what to do, I don’t know what to say

I was raised in the shadow of a mountain with the sun on my face

And I don’t know what to do

I’m just glad that I made it this far

Glad that I made it this far…

‘Let it Go’

A slightly older song co-written with Cousin Ronnie and Neil Quinlan, back when we had a band called The Conrays together. Always believing in the groove of it, Ronnie and I took it out and dusted it off recently, re-wrote a couple of bits, and after I got a handle on singing it a different way…Voila! A new Realistics tune. This one is about…don’t lose it, don’t get mad or even…just Let it Go. Chill yeah?

There aint no use shakin’ your fist at the ocean

There aint no use blamin’ your troubles on the GO

A little bit of peace would help this situation

You can lose it, or simply Let it Go

Let it Go, Let it Go

Let it Go, Let it Go

Let it Go, Let it Go

Let it Go, Let it Go

Life’s too long for hangin’ by your fingers

Life’s too short for screamin’ at the sun

The hate you love is like the smell that lingers

Lookin’ down the barrel of someone

Let it Go, Let it Go

Let it Go, Let it Go

Let it Go, Let it Go

Let it Go, Let it Go

There aint no use shakin’ your fist at the ocean

There aint no use blamin’ your troubles on the GO

A little bit of peace would help this situation

You can lose it, or simply Let it Go

Let it Go, Let it Go

Let it Go, Let it Go

Let it Go, Let it Go

Let it Go, Let it Go

Let it Go, Let it Go

Let it Go, Let it Go

Let it Go, Let it Go

Let it Go, Let it Go

‘Get Realistic’

A slogan song, much like my other tune, ‘How many miles to Babylon’, which came directly from the title. Cousin Ronnie wrote the line-’If the strain on your brain takes you down it can never show.’ This song is about Come on, Get Realistic, don’t fuck about!

Get Realistic, put your body on show

All the freaks in the world think they’re hot but baby you oughtta know

Get Realistic, take the wheel on fire

All the Zoots in the forest told me so

It can take you higher

And I don’t really want these kind of lies

Take me where it’s real you’ll be surprised

Get Realistic, take a moment to know

If the strain on your brain takes you down, it can never show

Get Realistic, make a moment to last

All the time that you spend on your mind’ll have you out on your ass

And I don’t really want these kind of lies

Take me where it’s real you’ll be surprised

Get Realistic, put your body on show

All the freaks in the world think they’re hot but baby you oughtta know

Get Realistic, take the wheel on fire

All the Zoots in the forest told me so

It can take you higher

And I don’t really want these kind of lies

Take me where it’s real you’ll be surprised

Get Realistic, Get Realistic baby etc.

Lyrics from Phil’s solo CD – “All Things Considered.”

‘How Many Miles To Babylon’

Years ago I had a band called The Midwest Farmer’s Daughters. A singer in that band was Cindy Parret, and she asked me to write a song for her. I did, and it was called How many miles to Babylon. Cindy never got the song, and years later I found the lyrics, but I couldn’t remember the chords or the tune to the song…so I wrote some more! I started playing this song, the re-write, with another band called The Conrays, and it has always gone over well, so I stuck it on me album!

How many dreams that never come true

How many reasons you can see right through

How many more times till we get it on

How many miles to Babylon

How many stages where the scenery falls

How many dark and disturbing phone calls

How many slips of your stupid tongue

How many miles to Babylon

Something in my eyes lets you see what I have done

Don’t you realise that you’re coming with me-To Babylon

How many pieces can shatter & break

Before you understand just what it takes

How many times will you get back on

How many miles to Babylon

How many tired horses in the sun

How many cigarettes, how much fun

How many nights when your life weighs a ton

How many miles to Babylon

Something in my eyes lets you see what I have done

Don’t you realise that you’re coming with me-To Babylon

How many dreams that never come true

How many lies, baby, what can you do?

How many times have you heard this song

How many miles to Babylon…

‘Midnite Show’

This song is all about the yin/yang of playing live gigs in bars and nightclubs. It’s a bleak, world weary tune which hopefully has some humour coming through too. Most musicians will whinge from time to time about playing scungy gigs, but when they get onstage it’s usually a different story. “What…and leave show-business?” And yes,it’s spelt like that on purpose. It’s Marquee Spelling…

I see ghosts in the trees from years gone by

And warnings like spitting in a dead dog’s eye

Tonight I’ll be playing in the Albion Bar

Always so close but never too far

Once again, this is the way

The show must go on at the end of the day

Yeh, I know, what I said yesterday

But get me to the Midnite Show, anyway…

There’s a woman at the bar who’ll never understand

I wont play that song, I’m not some wedding band

She smiles with an insult, and then turns the knife

I take a break and leave her to her miserable life

Once again…

All the young Nazis are here getting drunk

Standing ’round in Irish bars, listening to Punk

What’s the fascination with this life I don’t know

Just toast my soul and get me to the Midnite Show

Once again…

‘Sitting Pretty’

This song is an open letter to war-mongers everywhere. I wrote it after attending an anti-war rally, and would love to jot it down on paper and use a skewer to pierce George W. Bush’s stupid heart with it.

You think you’ve never ever shone so bright

You don’t regret the things you did last night

And all around you is the sound of breaking hearts

There’s something missing from your wild ideas

You’ll never see the pain or feel the tears

While all around you is the sound of breaking hearts

You think you’ve got it good but you don’t know how bad it’s gonna get

And all the while you’re sitting pretty ’cause you haven’t started yet

This is your moment, yeah, you think it’s the one

While every body else is saying your wrong

And all around you is the sound of breaking hearts

You’ll be remembered for being a fool

And kids will curse your name each Monday @ school

While all around you is the sound of breaking hearts

You think you’ve got it good but you don’t know how bad it’s gonna get

And all the while you’re sitting pretty ’cause you haven’t started yet

You think you’ve never ever shone so bright

You don’t regret the things you did last night

And all around you is the sound of breaking hearts

‘All Things Considered’

The title track of the CD, and a twisted love song really. My wife constantly turns my mind on to new things, but we should all adopt an All Things Considered attitude in this world. Keep your head open!

All things considered, I’m a man of my word

But I’ll use it in a sentence that I’m sure you’ve never heard

And still you could, be the one

Who brings me all undone

As you sit there, turning on my mind again

All things considered, I’m a child out of time

And I deal with the present, that I’d rather leave behind

But still you could, be the one

Who brings me all undone

As you sit there, turning on my mind again

What can I do, to make sense of where I’ve been?

Where could I go, to meet you all over again?

All things considered, I’m a man of my word

But I’ll use it in a sentence that I’m sure you’ve never heard

And still you could, be the one

Who brings me all undone

As you sit there, turning on my mind again

As you sit there, turning on my mind again

As you sit there, turning on my mind again

‘A little bit of Heaven’

This track was written from a riff I wrote in a high school band in 1979. I wanted to say how it felt to be in the middle of your life and meet someone extraordinary, and live like that…like a little bit of Heaven. I had the riff (originally a guitar, not piano riff) but the lyrics evaded me. Good mates Cliff McAulay & Dean Stevenson helped me write them.

Set me free, from this moment

Give me time, to work it out

I’ve got a little bit of Heaven-I don’t understand why

I can’t be superstitious

I will walk a thousand miles

I’ve got a little bit of Heaven-I don’t understand why

In the middle of my bad life

I’ve been taken by surprise

It makes no sense, the bastard I’ve been

To find me an angel on ice….

I’m awake, but I’m dreaming

Pinch me now, or forever hold my soul

I’ve got a little bit of Heaven-I don’t understand why

I’ve got a little bit of Heaven-I don’t understand why

‘Say it ain’t so’

Like most people of my generation, I watch an appalling amount of television. And let me tell you it sucks! It does occasionally entertain or inform, but mostly it just sits there bleeding, leaving a sickly stain across your mind. Don’t believe it people, don’t swallow…Here’s a happy little tune then…

Take two minutes, have a good look around & tell me what you see

Anything you want or think you need to know about is coming at you FREE

People don’t believe it, when the television bleeds it leaves a stain you cannot hide

Aim so low that you’ll never ever know if your worst was good enough

Spend four days in the life of another and I will show you TOUGH

Turn off the sound, put your body on the ground and get ready to have it all

And I know, some kind of madness that wont let go

Is crushing us all. Just don’t believe it-Say it ain’t so!

Take it all in, don’t disbelieve a thing, perpetuate those lies

Papers T.V. radio, suck you in and know you know

Eat this nasty prize

Babble on and on & on, we can prove you must be wrong, the label never lies

And I know, some kind of madness that wont let go

Is crushing us all. Just don’t believe it-Say it ain’t so!

‘Oblivion’

Sometimes, you want to write a bleak song. One which brings the listener into your own depraved mind. I like oblivion, I embrace it when I sleep or after I’ve been smashed all night. This song was written on the day of a good friend’s funeral in an effort to say how I felt inside, right then & there.

Sometimes all I want is Oblivion

Close my eyes and drift away nowhere

Sometimes all I need is a clear shot at it

So I can tell I’m still here

Darkness in the sunshine I know all too well

The mindless turning on of all your fears

Drifting into thoughts that are best left sealed

And I will know I’m still here

I can see it much better now

Close my eyes and my mind switches on

I can feel it it’s hold on me-Oblivion

Sometimes all I want is Oblivion

Close my eyes and drift away nowhere

Sometimes all I need is a clear shot at it

So I can tell I’m still here

I can see it much better now

Close my eyes and my mind switches on

I can feel it it’s hold on me-Oblivion

Sometimes all I want is Oblivion

Close my eyes and drift away nowhere, nowhere….

‘Soul Apparition’

I had a dream I was carrying this apparition through the forest, and it turned out to be the girl I married.

Soul Apparition, girl from the stars

I want to be there, wherever you are

‘Cause I’m the man who finds it hard to keep his distance

I’m the guy that doesn’t want to be alone

Soul Apparition, let me carry you home

When I met you, I was nowhere

I felt the touch of your eyes and it made me want to care

Now you’re the girl who has to drive around the world

I’m the guy you cannot get to on the phone

Soul Apparition, let me carry you home

I invited you to dinner

So I could sit with you in the dark

But you couldn’t make it, and I’m getting hungrier

Every day that we’re apart-Soul Apparition!

Yeh I’m the man who finds it hard to keep his distance

I’m the guy that doesn’t want to be alone

Soul Apparition, let me carry you home

‘Deeper’

This song is about depression and wanting to surface but not being able to. Originally written as a completely different tune in the 80’s, with a friend called Ian Harvey. All I’ve kept are the chords and the order, the lyrics and melody are all new.

The scars are getting deeper

I cut myself again last night, I know

Though everything’s peachy, my world’s not right

Fears on the horizon

They’re never far away from me, I say

Though everything’s wrong, I feel alright today

Alone in a crowd, scared in a room

I’m winding my shroud a little too soon

The last time that I saw you

You turned away to hide your mind, I know

It happens to me all the time

Walking in the spotlight

But looking for a place to hide, I see

So many rabbit holes for me

Alone in a crowd, scared in a room

I’m winding my shroud a little too soon

The scars are getting deeper

I cut myself again last night, I know

Though everything’s peachy, my world’s not right

Alone in a crowd, scared in a room

I’m winding my shroud a little bit too soon

‘Maybe Something More’

This is my attempt at writing a soul song (oh baby) Again, I couldn’t get the lyrics happening, so Cliff McAulay and I wrote them up together in one memorable session.

It would take a million years

To wash my sins away

I am not a perfect man

Believe me when I say

Life is such a twisted road

I’ll walk it anyway

I can see the signs ahead

They light me on my way

All I want, is waiting

All my life, has just begun

All this time, I’m searching for

Maybe something more

I heard it on the radio

The Moon is on the rise

I would’ve known that anyway

I’ve seen it in your eyes

All I want, is waiting

All my life, has just begun

All this time, I’m searching for

Maybe something more

I dont know my destiny

It’s in the hands of fate

I’ll try and be a better man

Before it gets too late

All I want….

‘Seven Guitars’

Written back when I was a single man living near the beach, this merely details a week in the life of a reprobate. (At this time I owned 7 guitars-now I have 11) It contains one of my favourite lines in a lyric-”I am such a friend’s house pig.”

I finally made it home after a week in the hills

I drifted and I toasted and I knocked on window sills

Friends were good to have me, I was ragged, I was poor

But they always let me in when I come scratchin’ at their door

There was a girl I tried to contact, but my efforts where in vain

I called her up a few times, but she wasn’t home again

When I finally saw her, as I stumbled on her world

I was standing in some driveway with a different girl

Strange, strange, baby so strange

What seems strange to you

Strange, strange, baby so strange

Is all that I know how to do

I met up with some bandits, played some tunes and had some fun

While my car was jumping to Soul Compilation #1

I stayed an extra night, I am such a friend’s house pig

Had the next day with a girl and then drove crosstown to my gig

I partied with a Rare Breed Man on the other side of town

It took ten conversations just to bring me down

I drove home in my mobile, I could never feel no pain

Unloaded 7 guitars in the darkness and the rain

Strange, strange, baby so strange

What seems strange to you

Strange, strange, baby so strange

Is all that I know how to do

I toasted myself once again and watched some old TV

And wondered why a certain girl didn’t wanna go out with me

I slept the sleep of Angels, but a Demon stole the sheet

I went out in the morning and voted for some guy I’ll never meet

Strange, strange, baby so strange

What seems strange to you

Strange, strange, baby so strange

Is all that I know how to do

‘Can’t see the Moon without You’

This song was written on the occasion of my first wedding anniversary. A dreamy ballad with simple & heartfelt lyrics, it is nonetheless still introduced sometimes as ‘I cant seem to moon without you.’

It was your eyes, understanding I wanted more

And the tide that has brought you to my shore

Must be true

‘Cause I can’t see the Moon without you

In this light, we will dance on the hard floor

And the shine that you laid at my front door

Must be true

‘Cause I can’t see the Moon without you

It was your eyes, understanding I wanted more

And the tide that has brought you to my shore

Must be true

Must be true

‘Cause I can’t see the Moon without you

all lyrics copyright 2007 Phil Smith. Reprinted with kind permission.

Rockin’ with The Realistics

The band is gigging now. We played at a local iconic venue called Ruby’s recently. We had a Saturday night, so we put on two other bands , who are also mates of ours;

4TRESS & The Stinky Gypsys. (If you go to my myspace @ www.myspace.com/filsmythe u can check these great acts out for yourself.)

It was a huge night, and now we’re playing Ruby’s again for an early Sunday night show. We’re using a strategy of ‘getting our sh*t together in the outer reaches of Melbourne’s East, before heading into town’ to take on bigger audiences, and it’s really working for us. We’re able to set ourselves on a consistent progression upwards & onwards. New songs have been added to the set, and there are still two tracks from ‘All Things Considered’ which haven’t been tackled yet!

Very soon we’ll be heading into a studio to record 4 new songs for a CD single, so keep yer eyepatch off for that one. The Realistics and I are having a fine ol’ time right now, and we’d love for you all to join us.

The Realistics

New Year, new band, new M.O. for me. I hate bands. They are a young person’s trip. “Hey, c’mon, let’s get a band together. I gotta bass player who knows a drummer, and my mate Kevin can write the lyrics for us! We can rehearse in the scout hall…” Being in a band can be like living AND working within a Mormon marriage. 4 to 6 people, each with their own special skills/needs & agendas, all fighting for equal time. When one is young, inexperienced & foolish, this stuff doesn’t matter as much, you’re all learning & growing up together; but as an older muso, over 40, the prospect of ‘getting a combo together’ to go out and play my stuff was extremely daunting. Luckily, I’ve been blessed this time. I don’t know if experience is playing a part, but I have assembled a cool & rockin’ band quite painlessly. Cousin Ronnie, my main man, is the solid rock on bass. We have worked together for years, most notably in our Tex-Mex/R’n'B band ‘The Conrays.’ Ronnie was first on board, and we did my CD launches together and continued rehearsing the rest of the CD and newer stuff. (Ultimately, Ronnie also came up with the band name-’The Realistics.’) While casting around for a drummer, Mr. Zoltan Almady came under our radar, and we all hit it off famously and got right into rehearsal mode quickly. Zol is a treat, and came to us with many years of playing under his belt, fitting in and contributing seamlessly. Keyboard players are always hard to find, and good ones even more of a scarcity. If they are any good, they tend to be playing in 3 different bands at once, while holding down lucrative piano bar gigs at the Hyatt. Steve Scott, our Joanna Man, has not had much band experience, but plays great keys and has been a welcome find for us, adding great tones and licks to the band. Rehearsals have been a lot of fun, each of us trying hard to represent my songs and create something new simultaneously. The few gigs we have played have been dynamite showcases, hitting the spot very well and garnering only positive feedback. This weekend, we are doing our first full pub support slot, opening up for mates “Little Green Bag” @ their CD Launch @ Rubys Lounge, here in Belgrave.

Stay tuned as the story of ‘Phil Smith & The Realistics’ unfolds…

CD Launch @ Rubys

Rubys’ Lounge in the beautiful Dandenong Ranges, outside Melbourne Australia, is a full- on Rock Venue with a huge bar, lots of velvet hanging from above the stage, comfy armchairs & sofas dotted around the room, and even a Secret Bookcase with a hidden room downstairs. It is the Espy of the Hills (as in Esplanade Hotel St. Kilda, famed Rock Venue also) and a nice, friendly/grungy and dark place to meet up with music lovers. Many National stars play here, and also a lot of International acts, and heaps of gigs peppered with top local talent. Back in the 80’s & 90’s it was a huge ramshackle second-hand shop, full of furniture, kitchen utensils, old records & the gramophones with which to enjoy said media. (‘Cept they weren’t called media, just LPs then) As I sit here and write, I can look up at a photo of my old, sadly deceased mate, Mark Etheredge, who I would constantly encounter there poring over Hammond Organ records and such. In fact, after Mark’s funeral, a horrible day, a bunch of us repaired to this place to drink his memory…a fitting tribute I always thought… The second hand shop is long gone, but in it’s place is one of the grooviest rock venues around, and it was here on November 11th. 2007 that I pub-launched my CD “All Things Considered.”

Setting the gig as an afternoon thing worked for & against me however. I reasoned that Sunday afternoon @ 4pm would be a good time to get my contemporaries (ie over 40’s) along to a do, as we could all be home & tucked in by 8 @ the latest. Unfortunately, some of my friends are still Rock-Dogs who didn’t bother with the fine print and therefore showed up at 9 to a closed down venue…Nevermind, as Cobain once said, me & the folks who were there had a top time. You can check out photos of the day @ my webpage (www.philsmith.net.au, and then go to Images). My special guests on the day were local band and mates 4TRESS, who also had my old buddy Kirk Syrett playing drums for them, so that was a cool thing. (Kirk & I played together in Melbourne band Wild Turkey in the 90’s, and Kirk and that band celebrate 20 years in 2008) 4TRESS play a great mix of swamp-o-billy-rockin’-harmonious-bass-slappin’ music & were a welcome addition to the proceedings. My other extra special guest was Don Vincenzo Distefano, who gave us some food for thought as he presented an earthy spoken word bracket, which was set to his own original music! Wonderful stuff!! By the time my band and I mounted the stage, the Love was in the room, and not even my Fender guitar amp crapping out could dampen this gig. Luckily I was able to switch over to my Vox amp for the rest of the show. The band and I had debuted the CD at a couple of gigs the weekend before @ Maldon Folk Festival, so we were hot and rarin’ to go, and I personally had a ball jumping up and down and playing all 4 of my electric guitars during the course of the set. My beautiful wife and world class singer Janette Geri was up there with me, smiling & singing and shakin’ her thang…Fallon Williams pushed the rhythm section over the top on Drums, and my second-in-charge Cousin Ronnie was a Rock on the Fender Bass! After 45 minutes or so, it was all over, and I, certainly used to 3 hour pub sets, was at a bit of a loss…but using the credo of “Leave ‘em wanting more” we packed up & began drinking. It was a top day, and I would like to officially thank my wonderful band, my mates who came along and the staff @ Rubys who made it so! By 8pm I was certainly @ home, fielding phone calls from latecomers and a surprise text message from a friend who was there, bought the CD and said, “Hi Phil. Just kicking back listening to your CD. My personal favourite, just love it, is ‘Maybe Something More’. Cherie. ps-worth every cent.”

Thanks, I agree!

Playing @ Maldon Folk Festival

Dude, where’s my telecaster?

The Maldon Folk Festival in Australia. A jewel of an old fashioned type of festival, with buskers in the streets, sessions in the pubs and great bands and solo performers in the various marquees and venues around the town. I was accepted to go & play this year, and for the first time I took a band with me. On bass I had my right-hand man, Cousin Ronnie, on vocals I had with me my wonderful wife & partner Janette Geri, and playin’ the drums we had the amazing Mr. Fallon Williams. Janette, Ronnie & I were able to cruise up in the middle of the Friday, just before the festival kicked off, and we did this leisurely and with no dramas. Arriving in the beautiful little town of Maldon, in North-West Victoria, we strolled up & down the main street putting up some posters for the various gigs we had coming up that weekend.( Janette was also playing the festival under her name ) Fallon wasn’t able to make it to my Friday night gig, so us three did an ‘Unplugged’ show at a venue called The Penny School. A little, very old brick schoolhouse with a restaurant now attached, I can only imagine what Ronnie thought on first view of this venue. We always play in Melbourne pubs with sticky carpet and huge, cavern like rooms. We had to really strip our performance back, seated, with Janette gently tapping a tambourine to keep us in time. I played finger-style guitar through a tiny little Vox amp with lots of reverb, and this show was undoubtedly one of the best gigs of my entire career! Good friend & fellow muso Maria Forde turned up, and my songs were warmly received and loudly applauded…Great gig!! Janette also had a show here this night, and afterwards Fallon turned up straight from his day gig in Melbourne. Janette & Maria retired to the pub, and the boys and I headed out to the camping reserve and The Guinness Tent to catch some of Andy Baylor’s Cajun Combo…Supoib! Back to our billet with the lads camping in their cars in the backyard, and Janette & I in the splendour of a little girls room, filled with fairies and plush toys, but with two tiny single beds! Night all…zzzzzz… By the time Janette & I rose and got our stuff together, Fallon & Ronnie had headed into town for breakfast, and as I drove back into the main street, I started looking for the service station where I could fill my car up with Auto-Gas…and guess what….the nearest supply was back in Castlemaine, some 15-17 ks away, and I was almost out of gas…After a few phone calls trying to raise a local taxi company, whose cars also run solely on gas & a discussion with the local mechanic, Ronnie & I decided to chance it and head back to Castlemaine to gas up. I was watching my trip meter and the little green gas-gauge LEDs all the way, but we made it and that drama was averted. The gig for that day was a 1.15 @ The Troubadour tent, quite a prestigious gig for the festival, so after loading up our stuff, including the 3 guitars I brought with me, we headed out there only to be met by the hale n hearty countenance of my oldest brother, Stax the Didgeman. We set up, played a very cool set which was enjoyed by most, and finished with a big number and then retired backstage to sell a couple of CDs. After a bit, Ronnie headed off to NSW to catch up with an old mate, and Fallon returned to Melbourne. Janette, Stax and I loaded up my car and off we went for more festival… It wasn’t till early next morning that I sat up in bed and said aloud, “Where’s my Tele?” My Electa Telecaster which I bought in 1979 was not in the room with the rest of the gear!! I bolted, throwing festival timetables and stuffed toys up in the air, rummaging through shirts, guitar cases and bags of newspapers, but to no avail…no Telecaster… I went cold…where the hell had I left my oldest, truest guitar? After a very quick dress, we hightailed it back out to the Troubadour tent, and there, leaning up against a lighting truss backstage in the tent, was my beautiful Tele. It was brought in so as not to leave it in the backstage-backstage area, and there it had been all night. As Andy Irvine finished a rousing recital, Janette slithered an arm through the rear tent-flap and retrieved my guitar…Phew! Back at our digs, I removed the tele from it’s case, and while making soothing, reassuring noises to it, I tuned it up and played for half an hour. Just me and my telecaster. Here are two shots of Janette, me & Cousin Ronnie @ The Penny School gig.

Stick a fork in it, it’s done!

OK. So I have got my new CD in my hot little hands, and it is a wonderful feeling, but what now? Well, having researched all my favourite public radio stations, and the DJs & shows, I have started sending copies out to try & get airplay. I’ve also registered the disc with CD Baby and ITunes to get it out there for sale on the web, and now I’m researching the print media and sending out review copies. The way I’m going I’ll soon need to get another run of the CD pressed just to sell at gigs. I popped into my local JB Hi Fi store today to find out if I can get them to stock my CD, and I got a number to call and discuss this, so I’ll keep you posted. For now though, if you’re driving through Tecoma in the Dandenong Ranges and you hear “How many miles to Babylon” blaring out, it’ll be me playing it!!

Waiting for my CD

So here I am. The mixing & mastering has been finalised, the artwork has all been prepared and emailed off, and I’m in that weird limbo as I wait for my new CD to be manufactured and shipped back to me. I should have it in my hot little hands after this weekend sometime, and let me tell you, it’s a bit like being a kid @ Christmas all over again. Last night I played some more songs from the album at my regular gig, with the band I’ll be using @ the launch, and it was very invigorating yet scary. Most of these tracks have never been played properly @ a gig before, but I’m digging it, and apparently so is the mob. Cousin Ronnie, the bass player, and I have been meeting up once a week to rehearse my stuff, and then presenting the songs live on a Thursday night along with drummer Fallon Williams. In a couple of weekends time we will all get together, along with Janette Geri who will sing backup vocals, to run through the whole set for my CD Launch.

Onward & Upward!