Long Time Coming

I have been in NZ for the last couple of months absorbing music both live and recorded. I have seen Jolie Holland, Okkervill River, Lawrence Arabia (NZ), Punches (NZ), Youth Group, Ladysmith Black Mambasso and next week I will see Ron Sexsmith. I have been listening to Ned Collette (OZ), Sonic Youth, Townes Van Zandt, The Mint Chicks (NZ), Kelley Stoltz, Golden Smog, Donnie Hathaway, The Band, Iron & Wine, Chuck Berry, Neil Young, Neko Case, Lightnin' Hopkins, Cassette (NZ), Band of Horses, Downhills Home (OZ), The Old Crow Medicine Show and Jim O'Rourke.

I highly recommend, as passed onto me by Mia Dyson, 'This Wheels On Fire' the autobiography of Levon Helm from The Band. He has an incredible knowledge of southern blues, rockabilly and country which he shares with an insiders intimacy. You get a very different slant on the famous 'Last Waltz' documentary and on Robbie Robertson...ahhh band politics.

I finally bought a copy of 'Be Here To Love Me' the excellent but sad documentary on the life of Townes Van Zandt. It's bizarre watching him walking around derelict trailers with a shotgun and a bottle of plonk then cut to him singing the most heart wrenching, beautifully constructed songs on stage.

I have discovered a couple of things about New Zealanders that I hadn't noticed before. When they say 'woman' it sounds no different to when they say 'women'. They just say woman to cover both the singular and plural. It's purely a pronunciation thing, their grammar is impeccable, but try it. Next time you are with a Kiwi fresh off the plane ask them to say 'women' and be AMAZED...

Also they have this really indulgent desert that I've never noticed on previous trips. It's a banana baked inside of filo pastry and then covered in caramel sauce with a scoop of Movenpick maple and walnut ice cream. It's mindbendingly good, although now that I read back over that description it sounds wrongtown.

I get back to Melbourne in a couple of weeks. I always find it odd coming home after I've been away awhile. Everything looks and feels different. I walk into my place and I feel a bit cheated that life has been going on around me, without me being there. Weird huh?

We will be touring again in October, this time with Josh Pyke and Princess One Point Five as well as playing a few regional festivals. We have also been asked to play Falls in Tasmania and Victoria over the New Year which we are very excited about! We'll let you know as soon as our own 'end of year' December headline shows come to hand.

JC/ESea
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