There are a few sounds that are distinctly Australian. Somewhere up the top of the list alongside the kookaburra, Tassie devil and the didgeridoo, is Mr True Blue himself: John Williamson.
‘Butcherbird’, John’s 20th studio album, was released last month breaking his own four-year drought since his last original album release.
John will close out the year with an expansive tour of the nation accompanied by a bass guitarist and violinist who also plays accordion. “['Butcherbird'] does describe where I’m at: it’s about being retired and looking forward to when I go back to being a man of the soil, and relating to the birds and stuff ‘cause that’s what’s inspired my whole life really," John says.
The first single, ‘Valley Of His Dreams…’, is also the opening track: a dulcet anthem featuring the butcherbird cameo, lyrically described as “sweeter than a violin”.
Sampling from the breadth of his musical acreage, ‘Butcherbird’ has folk songs, a rocky protest song ‘Pigs On The River’, a dose of humour and the obligatory ballad, ‘Buddy And Slim’.
When asked if there were any late songwriters he would have liked to have collaborated with, John says: “I guess Stan Coster, he wrote 'By A Fire Of Gidgee Coal'. He kind of carried on from Banjo Patterson more than anyone else I know… he wrote 77 songs for Slim Dusty.
"We were good mates and I know he appreciated what direction I was going in… like that song says, he believed we were losing our contact [with the country].”
John does wonder how much longer music about the Aussie bush will keep being written.
“I just think we need our own music, like what so many of the Americans do about their country... There are plenty of rock & rollers to sing about the urban situation, but I’d like to see it carried on.”
John lists Sara Storer, Graeme Connors and Lee Kernaghan as artists that are continuing the tradition.
“There’s no limit to what you can write about… it is often the mundane that is interesting, when it’s described in the right way. It’s important for people to realise that ordinary lives aren’t so bad at all.”
With a career spanning almost 5 decades, and having witnessed the changes to how music is consumed, John says that although it’s now easier to be heard worldwide and he has good connection with people in Germany and the UK, his music “has always been aimed at Aussies first of all.”
“I preferred it when people had to buy a physical product, because they get the full package... they get a booklet, and a CD. I’m not looking forward to the day when you don’t do that – it’s nice to be able to explain the songs, show pictures of what the songs are about… maybe once they disappear then everybody’ll want ‘em again”, he says with a laugh.
John’s ridgy-didge listeners probably do enjoy holding the real deal, and he reiterates the fact that CD sales make up a lot of the income for touring artists.
“I miss the large records too, because the big covers are an excellent place to exercise art. They’ve sort of cut the art bit out of it really, not having the covers”.
John drew the butcherbird on the cover of this album, and he’s done the artwork on a few other releases, including ‘Warragul’ and ‘Rip Rip Woodchip’.
Recently John visited Africa; touched by witnessing the poverty and absolute absence of jobs and income there, it seemed right to ask if that inspired any songs.
“I’ve tried to write songs about other places, but it’s not what people want to hear from me. I’ve really established myself as someone who writes about Australia and I’ll never stop being inspired by it, so why change?”
His love of Holdens seems just as nostalgically consistent.
“I was very lucky because I was the oldest of five boys and my dad wanted me to come back on the farm in Victoria so he bought me a brand new EH Holden ute, which ended up being wrecked on the farm eventually. After that I had two other EHs, a wagon and a car. I really liked them. I’ve got a collection of old Holdens in the shed.”
So who does John Williamson listen to during time off at home with his Holdens?
“Well if I’m in a dancing mood, which I often am, I’ll put on reggae. I like Bob Marley… love reggae. Way back I was into calypso music, and reggae’s really carrying on from that”.
He adds a few more names to the list: Bob Dylan, Sara Storer and JJ Cale (for his rhythms) “but I’m not a big listener these days, I’m happy to listen to the butcherbirds in the forest”.
On that note, it sounds like the spirit of the bush will never die, and Mr Williamson has contributed more than a few wool bales to it.
'Butcherbird' is available now.
