Dodgy Train was a pilot video made through Barefoot Workshops, where I attended as an Artist in residence in 2007 in Clarksdale, Mississippi. This is the birthplace of the Blues, the crossroads where Robert Johnson allegedly sold his soul to the devil to be able to play the way he did.
This video includes two songs of mine that have not been recorded on an album, “Silver Dollars” and “Been Told by the Messenger.”
Dodgy Train to Clarksdale, video by Treyton Williams and Susana Travieso:
Table Hill Road
This is a live version of “Table Hill rd” captured as the sun was setting in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I love this simple form of recording, where the videographer's eye is as integral to the performance as the Musician’s playing, and where it is totally acoustic.
Songwriters' Residential
This video, made by Lawrence Balmer, documents the Songwriters' Residential Weekend held at Tasma House in August, 2010. It was a co-hosted event between the Australian Songwriters Association and Tasma House, with presenters and participants immersing themselves in their passion, sharing time, experience, music and food, together for three days. The Songwriters' Residential Weekend is scheduled again for August 19-21st, 2011.
“Shotgun Shack”
The next video is of "Shotgun Shack" playing at the Palais in Hepburn Springs. The song is called “Two Minds, One Track, and is off my 4th album “Blue Simmer.” The Palais was host to many international acts over the years, but has recently closed its doors, whilst many new local venues have sprung up as opportunities to play for local Musicians.
“Silly Sausages”
Sometimes my busking and band mate, Phil Mac, and I play under the name, "The Silly Sausages," where I am Lunch Box Kransky, legend in my own lunch box, and Phil is, "Cab Saveloy," who happens to come from a long line of sausages.
In this Video, we are performing one of Phil’s great original pieces, called the “Shoe Shine Club”
Lately, when drummer Al Stanley can’t fit into our playing schedule, Phil and I perform under the name, “Popgun Shack.”
Other People's Blues
This song was recorded on Easter Sunday 2011. The night before, an Australian bluesman, Dutch Tilders, died. I learned of his passing on facebook, and it seemed a bit surreal. The next day, I realized that he had influenced my own music journey in his gruff way many times, which is how this music is passed on. So I went to the local pub and played this song, which I wrote years ago, but somehow reminds me of him.
He never taught me directly, except once when I asked him would he teach me to play. I was in my first year at a college, and he was doing a paid lunchtime gig. He told me to "go away and play for 20 years," a cheap yet valuable life lesson that I learned over the next 20 years. RIP Dutch.........
