musings

as a kid, my family moved house a lot. I attended six different schools by the time I hit high school. so my early days of rock n’ roll on the road felt immediately comfortable to me. for many years, I never seemed to have had any problem hopping on a train or plane with just a backpack and a guitar, headed for an unknown future in a strange town, country or continent, armed with a few dollars and a couple of phone numbers of friends-of-friends.

but I’ve become acutely aware as I move into this phase of my life that I’m turning more and more into a homebody. for most of the past decade, I’ve almost subconsciously avoided any unnecessary travel and clung to my meager dwelling, much like the early cavemen, sheltering against the elements and the wild. I’m not sure why this is so. I used to garner great inspirations and emotions from watching the broken white lines disappear underneath the car wheels, or gazing at the soft lights far below from the windows of an airplane, wondering who lived down there, what their lives were like, what stories could they tell.

having been in “house moving” mode for a couple of months now has pulled some interesting emotions from within my soul. I’m finding the idea of transplanting my life into another domicile, another part of the state to be somewhat daunting. added that to the endless delays and misfires, and the path seems evident. so it looks like I’ll be staying put up here in the mountains, at least for a while longer. as long as I can find a nice little place that’s relatively easy to keep warm - winters can be pretty tough up this way - I think I’ll be happy enough. once all is unpacked and set up - mainly my recording gear - I can get back to work. meaning, finish this album.

and then get back on the planes, trains & automobiles to share that music with the world.

looking back on the past couple of months’ posts, there’s some pretty long gaps between the words. when I first started this blog - nearly ten years ago - it was intended to be a regular diary & life/career update for family, friends, fans and stalkers (usually mine or someone else’s ex’es). but with the advent of facebook, twitter, etc. the daily mundane and routine seems to be taken care of as this platform for sweeping platitudes and profound epiphanies gathers pixeldust.

but that’s partly due to the simple fact that there’s not a lot going on. I’m still waiting to move house, most everything is packed & ready. so recording is on hold. again. the blues pirates album goes to mastering next week, it should be out early april (both cd and itunes). one rough demo is up on linda’s myspace page. I still need to tell my publishers that I want to release the footsteps compilation as a digital online album for free. I keep rescheduling cowriting sessions until after the move. my son wants to work at the guitar store and my daughter wants to come live with me again.

so, how bout them olympics, eh?

just a brief comment on the larrikin music / kookaburra vs men at work case - for my overseas readers, here’s some background:

brief overview

complete court transcript

band’s reaction

I have to preface any comments by disclosing that as I receive a substantial percentage of my income as a composer whose works are subject to worldwide copyright, held and administered by a multinational publishing company, I sit on both sides of the table. but my issue isn’t really about whether the recording infringed upon an existing copyright, which in itself may well have been taken from a public domain standard in the first place.

the real issue - well one of several -  is the time frame. the “kookaburra” song was written in the 1930’s, men at work’s recording of “land down under” was first released in 1981. larrikin music acquired the copyright to “kookaburra” in 1990.

so it took larrikin twenty years (and tipoff via a television quiz show) to notice a potential similarity and launch the court action? “land down under” has for three decades been an undeniably iconic song that has all but been adopted as a modern national anthem.surely there must be some element of a statute of limitations that can apply?

also, the flute riff in question isn’t even part of the actual verse, chorus, intro etc - in fact, it’s not part of the actual copyright in the composition, only the copyright in the sound recording. and it’s merely a line incorporated into an instrumental passage. if it had been anything else - say, “waltzing matilda” or “greensleeves”, it would not have impacted on the success of the song to any real degree.

original larrikin founder warren fahey’s comments echo a thought that many, including myself have held since this matter first surfaced in the media. isn’t “kookaburra” a public domain song? and if so, not subject to contemporary copyright law?

look, if the original writer (or her family) had still claimed ownership in the tune, there might be a case for a reassessment of sorts. but as this action seems to be benefiting nobody except the shareholders of music sales pty ltd (the parent company of larrikin music), I’d have to concur with mr. fahey’s suggestion that the song be “gifted” to the australian public in recognition of its status as a cultural theme. onya, waz.

my other copycat beef this week concerns yet another “reality” television series. to say that television networks merely replicate successful shows from competing networks rather than create original content is as axiomatic as saying ice is cold. australian network seven, clearly inspired by the runaway ratings success of ten’s masterchef series (which to be honest, I wasn’t much impressed with, being a fan of the original british series), created something called my kitchen rules.  five years ago, they had a series called “my restaurant rules“, and the remake is essentially the same format, but done on the cheap. it’s also a hybrid of “come dine with me“, another successful british series that spawned a lame u.s. version, and now an aussie version on the lifestyle network.

now, I love food shows more than the average home cook, but this trainwreck is but another feeble attempt by the deep-thinkers in the network boardrooms to try to ’steal’ a successful series’ fanbase. sadly, it shares the same major fault which still-birthed nine network’s chopping block last year. with masterchef, the public wanted to see the nice contestant folks win. with these other shows, the public wants to see the jerks, assholes and egotist contestants fail.

at least we don’t have gordon ramsay to kick around…

sometimes during the endless demands of the working world, the obligations and responsibilities of the family & friends world and the allure and attraction of the entertainment world, we forget to genuinely relax. I haven’t had so much as a proper ‘day off’ in, I dunno… years. so this past weekend was a blissful three days of no internet, no phone, no business - just good food, music & company.

the central coast was the destination, and the weather was most kind. it was great to catch up with old pals for dinners & gigs. the not-so gentle waves off shelly beach reminded me that body-surfing was never intended to be a graceful pastime, and the sunburn (which still remains) across my shoulders reminded me that spf15+ isn’t the name of a new swiss emo band. linda was reminded of the difference between still and mineral water. twice. by physics, no less. we found a funky cafe in terrigal beach where, in spite of waitstaff that looked like they’d been called away from their barbie doll collections to take our orders, had such great food & coffee that we went back the next day. and seagulls do not stand on one leg in order to evoke sympathy and food. nice theory though, lin.

one of my fave moments was dropping into a karaoke session, the gal, not being able to help herself, got up to do a couple of tunes and blew everyone away. as she does. which seemed to really piss off the hostess who felt the best way to reply to having a true professional invade her turf was to do a song of her own immediately afterwards - with her mic & track volumes cranked. ah, the fragile egos of the cover-band wanna-be’s.

all up, it was a much needed - and welcome - respite, especially as I’d been working, cooking and gigging all thru the so-called ‘holiday’ period. now, back to our regularly schedule show, ‘reality melts’, where we rejoin our hero still awaiting a confirmed date when his new house will become vacant and movinable. the guitar store provides him with warmth and inspiration, and gigs on the horizon sees him constantly reminding his fair lady and duo partner which fret to place the capo.

life is good.

the year ahead is slowly beginning to take shape. looks like I’ll be leaving my beloved mountain village and returning to the hustle, bustle and tussle of the city. opportunities keep arising, and a good pal has come thru with a great house to rent in a solid, convenient location. it’ll be a bit of a culture shock for me as it’s in what I would term ‘the burbs’. in my years in sydney, I’ve never lived anywhere west of balmain peninsula, so this will be a big change. but it’s near the guitar store, where I’m considering picking up teaching again. and it’s not as far a commute from gigland, from where I’m feeling a little disconnected of late.

sometimes the writing just appears on the walls. the guesthouses that I’ve been doing some casual chefwork at are both going thru major management changes. the owners of my local pub have canned all live music as part of a new sweeping “cost-saving move” (and we all know where that economic rationalization usually leads…..). so the winds of change seem to be blowing me back down the hill. the new house is large enough to comfortably set up the recording gear again, and then I’ll have no excuses not to get back to this album that seems to haunt me.

my son callum is here for a few days. we celebrated his 14th birthday yesterday with lunch at my old pal james’ cafe in mudgee. it felt a little odd to be back in that town again, it’s been just over seven years since I moved away. it felt comfortable and foreign at the same time. I’m enjoying having some dad-and-son time again.

another year draws to a close and with it, a confusing and messy decade. from reading friend’s various comments on facebook & twitter, it seems to be an opinion shared by many.

for me, the new millenium started with optimism. I was sharing my life with a wonderful woman, I was working for a cool music dotcom and playing the nashville songwriter’s circuit. less than a year later, the relationship had ended, the dotcom had folded, I was hospitalised with a heart attack and my kids were on the phone begging me to come back to australia.

the decade unfolded unpredictably as I floated between town and country, trying to find something to hang onto. the upsides: I turned my long-growing passion for food into a new profession and a second career. I got to spend some great time with my rapidly growing kids, and enjoyed being a true step-parent.

the downsides: I lost my way, musically. the love of writing, recording and performing became a distant and disjointed memory. I also lost several close friends, who all went far too early from cancer-related illnesses and diseases. it was a big motivation for me to rekindle my dreams.

I spent the better part of the decade with my best friend, partner, companion, lover, confidante. it finally drew to its natural close right at the end of the decade. I wish her well. And I reconnected with an old friend whose path was paralleling mine, and with this, I may have found my true soulmate.

so now I venture forth into my fifth decade, with renewed hope, love and optimism.

christmastime again. last year, we’d just opened the cafe, so it was all work. this year, I no longer have the cafe, but it’s still just work. my son won’t be here until just after new year’s and my daughter looks like heading to queensland with friends. so I’ll be juggling a few kitchen shifts and gigs. which is fine, without kids or family around, it never feels much like the festive season to me. doubly so with antipodean summers.

been working on a couple a cool new tunes that linda’s written. hoping to get a new demo track together this weekend, I’m still struggling with the bizarre programming on the digital rhythm machine. real live drummers are simpler - you only need to punch in the information once.

new year’s eve is looking like fun. we’re holding an outdoor party in the pub’s gardens. kid’s disco & sausage sizzle, then the bistro will be held out on the verandah with bbq grills - meet the chefs, etc. big screen tv for the fireworks over sydney harbour & music all eve. Linda & I are doing a set with greg on percussion, then a couple sets with the band later on. as new year’s day falls on the 1st friday, the boys & I will be doing our regular show as well. the after-eve gigs are often better than the ‘big event’ anyway.

politics? yawn. copenhagen summit? posturing and grandstanding. sports? snooze. I have two reasons to be ecstatically happy, and that’s that I get to play music; and the wonderful gal I get to play music with. life’s getting better every day, and I really have no complaints.

which is the best christmas present I could ever hope for.

was rather chuffed to learn that one of my older tunes - from my 1992 wooden nails album - was selected on this week’s ‘new’ charts at digital music site the sixty one. wonder if my new stuff will have to wait that long….

another busy weekend survived. first ‘official’ show with linda went very well. having percussion and harmonica really suited the songs well. looking forward to the next one. the two band gigs were at polar opposites of the quality scale, but seemed to go down okay with the punters, all that matters in the end.

been working with the new zoom video recorder and shot all three gigs. the only one that produced any usable results was the jazz fest on sunday, there’s one clip on youtube now. the other two captured too much crowd chatter and people walking into frame. next time will try a different cam location. it’s all new.

speaking of, I’d love to hear from anyone who fancies themselves adept with editing quicktime files. I’m trying to crop in-frame and resample to different outputs. quicktime pro is good for basic top & tail, but I need something more advanced (and can’t seem to find my copy of adobe premiere).

the other task that consumed my weekend was getting thrown back into the deep end in a commercial kitchen. with an unfamiliar menu that was more than a little light on the detail mixed with a kitchen I’d only been in once, it was somewhat daunting to do a four-course dinner. but everything went off without a hitch. plates coming back empty is always a good sign.

overall, it was a good boost for my pro-culinary attitude which admittedly took a big hit with having closed the last cafe. I’ve been offered a few chef-type gigs but have been a little reluctant to step back into the ring. of course, it’s much easier when it’s not your name hanging over the door and one can leave at the end of the shift without stressing over whether the bills will be paid etc. there’s an offer of some shifts at the local pub’s brasserie over the christmas period and a short-term cafe situation dangling which I’m still considering. but for now, I’m enjoying dabbling on the weekends. there’s a buffet luncheon on saturday I’m actually looking forward to.

the band’s usual monthly gig comes up this friday. guest this week is pam allen from the mountains jazz band, she’d guested a few months back & had a great time. I’m hoping that rens and megan aren’t planning on the usual irish session, as I have an early start with the aforementioned luncheon.

just had a glance back at the past few months’ posts, as an old pal commented on the way they read. sorry if they seemed too downbeat or negative, things have actually been a little better than they read, I suppose I tend to focus on the problems and tasks rather than the joys and achievements. so I’ll be mindful of that from now on.

had an odd gig on friday, one of those private clubs that doesn’t seem to understand why they’ve booked live music, as most of the management clearly are against the idea. but it was a good chance to have something of a no-pressure live rehearsal with linda, as her first gig is coming up next weekend.

the sets are looking better now, it’s an eclectic mix of old, new & obscure. it seems that in her previous bands, she’d always been pushed into musical directions by the others. this is probably the first time in her career where she has the opportunity to take her time and find her focus, what her mind and heart really want and need to do. we’re finding a middle ground between the folky jewel-meets-carole king songs that she’s been writing and the aretha / dusty / nina simone bluesy soul style that she grew up on. it’s starting to emerge, gradually, the way it needs to. I know there’s no demo clips on her myspace page yet, but then again, there’s no rush.they’ll be there when they’re ready.

got the trio demos, one-sheet and other promo done. there’s now a myspace page for the band as well, figured it’d be needed for future gigs and festivals.

busy weekend ahead, rehearsals thursday, linda’s gig on friday, the trio appear at an animal shelter fundraiser saturday, then a spot at the blue mountains jazz festival on sunday, followed by me in the kitchens for another function sunday eve, trading guitars for aprons and knives.

no, I really can’t complain.