5,500 miles.
That’s 8,800 kilometers, folks, for those of us who are metric.
And that’s how far I have driven over the last 6 weeks, rambling between festivals and gigs during this long hot Aussie Summer.
I’ve traversed an amazing range of country: from the humid semi-tropical north, the high mountain country and deep outback desert…
My latest adventures started somewhat tentatively at Sydney International airport, while I waited for my GPS to work out that it was no longer in Portland, Oregon. I’m not sure if I told you the story; the GPS was a snap purchase, bought while I waited for a rental car in downtown Manhattan. It was the move of a desperate woman who had no idea of how to get to the next show. A toffy English accent seemed to give an impression of reliability, so I named her ‘Miss Moneypenny’ after James Bond’s famously efficient secretary. Now loaded with additional maps for Down Under, she’s been invaluable.
Right now, I am home. At last! My orchard is full of fruit, the swimming pool beckons in the balmy weather and my little Clare Valley town is as sleepy as ever. It’s quite a contrast to the stark beauty of the South Australian desert, where I spent a few days last week staying in one of Coober Pedy’s famous cave houses. Called ‘dug-outs’, dwellings like this are designed to beat the unrelenting outback heat. This fascinating outback town is a traditional centre for opal mining and we met some real characters!
But, I am getting ahead of myself…
My New Year began at ‘Woodford Folk Festival’, some 2000 kilometers to the north-east. This is one the biggest and most diverse festivals in the Southern hemisphere – 6 days & 6 nights, more than 2000 performers and 580 programmed events, held on 500 acres of environmental parkland. Music, sculpture, comedy, workshops, dance, freak shows; it’s got the lot… You have to experience it to grasp the idea fully – and of course, it’s held at the hottest, wettest time of the year for a proper pioneering feel.
My next performance was at the ‘Coolart Jazz Festival’ in the grounds of a genteel historic mansion, right down south in Victoria. Situated next to protected wetlands, one of the venues is a bird observatory and two beautiful blue-feathered Fairy Wrens danced at the window as I played.
After so many solo shows, it was huge fun to meet up with my regular Australian rhythm section Dean Addison (bass) and Marky Grunden (drums) at the next festival. ‘Thredbo Blues Festival’ is a boutique event, held in the alpine village adjacent to Australia’s tallest mountain, Mt Kosciuszko. Joined by legendary Melbourne Hammond player Tim Neal, and special guest Niels Rosendahl (sax) for our final show, the band rocked! The Preacher and Dean, both being keen cooks, busied themselves between gigs by testing Steve’s Christmas present: a pasta making machine. Hmm…fresh pasta makes a happy band. We awoke the next morning to find a steady sprinkling of snow on the ski run outside our chalet’s back deck. Talk about a Summer of contrasts!
The Hunter Valley’s ‘Folk in Broke Festival’, a flight to the West Coast for ‘Blues in Bridgetown’ – even a gig at Prominent Hill copper mine in the Woomera Rocket Range prohibited zone – I tell you, I have been getting around.
Which brings me back to those 5,500 miles I have just driven…
What can I say?
It’s all bit of a blur, but I have some photos here to jog the memory.
Hope you enjoy them until next time.
Back to the USA and Canada in a week or so!