1 00:00:01,440 --> 00:00:03,600 Speaker 1: I'm going to be there, Andrew's not going this year, 2 00:00:03,640 --> 00:00:06,280 Speaker 1: so we won't be hanging out at three am and 3 00:00:06,720 --> 00:00:10,399 Speaker 1: the Legends Lounge at West Leeks Club watching people's square 4 00:00:10,480 --> 00:00:12,560 Speaker 1: dance into the way hours. Unfortunately, you won't be doing 5 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:14,040 Speaker 1: that by myself. 6 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,120 Speaker 2: From The Australian. This is the weekend edition of The Front. 7 00:00:23,239 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 2: I'm Claire Harvey. Last time we sat down for a 8 00:00:26,680 --> 00:00:30,680 Speaker 2: chat with review editor Tim Douglas. He just returned from 9 00:00:30,720 --> 00:00:34,600 Speaker 2: a trip to Japan exploring the world of Yayoi Kasama. 10 00:00:35,320 --> 00:00:37,600 Speaker 1: Just below that is this pumpkin. I think it's a 11 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:39,800 Speaker 1: real metaphor for Sama herself. 12 00:00:40,080 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 3: You know, it sits. 13 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:44,080 Speaker 1: There on this precipice. It feels like it could be 14 00:00:44,159 --> 00:00:48,440 Speaker 1: just one calamitous event away from terminal decline, and yet 15 00:00:48,479 --> 00:00:49,320 Speaker 1: it endures. 16 00:00:49,920 --> 00:00:52,960 Speaker 2: Tim's a very smart guy and he loves his high 17 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:56,600 Speaker 2: end art forms. But he also loves a plaintive vocal 18 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,040 Speaker 2: and a jangling guitar, and that's why he spent this 19 00:01:00,120 --> 00:01:12,080 Speaker 2: week at the fifty third Tamworth Country Music Festival. When 20 00:01:12,120 --> 00:01:15,680 Speaker 2: it came to throwing a coin in the jukebox and 21 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 2: choosing a song, jazz legend Charlie Parker, the virtuoso genius 22 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:26,560 Speaker 2: who changed the art form forever, would always choose a 23 00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:31,880 Speaker 2: country song. Friends would ask why country. It's the stories man, 24 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:35,600 Speaker 2: was his famous answer, and a century on, it turns 25 00:01:35,600 --> 00:01:43,399 Speaker 2: out today's superstars are also a little bit country. From 26 00:01:43,400 --> 00:01:53,080 Speaker 2: Beyonce to Post Malones, country music is one of the 27 00:01:53,080 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 2: world's most popular art forms, and it's all about the stories, relatable, 28 00:01:58,240 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 2: honest and just so damn catchy. 29 00:02:05,720 --> 00:02:07,080 Speaker 1: When I was a kid, you know, we did this 30 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:09,519 Speaker 1: trip up through the central Australia and it must have 31 00:02:09,560 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: been a big time for John Williamson in the late eighties, 32 00:02:11,760 --> 00:02:13,960 Speaker 1: early nineties, and he had this song called the Boomerang 33 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 1: Cafe and it went at the Boomerang Cafe where I 34 00:02:18,480 --> 00:02:21,880 Speaker 1: first met you, where you with lipstick on your lips, 35 00:02:22,080 --> 00:02:24,440 Speaker 1: with lipstick on vinegar on your chips. 36 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:26,400 Speaker 3: Beautiful. 37 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:32,200 Speaker 2: John Williamson, who turns eighty this year, is still touring 38 00:02:32,360 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 2: and he performed on the big stage last night in Tamworth. 39 00:02:40,480 --> 00:02:45,040 Speaker 2: Tim I always am intrigued by Tamworth as an expression 40 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:48,920 Speaker 2: of Australian culture, an expression that's kind of, you know, 41 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:53,280 Speaker 2: framed in this very American art form of country music. 42 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:59,200 Speaker 2: How has Australia and Tamworth in particular, claimed country music 43 00:02:59,360 --> 00:02:59,960 Speaker 2: as its own. 44 00:03:00,760 --> 00:03:03,360 Speaker 1: I think there's been a lot of snobbery over the 45 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:06,520 Speaker 1: last kind of four or five decads towards country music. 46 00:03:06,560 --> 00:03:09,920 Speaker 1: But until you've kind of taken step on the invariably 47 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:14,440 Speaker 1: melting bitumen of Tamworth in high summer and immerse yourself 48 00:03:14,440 --> 00:03:18,400 Speaker 1: in this most singular festival on the Australian calendar, you 49 00:03:18,480 --> 00:03:22,320 Speaker 1: really can't pass judgment because it is a festival like 50 00:03:22,639 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: no other. It has since nineteen seventy three owned country music. 51 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,400 Speaker 1: Since that time it has grown and grown and grown, 52 00:03:29,480 --> 00:03:33,600 Speaker 1: and so too has Australia's country music industry at a 53 00:03:33,600 --> 00:03:37,480 Speaker 1: local level and Australia's consumption of country music. It's grown exponentially. 54 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,640 Speaker 2: Why is Timworth surviving as a festival when so many 55 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:45,040 Speaker 2: other music festivals are really struggling in the post COVID era, 56 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 2: It's a great question. 57 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: Tamworth is unique because it's a community owned and run event. 58 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: The council does most of the work, and most of 59 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:58,560 Speaker 1: the local venues licensed and otherwise run their own shows. 60 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,360 Speaker 1: It's overseen by the council, so it's very different. I mean, 61 00:04:01,560 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 1: obviously there are commercial imperatives from the artists and also 62 00:04:04,880 --> 00:04:08,640 Speaker 1: obviously the council. But it is a grassroots festival through 63 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:08,960 Speaker 1: and through. 64 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:12,800 Speaker 2: Is there something too about the demographic tim, I'm presuming 65 00:04:12,880 --> 00:04:16,320 Speaker 2: it's not quite the same young people who are queuing 66 00:04:16,360 --> 00:04:18,479 Speaker 2: up at the pill testing tent who come to the 67 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 2: Tamworth Music Festival. Or am I wrong about that? 68 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 3: Well? 69 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:23,760 Speaker 1: Look, there are pills being tested, but sometimes when Webster 70 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: packs no, I mean I'm being flippant there. Of course, 71 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:29,360 Speaker 1: this is a really interesting thing. It's not all boot 72 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 1: scooting and square dancing. There's an old country side to 73 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:37,880 Speaker 1: the festival too. There's a place called the World's Dog 74 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,600 Speaker 1: and the Tamworth Hotel which posts you know, these alternative 75 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:44,640 Speaker 1: country musicians like Georgia State Line, Henry Wagons comes and 76 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 1: plays there and so you get the hip country kids 77 00:04:47,560 --> 00:04:51,200 Speaker 1: coming along too. Of course you've got you know Casey Chambers, 78 00:04:51,200 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: you're John Williamson's De Troy Cassa. 79 00:04:52,839 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 3: Daies etc. 80 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:56,320 Speaker 1: Who sell out the big ticketed shows at the Entertainment 81 00:04:56,360 --> 00:04:57,560 Speaker 1: Center and the town Hall. 82 00:04:57,640 --> 00:04:59,679 Speaker 3: But there are so many things happening. 83 00:05:00,000 --> 00:05:02,680 Speaker 1: We're talking about more than eight hundred artists and five 84 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:06,080 Speaker 1: thousand shows across ten days. It is the biggest live 85 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: music event in the country, indeed in the Southern hemisphere. 86 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 3: So it's a massive event. 87 00:05:11,240 --> 00:05:14,400 Speaker 2: You're going solo this year and what are you looking 88 00:05:14,400 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 2: forward to seeing. 89 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,799 Speaker 1: I'm really looking forward to Peel Street. Now Peel Street 90 00:05:19,839 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: of course, the main street running through Tamworth. Four hundred 91 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:26,560 Speaker 1: buskers every year, at any time of the day populate 92 00:05:26,600 --> 00:05:29,480 Speaker 1: this little boulevard, the Boulevard of dreams they call it. 93 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:34,480 Speaker 1: Keith Urban was spotted on Peel Street. Casey Chambers, Becky Cole, 94 00:05:34,600 --> 00:05:36,920 Speaker 1: Troy cassa daily. They all did their time as buskers 95 00:05:37,360 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: and now they're the senior members of the Australian country 96 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:42,880 Speaker 1: music industry and they give back to these young kids. 97 00:05:42,880 --> 00:05:45,400 Speaker 1: And you know, it's a real kind of organism, the 98 00:05:45,440 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 1: country music festival. People are always giving back. Yeah. 99 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 2: And how does it fit into the kind of landscape 100 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,320 Speaker 2: of live music in Australia. Team We often hear talk 101 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:01,720 Speaker 2: about how live music is dead, that pubs aren't allowed 102 00:06:01,760 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 2: to play loud music anymore because residential areas have grown 103 00:06:05,160 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 2: up around them, that it's difficult to fight with the 104 00:06:08,120 --> 00:06:10,560 Speaker 2: pokes to actually get a space to play in the 105 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:14,120 Speaker 2: venues that have nurtured some of our great bands. What 106 00:06:14,200 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 2: do you think about how country music and particularly Tenworth 107 00:06:17,000 --> 00:06:17,640 Speaker 2: fits into. 108 00:06:17,480 --> 00:06:20,719 Speaker 1: That Spotify I put out a report last year that 109 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,680 Speaker 1: said Australia was the third highest consumer of country music 110 00:06:24,680 --> 00:06:27,240 Speaker 1: in the world. The US, of course, the spiritual home 111 00:06:27,279 --> 00:06:30,839 Speaker 1: of country and western first, then Canada second, and Australia 112 00:06:30,920 --> 00:06:33,480 Speaker 1: was third. And I think that's a really interesting statistic 113 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:35,360 Speaker 1: to bear in mind because for anyone who thinks that 114 00:06:35,400 --> 00:06:37,320 Speaker 1: he's a blip on the cultural landscape, I mean it 115 00:06:37,400 --> 00:06:41,160 Speaker 1: really is not. Also, everyone's a country music star now know. 116 00:06:41,240 --> 00:06:44,919 Speaker 1: Beyonce last year had a huge hit with her country album. 117 00:06:45,160 --> 00:06:48,760 Speaker 1: We are critically assessing this week in review, Ringo Star's 118 00:06:49,480 --> 00:06:56,440 Speaker 1: latest album is a country album. And you know, in 119 00:06:56,480 --> 00:06:58,800 Speaker 1: case we hadn't jumped the shark already, the Whittles have 120 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:05,359 Speaker 1: a country album coming out in March, and this is 121 00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:09,880 Speaker 1: no small fry lp. We've got collaborations with Dolly Parton, 122 00:07:10,360 --> 00:07:14,160 Speaker 1: Awful Peck, Troy Cassa Daily, the Wolf Brothers. It's called 123 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: Wiggle Up, Gide Up, and you should expect to hear 124 00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:20,520 Speaker 1: much about that. Everyone wants a piece of this pie. 125 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:23,920 Speaker 1: Now the dial has really shifted. It is no longer 126 00:07:24,280 --> 00:07:24,760 Speaker 1: something we. 127 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,480 Speaker 3: Do in the shadows. Country music is a big player. 128 00:07:31,760 --> 00:07:33,880 Speaker 2: What have been some of the musical highlights that you've 129 00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:35,800 Speaker 2: seen over the years at Tamworth. 130 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:38,600 Speaker 1: Well, I have to thank music writer Andrew McMillan for 131 00:07:38,640 --> 00:07:42,200 Speaker 1: putting me onto Fanny Lumsden. She's a country music staff 132 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:45,280 Speaker 1: from the Snowy Mountains in South Wales. She grew up 133 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 1: in West Wylong and indeed has a song about growing 134 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 1: up on the other side of the Great Dividing Range. 135 00:07:52,560 --> 00:07:53,960 Speaker 3: She's a fantastic singer. 136 00:07:53,960 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: Her brother and her husband are in her band and 137 00:07:55,800 --> 00:08:02,400 Speaker 1: her shows are just so joyous. Andrew and I saw 138 00:08:02,760 --> 00:08:05,160 Speaker 1: Fanny out at Tamworth a couple of years ago. 139 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:06,680 Speaker 3: It was really one of the highlights. 140 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:09,720 Speaker 1: Andrew also wrote a piece last year about the best 141 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:12,960 Speaker 1: gigs of twenty twenty four and one of his highlights 142 00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: was Casey Chambers at the Town Hall in January last 143 00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:16,880 Speaker 1: year for the festival. 144 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:18,400 Speaker 3: We're both there for that show. 145 00:08:18,880 --> 00:08:23,760 Speaker 1: You Better Yourself, and she finished it with this rousing 146 00:08:24,120 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: rendition of Eminem's Lose Yourself, best known from eight Mile. 147 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:30,560 Speaker 3: Only Girt one shot. 148 00:08:30,920 --> 00:08:33,360 Speaker 2: Do not miss your chance. 149 00:08:33,080 --> 00:08:36,480 Speaker 1: To blow this up, but son. She starts off with 150 00:08:36,520 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 1: a banjo and her just singing and ends with Casey 151 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:41,720 Speaker 1: screaming at the top of her lungs and kind of 152 00:08:41,720 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: collapsing on. 153 00:08:42,360 --> 00:08:44,959 Speaker 3: The floor as a dad. Bill Chambers is kind of wailing. 154 00:08:44,559 --> 00:08:47,600 Speaker 1: On guitar and her partner Brandon on another guitar and 155 00:08:47,600 --> 00:08:51,080 Speaker 1: the drum. It was the most phenomenal musical experience for 156 00:08:51,160 --> 00:08:52,680 Speaker 1: me too of twenty twenty four. 157 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:54,440 Speaker 3: We just sat there and had her hair blown back. 158 00:09:24,320 --> 00:09:27,959 Speaker 2: Tim Douglas is editor of the australians Beloved Weekend Arts 159 00:09:28,040 --> 00:09:31,280 Speaker 2: section Review. Tim and the team cover the arts twenty 160 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:33,600 Speaker 2: four to seven and you can check it out anytime 161 00:09:33,720 --> 00:09:37,319 Speaker 2: at the Australian dot com dot A. Thanks for joining 162 00:09:37,360 --> 00:09:40,679 Speaker 2: us this week on the front. Our team is Kristin Amiot, Leat, 163 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:44,880 Speaker 2: Sam mcglue, Tiffany Dimack, Joshua Burton, Stella McKenna, Stephanie Coombs, 164 00:09:45,000 --> 00:09:47,760 Speaker 2: Jasper Leek, who wrote our music as well as producing 165 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:56,640 Speaker 2: and editing this episode, and meet Claire Harvey.