RIP Warren Zevon, Johnny Cash, Robert Palmer, Slim Dusty and now Elliot Smith, 34, found dead in his Los Angeles home yesterday, apparently from a self-inflicted fatal stab wound to the chest. He made some fantastic records but I was looking forward to the next one he was going to make. Joni Mitchell said depression [...]

Eddie and Jo are not car salesmen. This was my first assumption, having met them on the first of 2 nights of this shindig we were hired to play at, to launch a luxury car. No, Eddie and Jo, who introduced themselves to me as I muddled my way through the 500 strong crowd in [...]

As I write this I can hear from the other room the deep mellow twang of a double bass played by Shannon Birchall – moonlighting with me, his real gig is with the John Butler Trio. A fine player with a beautiful sound. We

I’m back and I’m recording. Outside the sky is blue but I know the wind is cold and the temperature is closer to 10 than 20. We’ve been here at this as yet undiclosable location, since Monday when we loaded in the gear. Tuesday the band joined us to start pre-production.The fire in the living/rehearsal [...]

And my excuse for not doing this more often? Hopeless, truly hopeless, but I blame the computer. I know, the good workman never blames his tools, but I always thought that was bullshit, how can you make a good sushi roll with a blunt knife and how can you sit down to blog when all [...]

My lovely dresser has left to do another show with this company, “Oh What A Night” otherwise known in certain circles as Oh What A Nightmare. Anyway he’s gone with a big send off, a BBQ and party that apparently lasted close to 23 hours of solid alcohol consumption. (I had dutifully flown home to [...]

Patsy’s in Brisbane, at the Playhouse Theatre. We opened last week to more rapturous reviews and packed houses. This is the longest season so far, we’re here for 5 weeks; it seems a bit excessive to me but I guess Queensland is the country music capital of Australia. I had two weeks off in Melbourne [...]

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Gosh its been a long time since I sat down and blogged. There is a simple explanation for that. I was in Melbourne. Ah yes you may recall that heady missive I tapped out after the first preview and before the big opening night; and then nothing more

We previewed tonight at the State Theatre in Melbourne and it was huge. Packed to the rafters with happy punters, feels real good to be home too. They were a perfectly irreverent audience, unafraid to call out in the quiet moments, cat calls and whistling and yes, finally a bit of a standing ovation. Hey, [...]

We have migrated north to Newcastle. Canberra was excellent for sliding into the routine, though I

I should have posted days ago, God knows I tried, really I did, but the server was asking for numbers that I simply didn

A grey wintry day in our nations capitol but in my world the light is blinding. Dear readers I didn

Good morning everyone, it’s another fine day in our nations capitol, blue sky, dew still white on the grass outside my window, long early shadows and just a few heavily dressed people going about their business. I know I’m digressing from the real plot but Canberra really is a peculiar place, confused maybe. It kind [...]

Howdy everybody! I sure am happy to be with y’all and blogging at last; big thanks to my tremendous technical team here for getting me this far. And so begins the adventures of Deborah the thespian, Patsy the singin’ cowgirl and the unfolding dramas of life on the road with the musical extravaganza that is [...]