musings

anyone ever looking for a playlist of tunes for a good bbq or party, look no further than here.

some folks have a lot of spare time on their hands.

…. it must be the weekend. I’m starting to get over this infernal (and internal) flu, lots of others around me have had it bad. the gypsy gal’s kids have just left, they were here for aonly a few days before coming down with it, so it wasn’t much of a holiday break for them.

got my monthly gig at the riverview tonight, it’s been hard trying to get folks there. the riv was one of the premier pubs back in the day, but it’s slipped far downhill in the past decade. and it takes a while to change people’s going-out habits. but at least I’m getting healthy enough where I hope I can put in a good performance.

I’ve been playing a lot of older tunes lately, probably because I’ve been releasing some back catalog & have revisited some. especially some of the ones from ‘tales’, like ‘dirty blue jeans’, ‘detroit city’ and ’strange hotel’ have been getting a fresh airing. it’s always a problem with writers though, we get so close to the tunes that we often feel that our newer works are somehow ‘better’ and tend to forget about older songs.

next w/end is the jamm for genes bash, I have 30 musicians on deck so far, and I expect a few last-minute fill-ins. caught karl broadie’s cd launch on wednesday, his new album is a gem, go to his site and have a listen. go. now.

I’m finally starting to feel the effects of this flu virus lifting, barely, but anything’s a welcome improvement. somehow I managed to struggle thru my weekend gigs, although the effort probably set me back some. and now, the gypsy gal’s kids are coming down with it as well.

with a tiny sliver of light to work with, it’s catch-up time. I’ll post details of the new label when we get all agreements in order, and the jamm for genes show is fast approaching. if you’re in sydney, I hope you can make that one, it’s a great cause and at today, I have over 14 artists or bands lined up. anyone wanting to take part, let me know.

I’m starting to think that I may never get healthy again. this flu has disabled me for well over two weeks now and shows no signs of abating. It’s gone far beyond frustrating as I watch opportunity after another drift by unaddressed because I can barely drag my ass out of bed. I feel like the kid in chuck berry’s havana moon, having woken just in time to see the ship disappear over the horizon.

I look out the window at the bustling high street below, with the typical saturday morning scene: young trendies waiting at the bus stop to ferry them off to the shopping malls, virgin credit cards burning holes in their chinese imitation prada purses; baby boomers rugged up against the antipodean winter, sitting at the cafe sipping coffees and chatting about the film festivals and spiraling real estate market; twenty-something doods excitedly heading off to the early opener, getting primed for today’s footy matches with brown ale liquid testocerone; nuevo-bohemians trolling the second-hand clothing stores scouring for handbags and gladrags, preferably in black or dark brown; professional loners walking their dogs with a casual air of indifference; pseudo-urbanites clutching the weekend papers, lo-fat milk and vietnamese bakery goods; the bewildered elderly wondering what’s wrong with today’s youth and vice-versa; and the usual cacophony of auto horns in permanent ‘lean-on’ positions by the perpetually late and haggard.

I watch them all with envy. they’re out there, living life. they’re healthy. at least healthier than I am. I return to my desk and collapse in yet another coughing fit.

apologies for the downbeat rant, but I’m really fed up.

on the upside, I’ve preordered peter case’s excellent new album, let us now praise sleepy john. it’s out august 7th, and it’s a gem. unfortunately, whenever I listen to someone with the melodic and lyrical mastery of a mr. case, it tends to make me view my own work as of such lesser quality and importance as to be virtually valueless. I often wonder where the confidence and drive went that I had in such ample supply as a young idealistic musician.

ah, maybe I’ll perk up if I ever get over this flu.

this killer flu is well into its second week, and I’m showing no signs of a speedy recovery. there’s a lot on at the moment as well, bluegrain biz stuff, this new indie label, which I’m pretty vibed about, gigs, recording and the like - all of which are reluctantly being placed on the back burner while I try to recall what it was like to be healthy.

the gyspy gal’s kids are arriving tonight as well, hope I can find some energy to enjoy. did a second life show today, tomorrow the blues pirates are back at the unity, friday I’m doing a short acoustic support slot for chris brockbank’s band, and sunday is the usual shindig.

now, if I could only drag my sorry self out of bed with some energy…

wasn’t that long ago…

http://youtube.com/watch?v=1n4fDgmrF3o

if anyone’s wondering why I haven’t been responding to emails, telephone calls, text messages, faxes, smoke signals, or carrier pigeons, it’s been because I’m down with this dreaded virus that’s hit the antipodes this season. part of the problem is that every weekend, i spend my gig time shaking and and kissing guys and gals - pretty much in that order, too. so it’s no wonder I’ve succumbed, finally.

back soon.

kudos to the gypsy gal for nagging me endlessly to take a break, even if it was just a couple short days. I must say, I enjoyed myself and actually managed to relax. well, if one counts ’sleeping in endless’ as relaxing. but the fire did its magic, and combined with a couple of nice local bars and restaurants made for a well-appreciated break.

I had a chance to work on a few unfinished tunes and started a couple new songs, think I was too bust chilling to apply myself. and I finally got a chance to read cynthia lennon’s book, anyone else read it yet? I wasn’t too terribly surprised at the amount of bitterness which she clearly still carries, nor her venom for yoko, but I was interested to read her one-on-one insights into john, and the respect that she still harbours for him.

restarting the sunday sessions at the new digs this weekend, I’m looking forward to seeing how the change - venue, facilities and times - will affect my usual audience. I may as well camp out at the baldy pub, as I’m playing there saturday night as well.

oh, I’ve been struggling with the template editor for my newslist, which doesn’t wanna save or behave, any of you folks that are on it, can you shoot me a quick email and let me know it’s formatting correctly? or otherwise?

my fave line o’ the week: “spontaneity isn’t something that anyone ought to rush into”.

last night was the final show at the merton pub for my sunday sessions. we’re moving the whole shizznit to the bald rock pub for four main reasons: the restaurant there is open, it’s kid-friendly, we can run the sets at the more user-friendly times of 4pm - 7 or 8, and we won’t have to battle the football hoons, as I’ve been doing these past 15 months.

last night was also the final day of smoking in new south wales pubs, as the official ban takes effect from today. we had a few of the local boys perform a killer set of all smoking-related songs, which went down a huge treat, as did jason and his cape-cloaked spoken word piece. all in all, a good way to wrap up a season.

the gypsy gal & I are heading up to the mountains for a couple of days r&r - well, allegedly. I’m bringing a few guitars with me and hope to finish some of the new tunes that have been on the back burner of late. but sitting in front of an open fire with a bottle of red, a spectacular cliffside view and an old guitar is certainly my idea of rest.

townes van zandt

patty smith

bobbie gentry

neil young

mika brzezinski

peter case

suzen juel

melanie safka, with the edwin hawkins singers

dwight twilley, with susan cowsill on bv’s

edgar cruz performing ‘bohemian rhapsody’