Where the Wild Wind Blows (Shackleton3 at the MCT)

And the people that have an influence…

(pic by Mark Hopper)

I did a great radio interview today for my forthcoming Tasmanian shows. The station was out of Burnie on the North coast and the interviewer was really across all facets (eras if you must) of my career. One song was as good as another as far as he was concerned. He asked about the intricacies of playing the songs in solo format as opposed to the band, how I might pick the set on a given night and how the various lineups and formats have shaped my repertoire and career generally.

And then he asked the age old question about which artists have been my major influences. I don’t know why I haven’t just got a stock standard answer for questions like this but the fact is it changes all the time. I think I just mumbled along saying something like I appreciate the artists that just keep going - which is sort of true - but really, does this discount the ones who shone briefly and left us with a couple of good albums and a couple of dozen memorable shows? Of course it doesn’t. But, I guess I am trying to align myself with some of the greats who have hung in there. I do find inspiration in the people who seem to constantly find different ways to present their vision while keeping the theme of their work pure and constant.

And so this episode is Shackleton3 at the MCT with the Joe Strummer song Tennessee Rain - which he wrote and recorded for the Paul Cox film Walker (circa 1987). It’s a marvellous soundtrack and I remember thinking the film was good, without being great. And while Strummer never got to ‘hang in there’ that long after his glory days I think he was shaping up to be the sort of artist I am talking about. One who would find new ways to keep on going and presenting his stuff

(this pic is of Strummer as an extra in the film Walker. Apparently he made his band all dress in costume to record the soundtrack for the record).

I really loved the albums he made with the Mescalleros and thought the night we all went to see them play at The Corner they were wonderful and inspired and honestly, I wanted less Clash songs and more Mescalleros. He seemed to be really getting enjoyment out of the band he had with him and perhaps this was some sort of relief after the weighty expectations that The Clash must have carried to the end.

And where I am going with this is, I think you can get as influenced by the people around you as the ones releasing chart topping, genre defining albums. The people you play with and even the ones who come to your shows. Sunday night with Shackleton at the MCT was the first show Anna and I have done with Olivia Bolmat ( from the band Norwood). It was great, she was great. She comes into the band after Liz Stringer and Chris Altmann and in her own quiet way has already had an influence. It was a special night. It felt so good to be playing through the Shackleton3 set once again and the fact the crowd knew most of the songs was something we have never witnessed in Shackleton. But as I should have said to my Tasmanian friend on the radio this morning, all these people have an influence. They are all responsible for taking your music and your vision somewhere you hadn’t thought of, or only hoped it might end up.

And on the night we finished off with a Van Walker song All the Leaves so it’s fair to say Van has an influence. Here’s a video of it. I’ll get a better mix of it happening soon enough but this is little gift for now. You actually don’t even have to pay for this - you get this one for nuthin’.

But back to Tennessee Rain: this is the first Shackleton track from the MCT show that I have mixed. I have a couple more in the pipeline I should get up by the weekend. There is a particularly good version of Don Walker’s Healing Power and Olivia makes her Shackleton feature debut on a Margot Cilker tune which is a cracker and sure to be a Shackleton staple by the end of our Melbourne shows in July August. More music coming your way folks. You just gotta dig deep…

Tennessee Rain - Shackleton live at the MCT