Veteran Australian blues and roots singer-songwriter Geoff Achison has mined the deepest parts of his life to produce his most personal album yet, ‘Sovereign Town’.
‘Sovereign Town’ is a solo project for Geoff away from his work with The Souldiggers and found its genesis in Geoff’s memories of growing up around the Victorian goldfields.
“The title track, I actually had written a few drafts of lyrics and initially I thought it was a song about growing up there and riding our bikes around the old goldfields and exploring the old tunnels, and I just wasn’t getting the lyrics together, but each time I played the music they were the images going through my mind,” Geoff says.
As writing progressed, Geoff began listening not to the whispers of his own past but to those of the ghosts haunting the history of the area. “It morphed into this story about what it might have been like out in the goldfields back in the day, more of a story about the people who dug those holes and tunnels I saw as a kid,” he says.
“I was always fascinated with this story when I was growing up; we used to dig up some of the old rubbish dumps, digging up old bottles and all different types of artefacts, so I’ve always had a fascination with it. One of the underlying themes through the album is seeking for fortune, the journey of life and what you discover along the way.”
While Geoff’s work with The Souldiggers tends towards high-energy rock, ‘Sovereign Town’ reveals a more subdued songwriter plying his delicate craft honed over a lifetime of experiences, both good and bad. “It did give me the opportunity to explore songs that are a little more personal,” Geoff says.
“There are songs there about dear old friends who are no longer with us, that began as almost sitting down and writing a letter to them.
“The older you get the more you’re experiencing relationships from start to finish, lifelong friendships, and it’s difficult coming to terms with the fact that your friend is no longer here. That’s part of the mourning process and those are songs that I was finding difficult to place on albums. Some of these songs have been around for quite a while in my head.”
Geoff is currently taking ‘Sovereign Town’ on tour until the end of August, performing intimate solo sets of both song and light conversation. “I will be travelling largely by myself with the acoustic guitar, and the thing I like about doing that style of show is that it gives me the opportunity to tell a few stories,” he says.
“I’ve been in the business for over 30 years now and there’s been a lot of travel, so I feel like it’s an opportunity to catch up with those people who write to me asking when I’m coming to their town. Come along and I’ll tell you what I’ve been up to, play you some tunes and I’m looking forward to reconnecting with people.”
