MIXTAPE: Henry Wagons’ Aussie Faves

Welcome, and thanks for letting me be a musical Dr, Frankenstein. What a fun surgery it was making this beautiful monster virtual cassette!

Please sit in a comfortable recliner, gently raise the footrest, grab the nearest scruffy dog with a slanted smile, and pop it on your lap. Have someone close bring you a whiskey cocktail and dig in.

Here are some of my favourite new tunes from my home turf of Australia and its surrounds. All the songs are still fresh to surface, having come out over the past year or so. I have these tracks echoing through my hallways at home or dampened by the soft passenger door in my tour van or rattling the speaker cones in the studio when I do my show Tower of Song on Double J Radio. I really hope you enjoy my little pick of the ripe and sumptuous fruit from the underside of the globe.

Marlon Williams (NZ) — "Strange Things"
We open proceedings with a prodigious talent. A good man but, in his music, an evil choirboy! This tune is beautiful and very weird, which is one of my favourite combinations. The stuff of inspirational nightmares.

Leah Senior — "The City Is a Stream"
A lilting melody that can potently hypnotise. Her writing and her vocal can evoke the most potent lullaby that can send you into a powerful Snow White-like sleep that only a kiss can wake.

The Murlocs — "Young Blindness"
This tune creates a boogie-driven psychedelic vortex I like to descend into and come out dressed in a silver cowboy spacesuit.

Jess Ribeiro — "Kill It Yourself"
There is a great sense of nonchalant danger in this tune. There is something about Jess’s voice that makes me want to obey … even when she is telling me to kill something.

Alison McCallum — "Have You Seen Your Mother Baby Standing in the Shadows"*
I recently stumbled onto Alison McCallum’s classic work as a ball-tearing vocalist back in the '60s and '70s. Her music was re-issued to digital for the first time only this year, and my balls were suitably torn. I’m a mess. 

Chris Altmann — "Good Morning Mr. Coffee"
Chris is a prodigious Americana songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, with a inbuilt swing and sublime playing empathy. He played everything on this caffeine-fueled number. I listen and imagine a world in which there are several of Chris, and I think it would be a better place.

Eagle & the Wolf — "Mama, Son and the Holy Ghost"
A great new rugged duo poking their heads over the burning horizon and offering you a drink. Their music video for this song is probably the wettest I’ve seen since the closing scenes of Nelly’s “Hot in Here.”

Melody Pool — "Love, She Loves Me"
This is an incredible and brutal expression of anger and frustration at the ways of love. A reminder that the world of romance can take casualties. Some truly excellent cursing … F-bombs in the perfect places.

Nadia Reid (NZ) — "Call the Days"
Another incredible talent from, as we Australians say, “across the ditch” in New Zealand. A voice to melt the shepherd's heart, and a subtle drone of strings to herd all the animals in the field.

Ben Mason — "Suburban Cowboy"*
This is an amazing deconstruction of the whole inner-city, balcony-dwelling, vintage-shopping, moustache-waxing, typewriter-tapping, urban alt-country scene. Being guilty of elements of the phenomena at times, I know he is completely right about it all … and I love it.

Gena Rose Bruce — "Good Thing"
The title says it all: It’s a good thing. Gena has a voice that sucks you in and perfectly places you atop the swell of the welcome guitar jangle.

Robert Forster — "Let Me Imagine You"
Always a mastermind at obtuse charm, Robert Forster sits you down across from him at the dinner table and starts pulling faces and slaps you across the nose with his witticism (and Twitticism!). A man still atop the songwriting tree post-Go Betweens.

* Not available on Spotify


Photo credit: Taylor Wong

TEN QUESTIONS FOR… The Greencards

If you missed The Greencards show at The Mint last week, then you missed one of the most intimate and scintillating live performances in Los Angeles so far this summer.  This Nashville-based quartet, led by Aussie ex-pats Carol Young and Kym Warner, take the audience on a rollicking 90 minute set, ranging from thoughtful newgrass songwriting, to quiet covers (their rendition of Cheap Trick’s I Want You to Want Me was so heartbreaking and simple– took me by complete surprise), to fantastic, hardcore roots jams.  And after talking with mandolin player Kym, I found out they’re not only ridiculously nice and musically talented, but have pretty good taste in scotch to boot…

Isthis your first time performing in Los Angeles?

Kym:  This is our first solo show in LA– weopened six years ago at the Roxy. Plus we’ve been out for the Grammys a few times, which is fun;and we always have a stopover when we’re flying to and from Australia.

Whatis your origin as a band and how did you get into bluegrass?

Kym:  Well the Greencards formed in Austin abouteight years ago.  Carol and I areoriginally from Australia, but as a group we started playing locally in Texasfive or six nights a week.  Thoselocal gigs led to festivals, which took us to bigger venues across thecountry.  We’ve spent the lastseven years touring extensively. Both Carol and I came from families that were into roots and Americana andbluegrass music.  I really got started because of what I heard in that genre and what my dad was playing.  Carol and I knew each other in Australia.  We met on the circuit—we were both backupartists.  Played bluegrass gigs everyonce in a while in Australia.  But I think we both knew that ifwe were going to have a chance of making a career, the US was the place forthat.  Toured the states with a group fora while and just fell in love with it.

Howwould you describe the Greencards’ music and musical influences?

Kym:  Initially I’d say we’re more newgrass thanbluegrass—we’ve never had a five string banjo in our lineup. Bluegrass infused progression I guess you could say. The songs are what are most important. We’re into Dylan and the Pretenders and Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac morethan anything else. But we’ve never thought of ourselves strictly as a bluegrass band.  I look at great Texan musicians like Lyle Lovett, Steve Earle, etc… greatsongwriters writing about simple things.  

Wheredoes The Brick Album come from? 

Kym:  It’s the Greencards next step—we’ve becomemore comfortable with our writing and who we are.  I feel really good about the songs on this record and wepushed ourselves really hard.  There’s much more of a live feel than we’ve had on anyother recording.  When we recorded this album wewere all in one room, just a few feet away from each other.  Very little overdubbing.  Great way to make a record.  We don’t want it to just sound like alive gig—I mean, you need that energy but you still need it to sound good.  Justin Niebank was a great producer.  We’re doing this totally on our own—our ownlabeland that’s what enabled us to get two of our ultimate heroes—Sam Bush and Vince Gill—to comein and record with us.  They’re ahuge reason why Carol and I do even what we do. 

What’syour favorite venue?

Kym:  We’ve been to the Staples Center a fewtimes for the Grammys.  I go to theStaples Center and I just can’t believe a sports team fills that place three times aweek!  But it sounds good in theretoo, which is rare.  Largo is agreat little place.  I love thewest coast in general.  There’s amystique about playing in LA for me—almost like NY—an energy and just somethingabout it.  And a rare thing for usis we actually have a few days off before our show to explore!

Whatare your tour essentials?

Kym:  Obviously we take a lot of music withus.  iPods and Books.  Always have swimming trunks.  Nothing crazy.  As long as we have our van, we’re okay.  We’re just a four piece band so we’repretty self contained.  And I alwayshave my mandolin with me—I made the mistake last yearnever again.

Whatis your favorite drink?

Kym:  I’m a scotch drinker.  Any number of single malt scotch isgood for me.  The McKellan 15 yearis a good one.  Give me a couple ofice cubes in a glass and I’m good.

Whatare your current obsessions?

Kym:  I’ve been obsessed with Leonard Cohen inthe past few years.  And I’vealways been a massive Tom Petty fan.    I love Manchester United—never miss a game for that.  Even if I’m driving the van on tour, someone is textingme the scores.

Whatdo you love most about being on the west coast?

Kym:  The climate’s great.  There’s always something to do.  Being from Australia, I’d be at thebeach every day.  It’s the closestthing to going home—like-minded people, relaxed atmosphere, all of it.  I just love the scene in general.  

The Greencards’ new disc, The Brick Album, has been widely acclaimed, and was recently featured in Time Magazine.  You can buy the album through iTunes or the band’s website— or if you’re lucky, you can still catch them on tour throughout the US this summer.