As it is for many things in life, for folk festivals, timing is everything. With the festival calendar now stretching from September through to late April, it becomes difficult to keep festival artistic programs fresh and exciting.
I have attended hundreds of folk festivals, here and in Europe, over the past 45 years and – I know it’s a big call and I’ll be accused of bias because I’m on the organising committee – I’ve never seen such an outstanding small festival line-up as you’ll see late in February in Cobargo.
Cobargo, in the magnificent Bega Valley, this year boasts eight world-class international acts, most of whom will go on to headline at major festivals like Port Fairy, Blue Mountains and the National in Canberra.
The English tradition is also strongly represented with the multi-talented Kirsty Bromley, troubadour Alistair Brown who’s becoming a Cobargo regular, and one of my personal favourites Vin Garbutt – still making people laugh and cry at the same time.
A late and welcome inclusion from the US is the punk/bluegrass/soul duo Truckstop Honeymoon. I’d need a whole article to describe what they do – but here’s a clip that might explain them better than any words.
We’re particularly pleased to receive a grant Arts NSW’s Country Arts Support Program for Neil Murray, formerly of the Warumpi band, to run workshops in the Dhurga language with the local Yuin Community.
Back to the issue of timing. Cobargo Festival does not have deep pockets or particularly wealthy sponsors.
Most international acts tour for a month to six weeks at the most and generally time their run to take in the major festivals in March and early April.
Cobargo does well because it has a great reputation for hospitality, great scenery not far from a hundred pristine beaches, and knowledgeable audiences – many of whom have been coming to the festival for the 21 years it has been going.
It gives acts time to settle in, shake off the jet lag and get their sets in order, plus they can cover expenses and seel a lot of CDs to the 3000 plus people who attended.
Run by volunteer from the community, Cobargo spends any profits it makes wisely. Since last year it has worked closely with co-venue partners the Showground Trust to improve facilities, adding a big new shower and toilet block and improving camping areas at the Showground.
We’re expecting a bumper crowd this year and are thankful for a grant from Destination NSW to help promote the festival outside our area. Of course, we don’t want to get too big and lose that wonderful intimate atmosphere of the small festival.
As an extra special gift right before Christmas the National Folk Festival has just announced that its 2016 headliner will be none other than Nancy Kerr.
Kerr is a firm festival favourite and The National are very proud to not only have her headlining with her Sweet Visitor Band but also as part of her duo project with James Faganand with Australian super-group The Fagans. That’s a lot of Nancy Kerr to get your eardrums around next year.
The 50th National Folk Festival takes place in Canberra over the Easter long weekend, 24th to 28th March. Earlybird tickets are available now via the official site.
With the Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival less than two weeks away we thought it was far past time that we shared the full lineup with you. Held on the 26th, 27th and 28th October the Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival has a reputation as one of the friendliest festivals in the country and the lineup is always of the most amazing quality.
The New Worlds (above), Mustered Courage, Jimmy The Fish, The Company, The Whitetop Mountaineers, Bob Corbett & The Roo Grass Band, Ross Nickerson, Fred Smith and Liz Frencham, Nigel Wearne and the Cast Iron Promises, The String Contingent, Richo & the Rakes feat. Paul Wookey, Chaika, The Mid North, Black Train, Breaking Hart Benton, Buffalo Nickel, Chilly Strings, Citrus Exchange, Innes Campbell, Nick and Liesl, O Willy Dear, Putty Road, Siskin River, Sally Wattle, The Stomp Kats, The Barkers Vale Brothers, Susanna Carmen and Karl Farren, The Blues Angels, Don and John – The Resonator Brothers, Thor Phillips, Two Screws Loose, Shiny Top Strings, 12/88 and more
Fred Smith has been forging an impressive reputation and body of work for many years in Canberra, nationally and overseas, drawing on some fairly disparate experiences. From personal stories about soldiers in war-torn Afghanistan, to the minutiae of how to fill in the time as a Washington house-husband, Fred does it all with a trademark laconic style and some wonderful collaborations.
Ahead of a couple of gigs in Sydney and Canberra, Fred took some time out from his government day job on a cool wintry Canberra day to chat over lunch, battling plane noises and kamikaze magpies to share some thoughts on albums, touring and the upcoming gigs.
Bill Quinn: Fred Smith, the last time I interviewed you, it was about the time you’d just released Texas. That would put it at about two thousand and … nine?
Fred Smith: Eight.
BQ: 2008. Wow. It’s fair to say a fair bit’s gone under the bridge since then?
FS: Yeah, well, there’s been the urban sea shanties extravaganza.
FS: Well, it was the National Folk Festival in 2008. They were there. I was there. Me and (Stephen) Taberner had been watching each other for a while, and identified a like-mindedness. We were having a drink in the Session Bar and said, “Let’s play a gig”, so we organised a gig for the following night in the [Merry] Muse tent. Taberner got us together about an hour beforehand, we rehearsed with the guys, we went on stage with a lot of nervous energy and just sort of went off.
BQ: And it struck a chord.
FS: Yeah, it was chockers and people just went off. And I said to Stephen, “Let’s make an album”. We really tried to jam it out for the next year. And it was an intense year between there [the Budawang gig at the National in 2009] and then [the release of the album].
The project earned the collaborators a richly-deserved award as winners of the National Film and Sound Archives National Folk Recording Award 2009.
BQ: Not that it’s the ultimate test of how successful you are, but how many CDs did you sell after that gig?
FS: I don’t know, but we sold about 450 across the whole festival.
BQ: So while that was going on you’d only just recently released Texas. Do you find that happens, that you’ve just released something and you’re getting into something else?
FS: Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. There’s always the promotional stuff is the hard work, and the next project is the fun stuff. I find I have to sustain myself doing both, in a sense. Maybe I should just take it easy and do one thing first. I probably underdo the promotional stuff. I mean, I’ve toured the shit out of [Dust of] Uruzgan. I’m still touring the album here and there, but I’m writing again.
BQ: With the Dust of Uruzgan, which came out last year, it came out to great critical acclaim. Were you surprised how much notice it got in the mainstream?
FS: Uuuuuaaaarrrrrggggggghhhhh!
(That’s the sound of a singer-songwriter having a magpie swoop in for a landing in the DFAT building courtyard and only missing the top of his head by millimetres.)
FS: Well, I’m happy that it’s a really good record. Secondly, it’s a record that expresses a deep and intense experience. The other thing about it is that Afghanistan is interesting to the press, which opened up a whole bunch of doors in terms of media responses. Normally my albums get good reviews but this opened up to the mainstream because they’re fascinated with Afghanistan.
BQ: Does that lead to any other opportunities with the Australian Defence Force taking any interest in it?
FS: Ah, no. Which is annoying.
BQ: So you’re still touring with the album. How has touring gone in the last little while?
FS: Well, there was the autumn festival season, and the album got me into most of those festivals: Port Fairy, Blue Mountains, the National. Since then I’ve just been doing bits and pieces. For example, I went out to Young, Yass and Goulburn last weekend, which was cool. I’m starting to go out to these smaller towns, because playing in these smaller communities galvanises around a gig. Because they’re not always much else going on and they appreciate me coming to town. Then Canberra and Sydney this weekend. And apart from that I’m trying to turn out a theatre show and tour that to regional theatres.
BQ: When you go to a small town, like Yass for instance, do you find that sometimes your reputation’s gone before you and they’re aware of you, or that it’s a case of, “There’s someone coming to town; I’ll go and see him”?
FS: Yeah, absolutely. Radio National gets listened to a lot in the country towns. Radio National has been a great supporter of my stuff all along. So I have these pockets of support out there. And also people in small towns don’t always go to the festivals. So for instance, at Yass there must have been 20-25 people who knew my stuff fairly well and a whole bunch of people who had no idea! It’s delightful, because you get the support from the people who know you, and the people who don’t know you are watching them to get their cues.
BQ: How does it go, between the big festivals and packing out a couple of thousand seats to being at the top of an artist’s studio with 30/40/50 people?
FS: Oh, I don’t mind that at all. I cut my teeth doing small theatre shows in Canberra, you know, friends doing theatre and doing opening gigs for their shows. Sometimes you might three, four people. And it is harder to play to three or four people because there’s nowhere to hide! So small doesn’t scare me. And these old country towns usually have lovely wooden floorboards, and older venues with high ceilings, so acoustically and atmospherically it’s always nice.
BQ: So you’ve got the gigs coming up in Sydney and Canberra. Saturday 11th August in Canberra at The Lobby.
FS: Yeah, we’ve been meaning to have a go at The Lobby for a while. Shortis and Simpson have played there and say it’s great. It’s my first time there, so a bit of an experiment. I’ve always liked the room – it’s very central.
BQ: There’s a lot of glass there; it’ll be interesting acoustically.
FS: We’ll damp that down; we’ve got some blacks to put up. We’re doing all the production ourselves, so it should be alright.
BQ: And who’s on the bill? Who’s playing?
FS: Me, Liz Frencham, and a Few Good Spooky Men. With the Spooks, the business of wheeling out 20-25 of them proved to be impractical, but there’s a core of them who are very enthusiastic about doing this stuff who don’t mind travelling. So a smaller elite squad has formed called A Few Good Spooky Men – eight, nine, ten of them. So we’ll do these gigs this weekend, then in October we’ve got the Blue Mountains and Canowindra.
BQ: When you’re doing a gig that incorporates lots of elements: Frencham/Smith, Fred Smith, The Spooky Men, and some of your themed stuff – are there issues sifting and shifting through that material?
FS: Hmmmm. Good question. We’ll find out, hey?!
BQ: That’s an answer!
FS: We may invent some spurious segues between various songs.
If you’re in Newtown or Canberra on the following dates, you can get to see what all of this will look like.
Fred Smith & A Few Good Spooky Men (with special guest Liz Frencham) Friday 10th August – Notes, Newtown, Sydney, NSW – Tickets
Saturday 11th August – The Lobby, Parkes, Canberra, ACT – Tickets
To start, an admission: I’m a terrible festival attendee. My handful of must-sees quickly gives way to a fickle drifting, distracted eyes and ears rarely attentive for a whole set. I’m also, as you’ll quickly discover, musically illiterate yet fascinated and enthralled by a language I don’t understand. Lyrically, I feel adept to make comment; instrumentally I flounder and use inappropriate and often incorrect words. You’ve been warned: what follows is a review of the beautiful Blue Mountains Folk, Roots and Blues Music Festival by a musical illiterate with a deep love and appreciation for what she hears.
Thanks to Timber and Steel’s Editor in Chief Evan Hughes plans to marry one of my oldest (very youthful) friends, the lovely Sarah Tuz, and my convenient home in the misty, mystical Blue Mountains, I’m writing my first review for Timber and Steel.
Like many fellow festival attendees, I spent the preceding week checking the weather forecast, anticipating a repeat of last year’s perpetual rain and shin-deep mud bath (not atypical in the Bluies). Yet I also knew, as you can read in Evan’s review of last year’s festival, that the residents of the Blue Mountains and those attending from afar, are resilient and undeterred by a bit of soggy trudging between venues, and well-equipped with assorted gumboots and waterproof parkas.
The seventeenth Blue Mountains Musical Festival was, as the program described, the usual motley affair of folk, roots, blues, latin, world, jazz, bluegrass, Indie, reggae, blessed with artists from the quirky, theatrical The Beez, to the determined and socially conscious Blue King Brown. Young local musicians such as the passionate young Claude Hay played just metres away from the iconic Judy Collins, tackling themes from the intimate to the comical to the political and everything in between.
Fred Smith is a songwriter of 15 years. He’s also an Australian diplomat who has been posted to far corners of the earth – from Bouganville to Uruzgan. Skilfully, he combines these two personas as a master storyteller, conjuring hope, despair and laughter in his audience. I was suitably curious to see him on both Friday and Saturday evening.
Fred began his collaboration with the beautiful, cheeky, passionate Liz Frencham at the National Folk Festival in 2002. Liz on vocals and cello brought balance and intimacy to Smith’s performance on Friday night, enthralling the audience with her vivacious enjoyment of her instrument, balancing Fred’s dry humour with a distinctly feminine presence onstage. The evening mixed the political – such as “Blue Guitar”, reflecting on his time in the Solomon Islands, to the everyday and personal, such as “In My Room”.
Throughout Saturday evenings Dust of Uruzgan (the title of his new album) performance, Smith used a combination of story, song and multi-media to tell of his time posted in the Uruzgan province of Afghanistan. What left the audience hopeful, despite his often tragic stories of distrust and fear, was Smith’s wry yet playful sense of humour, and his overt belief that in spite of the everyday horrors he witnessed, peace is still possible.
Liz Frencham and the rest of the band served as instruments by which Smith added life to his stories. Smith gave voice to the men and women of the armed forces in the province, describing the monotony of constant threat, the loss and death and ceaseless dust. It was not all bleak- from within the reality of war; Smith described uplifting friendships, a spot of ‘Schwafelen’ (brush up on your Dutch to translate this one) and plenty of laughter. A memorable and poignant experience.
Abigail Washburn’s sweet drawl and croaky laugh is just as compatible with Bluegrass as with traditional Chinese folk songs (hand gestures included). Vivacious, Nashville-based Washburn, complimented by co-writer and singing partner Kai Welch, blessed their Blue Mountains audience with some ramblin’ afternoon tunes, from the delicate “Dreams of Nectar” to the traditional Chinese folk song whose title (ironically for the weekend) translates ‘The Sun Has Come Out and we are so Happy’. Some soul-quietening, smile-delivering entertainment to bring in the Saturday evening.
Aptly described by our MC as ‘fizzy and effervescent pop’, My Friend the Chocolate Cake played us a range of tunes from their 21 years at the forefront of Australian Music.
Pianist and vocalist David Bridie started us on a melancholy note with “Strange Crumbs From the Suburban Fringe”, quickly swinging between the carnival and the cinematic in a set filled with songs you recognise but can’t quite place – probably from their presence on a plethora of Australian film and TV soundtracks.
Having never seen them before, I’m unsure if this is typical, but apart Bridie steering the show, and quirky Hope Csutoris on Violin, the rest of the band played along unobtrusively as if willing the audience to ignore the band and draw upon and use the music to conjure up their own images and memories. Bridies’ lovely shy young daughter joined the band on vocals for a rollin’ rendition of “25 Stations”, as My Friend the Chocolate Cake used suburban symbols integral to the Australian identity, music like the voice of a familiar and comfortable old friend.
Bringing in Saturday evening, living up to my wandering tendencies our 7pm timeslot was filled with three very different artists I was very curious to see.
Firstly, a storytelling session with the diverse and bewitching Harry Manx accompanied by the extraordinarily talented and energetic virtuoso Hammond Organ musician Clayton Dooley. I sat, mesmerised as Manx minimised talk between songs, telling tale after tale, fusing eastern musical traditions with the Blues. Disappointingly, our time was cut short by the desire not to miss out on the legendary Judy Collins.
We skilfully edged into the jam-packed Big Top tent for a glimpse of Judy Collins, looking radiant, relaxed and all decked out in glitter and grin. At 71, Judy’s career spans more that half a century, and judging by the composition of the audience, attracts fans spanning many generations and backgrounds. The air was thick with nostalgia, and the voices of hundreds of festival attendees reminiscing in unison. The lyrics of Bob Dylans’ “Mr Tamborine Man” could no doubt be heard halfway up Katoomba St, Judy leading the crowd. Unfortunately, due my partner’s sore foot (see below paragraph), we hobbled across to the RSL stage where we discovered a whole generation perhaps untouched by Judy Collins.
Claude Hay had a collection of Blue Mountains youth dancing furiously to his Blue and Roots tunes. Feeling strangely old (especially compared to the rest of our time at the festival), we sat and watched the ‘young people’ shake and groove and chant along to defiant lyrics, while we polished our dentures and moaned about our arthritis.
A beautiful conclusion to my second Blue Mountains Music Festival. Eric Bibb, accompanied by Swedish guitarist Staffan Astner, bestowed upon the audience an exceptional set of traditional and contemporary folk-blues tunes. It was Erics’ fourth Blue Mountains Festival, and second time visiting the Mountains in the space of a year- he played at Blackheath Community Centre in April 2011.
Everything about Eric contrasted with the pervasive fog outside the tent, from his bright orange shirt to his infectious and radiant smile. Staffan, dressed in black, hat obscuring his eyes and occasionally bemused smile, was Eric’s quiet yet brilliant shadow. From “Stagger Lee”, “Floodwater”, “Troubadour”, “Tell my Baby” and “Going Down the Road Feeling Bad”, Eric played a mixture of covers and originals which created a warm and contented audience, pleased to be sharing the moment and the music with hundreds of others in the Big Top, rather than outside in Katoomba’s best mist and drizzle.
The heart and soul of the Australian folk festival scene is undoubtedly bassist Liz Frencham. A solo artist in her own right Frencham is also well known for her work with Jigzag, Jimmy The Fish and Frencham Smith. She is currently making her way from festival to festival with long time collaborator Fred Smith and is about to hit The National Folk Festival over Easter. We grabbed a couple of minutes of her time to talk about how she fits it all in, how her approach to festivals has changed over the years and what’s next after her current tour.
Evan Hughes: You’ve just come off some shows at the Port Fairy Folk Festival. How was that?
Liz Frencham: It wasn’t the best festival experience I’ve had just because of the circumstances. I tried to fit two festivals into one weekend. I did the Burke and Wills Folk Festival on the Friday with Fred [Smith] and then we travelled to Port Fairy on Saturday morning, got there and rehearsed with the band, did our gig and then by that stage I was pretty exhausted. Then the next day we had four gigs. EH: Oh wow.
LF: And they were all a little too close together. We also had a projector and screen that wen’t AWOL and that caused Fred some consternation. It was just one of those festivals that felt a little more like work just because of the circumstances. EH: The one thing I’ve noticed with you at festivals is you’re everywhere all the time. I’m surprised all this running around is not something you’re used to by now. Although running from one festival to the other is a bit extreme.
LF: Yeah [laughs]. It’s a little bit different if you’re running to jam with someone and also there’s a difference from when you’re 23 to when you’re 33. And then when you’re pushing 40 and running around with a double bass it means a little bit more organisation. Also if it’s a gig that you’re featuring at, particularly the ones with Fred where people connect with the Uruzgan material in a certain kind of way, even the CD selling area I take over while he talks to people. That kind of thing’s exhausting as well – organising that as well as being aware of what gig’s on the horizon. It was always exhausting but it’s a little bit more business these days. It’s one of those things that’s good and bad when you’ve played on the scene for longer – I used to have no voice by the time I’d get to Sunday of a festival because I would have stayed up late drinking and singing and talking and now I don’t because I know my voice is really low, it’s set in my chest, and if I try to talk over a lot of noise I’ll lose it really quickly. It’s only just because I want to make sure I can perform really well right throughout the whole festival. I feel like I’m a much better performer now but what I used to have was raw enthusiasm to get me through. It’s an interesting tradeoff but one I don’t mind having. I feel like I’ve had hundreds of amazing late night jams over those festivals. Things just change when you’ve been doing it for longer. EH: You mentioned Fred Smith. You’ve played with him on his album Dust Of Uruzgan and toured with him as your schedule allows. The songs from the album really connect with people, especially if they have a connection to Afghanistan. How’re you finding playing those songs live?
LF: It’s intense to play songs of war. Besides singing a couple of songs that I do I’m pretty much playing the role of band member really, I’m playing the bass trying to do that as well as possible. Every song asks something of you and that’s what you’re thinking of when you’re playing it, what does this song need. I know all the intros back to front, I know all the stories, I know all the lyrics so I guess I’m no longer being moved by them anymore. I’ve probably done the show maybe 40 times now or more. In order for everyone in the audience to keep hearing it fresh it’s my responsibility to take each song at a time and give it my best. When you’ve played the songs that many times you do learn what really works on each song. EH: When I interviewed Fred Smith last year he was telling me all about the songs you sing on the album, that they’re sung from the point of view of Afghan women. That must have been difficult to put yourself in that mindset.
LF: Strangely not. One of them’s from the point of view of a woman in exile and anyone who’s got friends and family can imagine what it must feel like to leave them behind. And there’s so much personality that he puts into those songs so you get a sense of the character which makes it easier. There’s definitely a wry sense of humour in the woman from “Trembling Sky”, there’s a couple of lyrics that give that away: “As I recall we were still kissing, while our friends were going missing”. There’s a little bit of bravado there. He gives you enough in the song to just go into it and feel it. The other one, “A Thousand Splendid Suns”, is more of a straight story so it doesn’t really benefit from trying to push any more into it, any more emotion. The melody is also so beautiful – just to sing the melody and tell the story is all that needs. EH: It’s been a while since that album came out – are you still touring just under Fred Smith or are you going out there as Frencham Smith again?
LF: The line blurs quite a bit mainly because of the show. The National is booked under Frencham Smith with the expectation as well as doing our material we’d probably do a dedicated Uruzgan show, being that’s the most recent thing Fred has to offer – and also a really lovely thing to offer any festival. I think it’s easier to blur those lines because I’m quite involved in the Uruzgan stuff as well, in singing a couple of songs, having recorded bass on the album and toured the album. It’s easy a week before the festival to work out which is going to be the Uruzgan and which is going to be the Frencham Smith set. EH: Are you guys recording any new material together or anything like that?
LF: Probably not for a while. I think Fred has something in the works before that, without telling any tales. Also this year I’m dedicating to recording the second volume of my duets, You and Me Vol. 2. That’s going to keep me pretty busy from winter onwards and then I want to give that album a good spin, a good tour next year. I’d say probably next year you won’t see as much of Frencham Smith just because I think both of us will be doing stuff that doesn’t involve the other for a little while. EH: Can you reveal any details about who you’re playing with on the duets album?
LF: I can tell you that I’ve recorded the first duet with Andrew Winton. We’re doing a Sting cover which is really fun. We just did that when he was recently here touring. But I don’t like to say who else because obviously you can have all the best intentions and the artist can say “yeah, let’s do it” but then I’d hate to say somebody’s name and then it not happen and people be disappointed. Put it this way: there’s some international artists who are touring at the moment who are trying to fit a recording into their schedule. Definitely some names you’ll know. EH: Andrew Winton’s a big enough name Timber and Steel’s eyes for us to already get excited.
LF: I can definitely say he’s on that because it’s recorded. EH: I think one of the first times I ever saw you live was playing bass with Andrew Winton at The National a number of years ago.
LF: Oh wow. EH: It might have even been his first National.
LF: We’ve been mates for a while and we’re pretty much the same age so whenever we cross paths at festivals we often find ourselves at the same kind of life stage, swapping stories about where we think our careers are going and that kind of thing which is kind of fun. EH: You’re at so many festivals every year – do you have a favourite?
LF: Hmmm… EH: It’s such a hard question.
LF: It’s interesting. I would have said my favourite big festival was The National but a big part of that was the Troubadour Wine Bar which isn’t going to be there this year so that’s kind of shifted for me. I’ll have to see how it feels because that was very much central, that home base you always went when you weren’t gigging, where you knew you’d see people you know. The Wintermoon Festival up in MacKay is pretty special – really chilled out and it’s May when down here in Victoria it’s absolutely freezing you get to head up that way and walk around in a skirt and sleep under the stars. Port Fairy was great for the amount of acts they have playing but I tend to have to work harder there so it’s hard to find them fun. It’d be very different if I was just going to the festival. It’s hard to say – I like a lot of the little ones. It’s hard to pick favourites really EH: I think that’s all the questions I had for you today. Good luck with everything you’ve got coming up. It’s been a pleasure talking to you.
LF: No worries, I’ll see you later!
Summer may be officially over but that doesn’t mean the end to music festival announcements. No siree. We have a whole winter of festivals to look forward to and the wintery-est of all is the Snowy Mountains of Music who have just this morning announced their first round of artists. And what a lineup – as always it’s leaning heavily to the folky end of the spectrum and we couldn’t be happier.
The Snowy Mountains of Music takes place over the June long weekend (8th to the 11th June) in Perisher, NSW. Super early bird tickets are available until the 29th March. Check out the official web site for more details.
The National Folk Festival will be held over Easter next year from the 5th to the 9th April. Heavily discounted earlybird tickets are now available from the official site.
Easter may still be six months away but that doesn’t mean you can’t start planning your trip to the National Folk Festival for 2012. And with today’s headliner announcement you’ve got even more reason to make sure you get to Canberra next year.
Heading up the National in 2012 will be ARIA Award winning Zulya Kamalova (above) and her band The Children of the Underground. Zulya is Australia’s leading singer of Tatar and Russian music and will be performing the music of her homeland.
The first round of earlybird tickets for the 2012 National Folk Festival are already on sale until the 31st October and give you a massive $55 discount on Season tickets. The festival will be held from 5th to the 9th April 2012. For more details check the official National Folk Festival web site.
Fred Smith, the “Smith” part of renowned duo Frencham Smith and amazing singer songwriter in his own right, has a pretty amazing story. The first Australian diplomat to be posted to the Uruzgan provence of Afghanistan in 2009, Smith used his 18 months in the middle of a war zone to craft what would eventually become his new solo album Dust of Uruzgan. Now Fred Smith is taking that album and it’s amazing songs on the road and we managed to have a chat to him just as he was ramping up his three month long tour.
Evan Hughes: The development of Dust of Uruzgan is quite and interesting story. You went over to Afghanistan, is that right?
Fred Smith: Yeah, that’s right. I went there in July 2009 working for Foreign Affairs and Trade. EH: You weren’t there for any musical reason, you were there as a diplomat yeah?
FS: Yeah, that’s right. EH: But the music for this album is influenced by your time there. There was obviously a lot of inspiration in Afghanistan.
FS: It was a fairly intense working environment and a lot of the time it was really fascinating and compelling and then bad things happen. I guess it’s what you would call a narrative rich environment. Lots of stories. EH: Did you find that music was an important way to connect the people over there?
FS: Sure. We always had concerts there for the soldiers every couple of months in place called Poppies which is barbeque area there. There would always be some musicians amongst the soldiers over there – the quartermaster, one of the nurses sang and she was really good, and a few others would chip in. Also, separately to that, I played a lot with the Afghans on the base. There’s a lot of Afghan staff on this base so I had a band of those guys as well and we’d get together on a Saturday evening and jam and party and stuff. It was a good way to connect the communities together a bit. EH: Has any of that crept into the writing of this album? Have you got any Afghani influences in the music?
FS: Not deliberately but if you hear the title track “Dust of Uruzgan” you can hear the Afghan scales. EH: Did you find that despite the environment and despite the hardships that a lot of people are going through that they still responded positively to music?
FS: All the more so for what they were going through I think. People in that kind of stressful environment have a real appetite for emotional outlet. Part of what music does is that it helps people to feel their feelings. EH: Anyone who’s watched any documentaries on the war over there quite often the sound track, what they’re playing when their on patrol, is heavy metal or hip hop. You don’t really associate folk music and singer songwriters with a war zone. But obviously your music was well received while you were there.
FS: It was well received. And you’re right – over there the generation of soldiers is the laptop generation. If they’re in the bush masters rolling down the road they’re not listening to Joan Baez. But I think the narrative in my songs were really familiar to the soldiers and it felt like I was painting the landscape they were living in. In that sense it definitely resonated – the concerts we had were pretty packed out. Not that there was anything else going on on a Saturday night [laughs]. EH: You’re known, at least in the folk scene, for your comic performances yet you’ve got this album that’s been spawned from a fairly intense environment. Should we expect any humour on the record?
FS: There’s rather serious material on the album but there’s also a fair bit of comedy there. There’s a song called “Niet Swaffelen op de Dixi” which I wrote fairly early in my stint there in order to dissuade the Dutch soldiers from doing unspeakable things in the portaloos. It was a bit of a hit with the Dutch military – definitely not a serious song. EH: So there’s still a bit of brevity to be had in such a serious situation?
FS: Shit yeah. All the more so because of the seriousness of it – it’s a bunch of guys pissing around in the desert trying to do a difficult job. It’s good grounds for comedy. EH: Have you played any of these songs live since you’ve been back in Australia?
FS: I’ve done a few concerts. We did the first leg of the tour in Tasmania last month and it seems to be received well – I just think there’s a real interest in Australia to try and understand the reality over there. It’s like trying to get some three dimensional human feel for it and that’s what I’m able to do with this music. EH: Folk music or narrative based music attracts audiences that are very into the lyrical content of songs and very responsive to the stories that you’re telling.
FS: Yeah I think that’s why I’ve always felt at home in the folk scene. People are interested in stories. It’s not that the genre of music I play is particularly folky – some of it is – but it’s that the folk audience love to listen to a story. EH: Obviously long time collaborator Liz Frencham appears on Dust of Uruzgan – are there any other contributors of note?
FS: Liz sings two of the vocals. I wrote a couple of songs from the point of view of Afghan women and I got her to sing them, she did a great job. Then there’s another song, a duet, where this Dutch nurse Carola [van Houwert] who used to play with us sings – I sent the files over to Holland for her to sing on. EH: Nice
FS: And then track number three on the album I got the main vocal done by a mate of mine in the States who I used to tour with a bit because its from the point of view of an American Marine. A guy called Jonathan Byrd sings that – look him up, he’s fantastic. One of America’s best song writers. I met him through the folk conferences I used to go to in the States – I toured there for a about three years. EH: So you’ve just started touring Dust of Uruzgan. Looking at the dates you seem to playing everywhere. Are you looking forward to living out of a suitcase for the next few months?
FS: It’s going to be full on [laughs] but it’s going to be a lot of fun to. Liz [Frencham] is coming with me for most of the ride and we enjoy each other’s company on the road so that’ll lighten the load a bit. EH: Does that mean you’ll be playing some of your duo [Frencham Smith] stuff as well?
FS: Absolutely. We’ll mix in some of our duo material and stuff from our respective solo albums as well. We’ll mix it up a bit. EH: Because I’ve only ever seen you in Frecham Smith mode so catching your solo material is going to be a treat.
FS: It’s just a combination that works. She’s a great storyteller and singer and the best double bass accompanist in the country. I write a lot of songs from a woman’s perspectives and I like to give them an airing. She’s gold. EH: If people want to get a hold of your album and they can’t make it to one of your myriad of gigs can they pick it up on iTunes?
FS: If you head to my web site there’s a bunch of options for acquiring the record. EH: Excellent. Thanks so much for taking time out to have a chat to me.
FS: Yeah, no problem.
Fred Smith is travelling all over Australia in the next few months. The full list of dates is below:
Thursday 11th August – South Coast Folk Club, Port Noarlunga RSL, Port Noarlunga, SA
Friday 12th August – Acoustic Peacock, Willunga, SA
Saturday 13th August – SA Folk Club, Adelaide, SA
Thursday 18th August – The Quiet Place, Castlemaine, VIC
Friday 19th August – Berwick Folk Club, Berwick, VIC
Saturday 20th August – Wine and Music Festival, Troubadour Weekend, VIC
Saturday 27th August – Troubadour Folk Club, Woy Woy, NSW
Friday 2nd September – Notes, Sydney, NSW
Saturday 3rd September – Canberra Theatre Playhouse, Canberra, ACT
Thursday 15th September – Gaythorne RSL, Brisbane, QLD
Friday 16th September – TBC, Sunshine Coast, QLD
Saturday 17th September – Gold Coast Acoustic Music Festival, Gold Coast, QLD
Sunday 18th September – Peregian Originals, Peregian Beach, QLD
Saturday 24th September – TBC, Albany, WA
Sunday 25th September – Charles Hotel, Perth, WA
Friday 30th September – Dandenong Ranges Folk Club, VIC
Saturday 1st October – TBC, Melbourne, VIC
Sunday 2nd October – House Concert
Saturday 8th October – Womindra Festival, Canowindra, VIC
Sunday 9th October – Wentworth School of Arts, Wentworth, NSW
Tuesday 11th October – Ringwood Folk Club, VIC
Wednesday 12th October – House Concert, VIC
Friday 14th October – Humph Hall, NSW
Saturday 22nd October – Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival, Kangaroo Valley, NSW
Friday 28th October – TBC, Melbourne, VIC
Saturday 29th October – Caravan Music Oakleigh RSL, Oakleigh, VIC
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