Each Saturday at 10.45pm (AEST), Bob Howe (a.k.a. Big Bob from Bondi) chats with John Nutting on ABC Radio to deliver the Saturday Night Country Gig Guide, relayed across 60 stations nationally, plus the world via the Web and Radio Australia. This week, Johnno’s special guest was John Williamson…
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3rd July 2008: MELINDA SCHNEIDER launched her stunning new album
‘Be Yourself’ at Sydney’s City Tattersalls Club. The excited capacity crowd was treated to a brilliant performance of the new songs by Melinda and her band, confirming her status as a world-class artist. Pictured above, Melinda with Angela Bishop, Lizzi Dayney, Tammy McIntosh and Dianna Corcoran.
Can you teach an old dog new tricks?
Cowboys In Cyberspace is just back from a week in Nashville, Tennessee, coinciding with the excitement of the 4-day CMA Music Festival, which the majority of people still refer to by its former name of Fan Fair. With an average daily attendance of 52,000 and temperatures hovering in the mid-to-high nineties, it was a hot time in Twang Town. You couldn’t walk down the main street with out tripping over Australians and Keith Urban made a surprise appearance at the Friday stadium show, performing a seven-song mini-concert, leaping from the stage to walk around LP Field and finally autographing and handing his guitar to an overwhelmed fan. Here’s hoping it wasn’t his Australian custom-made Tomkins guitar! I was in Nashville hosting nine Tomkins Guitars Showcases that featured Travis List, Sharnee Fenwick, Tracy Killeen, Sandra Humphries and Jetty Road, plus surprise guests that included Audrey Auld and Wayne Horsburgh. More than one young local guitar picker said to me, “…we love your playing…we dig those old skool guitar licks…” to which I replied, “…thanks, but they were new when I got ‘em!”
My highlight for the week, as a spectator, was Marty Stuart’s Late Night Jam at the Ryman Auditorium - over four hours of non-stop musical magic from 10pm to nearly 2.30am - raising money for MusiCARES who provide a safety net of critical assistance for music people in times of need (much like our own Support Act Limited, Australia’s Music Industry Benevolent Fund). This was Marty’s seventh annual Late Night Jam and for the first time it was an official CMA Music Festival event. Guests included the legends (feisty Charlie Daniels, the gorgeous Connie Smith, former Johnny Cash drummer W.S. ‘Fluke’ Holland), contemporary stars (John Rich, Gretchen Wilson, Kathy Mattea), bluegrass bands, up-and-coming talent and much more. Songwriters featured strongly including surprise guest Mel Tillis who sang Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town and Kostas, who performed Ain’t That Lonely Yet and Blame It On Your Heart. The man who came close to stealing the show was veteran songwriter Dallas Frazier, who gave us not only If My Heart Had Windows and Elvira, but also the classic There Goes My Everything – as close to a perfect country song as you will ever hear.
The next night I met two of the stars of the Late Night Jam - WSM and Grand Ole Opry announcer Eddie Stubbs (pictured below, with me) who was broadcasting from the back of Ernest Tubb’s Record Shop and his special guest Miss Connie Smith. Eddie and Miss Connie were delighted to learn they had Australian fans listening to Marty’s show live via the internet. Eddie sure knows his stuff, having previously been a member of the Johnson Mountain Boys and playing fiddle for Kitty Wells and Johnnie Wright. WSM Radio is still one of the best places to hear real country music. One of the best places to see and hear traditional country music downtown is Robert’s Western World, voted #1 Best Honky Tonk Club in The Nashville Scene. As their slogan says…Burgers, Boots and Beer!
Bob talked to Barbara Morison on 2SER 107.3 FM about this month’s column and more…
Until next time, happy surfing!
Somewhere there’s music, how faint the tune?
Australian balladeer GRAHAM RODGER was on the radio the other day using the quaint expression, “…going down to the local Record Bar…” and it got me thinking about records. First up, I’m unashamedly nostalgic for the days of vinyl when getting a new LP record was a far more significant event than opening a new CD seems to be now. RICHARD THOMPSON, or at least the character in his song Don’t Sit On My Jimmy Shands, feels the same about 78s (“…You just can’t get the shellac since the war…they don’t make them like that anymore”), although I’m yet to meet anyone personally who laments the demise of the wax cylinder!
So once upon a time, a record was exactly that…a record of a moment, a performance captured forever in time. Before multi-tracking, it had to be done in one take, with everyone playing and/or singing at once and a mistake meant starting from the beginning again (or leaving it in). For a brilliant documentary that details the invention of overdubbing, seek out the DVD entitled Les Paul: Chasing Sound which details the great man’s career and also shows him playing up a storm in his nineties!
Thanks to Les Paul’s ingenuity, technology allows someone like me, for better or for worse, to play practically all the instruments on my own CD albums. My youngest fan Amy is convinced I can do this for real, despite her mother’s explanations, because after all she can actually hear me doing it on the CD! I suppose one might argue that a modern record is often a group of tiny recordings; disparate moments stacked together to become a new recollection of an event that might have been?
Pictured above: Les Paul in Baltimore 2004 -(photo by Bob Howe)
Perhaps then, a film or recording of a live concert is closer to a “record” in the truest sense of the word. No matter how many camera angles are used or creative effects, they hopefully just enhance essence of the event. PAUL KELLY – LIVE APPLES is 
one such example, newly released on DVD and filmed last September at the delightful Empire Theatre in Toowoomba, Queensland. Paul Kelly took the confronting approach of playing the entire Stolen Apples album live before continuing on with another 16 songs that included many of his hits and classics. The camera work is subtle; capturing each musical change and the intriguing images projected behind the band and the sound is crystal clear, perfectly capturing the live ambience. Stylistically the music is as eclectic as always; take The Foggy Fields of France where one guitarist (Ashley Naylor) sets up a Sun Records-style riff while the other (Dan Kelly) adds steel guitar-like sweeps that eventually erupt in a solo that conjures up the sound of a pod of demented whales…magic! The band excels throughout, but in particular watch their controlled crescendo during the frantic pleading of How to Make Gravy, surely one of the poignant ‘prison’ songs of all time. New Buffalo AKA Sally Seltmann joins them for the ‘final’ song, a cover of the Triffids’ Raining Pleasure, the only song of the concert not written or co-written by Paul Kelly. They Thought I Was Asleep from the bluegrass album Foggy Highway appears here as a solo performance during the five-song encore which ends with a romp through another classic, Dumb Things. The bonus feature is the stunning video for God Told Me To which captures the religious fanaticism of the subject in one chilling camera take that zooms slowly outwards. No edits, no overdubs!
(122 minutes) EMI 50999 2 06729 9 7
Bob talked to Barbara Morison on 2SER 107.3 FM about this month’s column and more…
Until next time, happy surfing!
The changing face of the music industry and a blast from the past…
A few months ago ABC 702’s Richard Glover said, PETER DENAHY’s “Sort Of Dunno Nothin’ is possibly the funniest song ever written”. That, coupled with the video being shown on ABC TV’s Rage and other programs, prompted a huge number of Internet users to search out the video and song. By last month it had clocked up over 300,000 viewings on YouTube and become the #1 most downloaded song on the Australian iTunes Country Store. Comments left as a response to the video include an English teacher in Prague who has won over a non-responsive class by playing them the song, countless people identifying with the characters and the occasional teenager denying they are like that at all. www.youtube.com/watch?v=_veIGGP1Uh4
While I was browsing around YouTube I also took the opportunity to watch the SLIM DUSTY FAMILY clip of Old Purple, directed & produced by Anne Kirkpatrick’s son James Arneman. An excellent blend of new studio footage coupled with classic archive shots of Slim driving Old Purple around this great land. www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9-KxtftegQ
When I found the only footage I’ve ever seen of the band Derek and the Dominoes, I was surprised not only to find that it came from the JOHNNY CASH TV SHOW, but that their guitarist Eric Clapton also performed the song Matchbox with Johnny Cash and Carl Perkins. This inspired me to search out the 2-disc DVD set, THE BEST OF THE JOHNNY CASH TV SHOW 1960-1971. What a treasure trove this is with 66 performances selected from the 58 episodes of the show that broke musical and social boundaries when it originally screened on American television. With around 4 hours of top class material to choose from here (bring on the other 54 hours), it’s hard to pick out high points, but here goes: The landmark duet with Bob Dylan, stone country from Loretta, Tammy, Conway, Haggard and Jones, a clean-shaven Waylon Jennings with Jessi Colter on keyboards, solo performances from Neil Young and James Taylor. Biggest surprises: Johnny’s duets with Linda Ronstadt, Joni Mitchell, and with Louis Armstrong who recreates his performance on the original 1930 Jimmie Rodgers record of Blue Yodel #9. Look too for glimpses of legendary Australian musical director Bill Walker. My personal highlight: A close-up shot of Mother Maybelle Carter’s hands as she plays Wildwood Flower – the touchstone of country guitar playing as we now know it. Sony BMG Music 88697 04026 9 (also available on CD)
Bob talked to Barbara Morison on 2SER 107.3 FM about this month’s column and more…
Until next time, happy surfing!
Say it and share it on the Web… There is a saying in the world of internet business that ‘Content is King’ and it refers to the notion that the most important thing about a website is that which can be found inside its pages. After all, would you spend much time or bother to revisit a site that had only a small amount of interesting material? Recently though, with the advent of the so-called ‘Web 2.0’, an argument has developed that “community” is as important, if not more so, than content. This follows the latest trends of sharing the experience of the web with like-minded users via social-networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook and YouTube, to name a few most popular examples. Even if you don’t produce content yourself, you can comment on the things you see and recommend them (or not) to your friends.
Amber Lawrence with Beccy Cole, Dianna Corcoran,
Kirsty Lee Akers and Gina Jeffreys
The talented AMBER LAWRENCE is a great example of an artist who is using the internet to great advantage for fun and also for the promotion of her music. Her official website contains all the prerequisite ingredients for fans and media alike (News, Bio, Photos, Album samples, Gig Guide) all nicely laid out and easy to navigate. Follow the links to her MySpace page and the fun continues when Amber dabbles in the art of blogging. No regular ‘Dear Diary’ entries for her though; After a couple of homemade videos, including one that documents her trip to Tamworth as a double Golden Guitar nominee, Amber has begun a series of video episodes entitled Bloggin’ Along. Even though an Oscar nomination might not be around the corner just yet, the videos have a charm and immediacy that fans will love. Meet Amber’s mum (doesn’t she look glam while doing the washing), go backstage at the Central Coast CM Festival with Chic Frontier, and for whodunit fans, solve the mystery of the cupcakes.
History will no doubt confirm PAUL KELLY as the most significant Australian singer/songwriter of his generation and a wry and insightful commentator on the localised human condition to boot. We have looked at his site before, including the wonderful research index, full of articles by, and about Paul Kelly, but now there is an incredibly generous new section to report. Each month, PAUL KELLY offers free downloads - ‘A to Z’ - so that you can collect 100 live solo versions of some of his greatest tunes! The recordings are from the last few years, when he performed a series of unique shows under the banner ‘A to Z’, whereby he sang 100 songs from his catalogue in alphabetical order over 4 nights. The month of April will offer songs beginning with ‘D’ so don’t delay and get on the bandwagon now!
Until next time, happy surfing!
Remembering the legend of Smoky Dawson (1913-2008) on the Web…
The Australian Biography Online is a “web-based biographical resource profiling some of the most extraordinary Australians of our time”. As they so rightly claim…”A nation’s story is reflected in the lives of its people and these are the stories of our distinguished elders - told in their own words”. The site is an outstanding archive that provides in-depth profiles of “remarkable individuals who have had a major impact on our cultural, political and social life”. Amongst them is a marvellous section on SMOKY DAWSON which includes video highlights from the time he was interviewed for Film Australia’s Australian Biography series (in 1994) and also the full text transcript of the staggering six hour (plus) unedited interview. There are links to other articles, a study-guide for educational purposes and in a wonderful initiative designed to help users with slower connections, the entire contents of the section are provided in a choice of two downloadable files for offline viewing.
At the History of Country Music in Australia website you can read the ‘Tribute to Smoky’ (and Dot,
“…Two brilliant people working as one, supporting and complimenting each other and together creating the legend that is Smoky Dawson…”)
that was presented at the 2003 CMAA Industry Achiever Awards by Max Ellis. Pictured here are Smoky and his beloved Dot with Kasey Chambers (centre) celebrating on that night (photo Copyright ©2003 Bob Howe).
Over at the Australian Country Music Foundation site you can read more about Smoky, including the inscription from plaque on the Roll of Renown. A Google search of “Smoky Dawson” will lead you to a huge variety of news reports, tributes, a Saturday Night Country MP3 interview, YouTube videos and be sure to check out the wonderful photos at the Picture Australia site, which has a search engine that brings together images from various collections including the State and National Libraries. The National Film and Sound Archive also contains a wealth of audiovisual material that can be browsed via its website.
We hope you are enjoying our video snippets from the 2008 Tamworth Festival here at Cowboys In Cyberspace. You’ll find a selection of exclusive clips above including the Golden Guitar winners, Gina Jeffreys ‘Walk of Life’ Leukemia Foundation fundraiser, Toyota Star Maker Talia Wittmann getting the keys to her car, the Barry Thornton Memorial Bust unveiling, the Cavalcade and much more. There is also footage of the Rhinestone Cowboy himself, GLEN CAMPBELL at his Sydney press conference the following week, singing and talking about his recent shows with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, his early career as a session guitarist, Keith Urban and more.
Until next time, happy surfing!
Bob talked to Barbara Morison on 2SER 107.3 FM about this month’s column and more…
Tune on, log on, tune in…
During the early days of the World Wide Web, it was quite a novelty to find online radio stations from far-flung corners of the globe. They are a lot more common now and the search is on to find specialised stations or programs that seem tailor-made for your tastes. To make that easier, your favourite artists host many programs and perhaps the logic is that if you like the music they make, then chances are you’ll like the music they listen to as well.
This article was prompted when I recently received Steve Earle’s brilliant album Washington 
Square Serenade. Inside was a flyer offering a free 3-day trial of the online version of the American satellite radio station SIRIUS RADIO. His show is called Hardcore Troubadour Radio and can be found on Sirius channel 63, Outlaw Country, which is a “sanctuary for the freaks, misfits, outcasts, rebels and renegades of country music.” When I tuned in to wait for the allotted hour of Steve’s broadcast, I thought I had died and gone to heaven! My computer speakers filled with Waylon Jennings, David Allan Coe, Emmylou Harris, Dale Watson, Merle Haggard, Dwight Yoakam, The Flying Burrito Brothers, Johnny Cash, Loretta Lynn, and all three generations of Hank Williams! Other ‘celebrity’ hosts on Outlaw Country include Elizabeth (It Takes Balls To be A Woman) Cook, John (Swingin’) Anderson and the only son of Outlaw legends Waylon Jennings and Jessi Colter - Shooter Jennings, with his program Electric Rodeo. Great music, although Shooter’s language is pretty colourful, but hey, this is the Outlaw station! They have other channels that cater for modern country, bluegrass and all other genres of music.
Closer to home, NSW Central Coast community radio station 94.1 FM has been taken over by a new team of community members and local stars and rebranded ‘todayscountry94one’. Look forward to programs by local musicians such as Adam Harvey, Kasey Chambers, Shane Nicholson, Bill Chambers, Gina Jeffreys and Beccy Cole and the station is also streamed on the internet. The first show produced was Bill Chambers’ ‘Hickory Wind’ and it was followed by the ‘Adam Harvey Christmas Special’ which featured many of Australia’s country music stars talking to Adam and spreading Christmas cheer. Pictured right: Adam Harvey with his 2008 Golden Guitar for Album of the Year.
Two of Australia’s best-known radio programs can also be heard on the World Wide Web. HOEDOWN recently celebrated 20 years on the air from 2TM, remembering the early days with John Minson and Kevin Knapp to more recent times with the name change to CMR and current hosts Nick Erby and Brian Howard. CMR can be heard across 32 stations via the 2SM Super Network and streamed via the 2SM website. Left: Sara Storer talks to Nick Erby
Over at the ABC, John Nutting’s SATURDAY NIGHT COUNTRY consistently tops the ratings in its timeslot as broadcasts his weekly show across Australia on 60 Local ABC Radio stations and across the world on Radio Australia and the Web (disclaimer: yes dear readers, I am the show’s gig guide compiler, Big Bob from Bondi and yes, I know you thought I’d be bigger!). The ABC have been pioneers of streaming radio and podcasts and in SNC can be replayed at your leisure until the new episode comes along replace it. Our National broadcaster also has its own 24-hour dedicated country station that is an offshoot of DIG RADIO.
Dianna Corcoran, Lee Kernaghan and Adam Harvey are interviewed backstage after their 2008 Golden Guitar wins, by John Nutting and Sue Jarvis for Saturday Night Country
Several community stations are also streaming their shows live including 2ser.com with Barbara Morison and her long running All Kinds of Country show every Saturday from 5am.
Also check out www.2mcr.org.au, www.coolcountryradio.com.au and www.purecountry.com.au (let me know if your station broadcasts online)…3MDR Mountain District Radio…102.7FM 4DDB…
Until next time, happy surfing!
Bob talked to Barbara Morison on 2SER 107.3 FM about this month’s column and more…
Legendary singer and guitarist GLEN CAMPBELL was in Australia with his band which included his daughter Debby. For his very last tour ‘down under’ he played the Burswood Theatre in PERTH with the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and SYDNEY at the Sydney Opera House with the Sydney Symphony & special guest Beccy Cole.
Watch our video of the Sydney press conference. Glen sings Rhinestone Cowboy and talks about his shows with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and his early career as a session guitarist, Keith Urban and more.
CLICK HERE to watch the VIDEO…
Links: www.glencampbellshow.com www.sydneysymphony.com www.beccycole.com
Looking forward to festival on-line and more…
The Tamworth Country Music Festival now has a new official website, launched last month and developed by Tamworth Regional Council in association with festival promoters Tourism Tamworth. The site promises to ‘deliver more extensive Internet detail about the 2008 Tamworth Country Music Festival’. Keeping up with latest trends in an age where blogging is becoming an art form, the site will also include ten days of diary entries from stars Gina Jeffreys and Adam Brand.
Last years new site - TamworthCountryMusic.com.au - pulled together a huge amount of material and links to help create a central source of information on the Festival. This included podcasts of the Golden Guitar finalists, streaming of Radio 2TM, a webcam in Peel Street and a great gig guide that has continued throughout the year. Definitely worth a few mouse-clicks to read their editorials and see what else they come up with this year.
Dianna Corcoran - photo by Bob Howe
The latest video podcast here at Cowboys In Cyberspace features some very excited artists who had just received the news of their Golden Guitar nominations at the Sydney media launch for the Tamworth Festival. Caught on camera at a picturesque harbour-side venue, they include The McClymonts, Amber Lawrence and Dianna Corcoran (pictured above). Check the site later this month for the latest links to online Festival information and then in the following months check again for a roundup of links to all the post-festival photo albums and videos to be found at various sites.
Many of the artists appearing in Tamworth, both modern and traditional, have recorded their latest albums in the relaxed atmosphere of THE VALLEY STUDIO, located in the Blue Mountains. Under the watchful eye (and masterful ears) of producer Roger Corbett (The Bushwackers), performers such as Tracy Killeen, Nicki Gillis, Peter Pratt and Anita Ree having been making award-winning music. Now Roger and Amanda O’Bryan have founded a new company called Door2Door. Their aim is to promote country music artists and provide radio announcers with the latest country music tracks immediately as they are released. That immediacy is achieved by using the latest available digital music technology; high-quality downloads of the music combined with online press materials and a video message from the artist concerned. A worthy high-tech initiative for a brand new year.
Until next time, happy surfing!
Bob talked to Barbara Morison on 2SER 107.3 FM about this month’s column and more…
29 Dec 2007 - Barbara Morison of All Kinds Of Country on 2SER 107.3 FM spoke to Bob Howe about the highlights of the year at Canterbury Country and the 2007 Cowboys In Cyberspace columns .
