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Hope you're all getting into the spirit of the festive season. No doubt there'll be much food and alcohol consumed and the odd hangover, but do stay safe.
This is the first Christmas away from home for Melissa, Quinn and I although a little bit of New Zealand is coming to us in the form of Melissa's mum and dad, Ian and Lorraine.
Shortly after Christmas I have my first gig -- a solo guest spot at the Pumicestone Country Music Club at Bribie Island. I'm really looking forward to performing again as it's been close to six months without a gig. This will make the guitarists gasp in horror, but it's been that long since I've changed my strings, also.
I have caught some excellent live music, though. At the end of November I saw Bill Chambers at the Pioneer Country Music Club promoting his debut solo release 'Sleeping With The Blues'. It was an enthralling show with just one man and guitar. The album, too, is a treat reminiscent of vintage John Prine and fresh-out-of-jail Steve Earle.
The other musical highlight was an unexpected one for me. We took Quinn to his first Wiggles concert for his second birthday. What a blast. Kids love these guys and they really know how to please their audience. Even I was up at the stage front doing the romp bomp a stomp!
I've been busy the last six weeks or so rehearsing up a repertoire with multi-instrumentalist Geoff Wright for some duo work early next year that hopefully will lead into band work.
Preparation for Star Maker has also been progressing and the organisers are hoping to have the grand final transmitted live on the Internet on January 19. Stay tuned for more details.
Once again, have a merry Christmas and a great new year. Catch you at a gig soon.
Glen
This month I am delighted to announce that I've been selected as one of the 20 finalists in the 2003 Toyota Star Maker Quest to be held at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January.
Since its inception in 1979, Star Maker has been the launching pad for such Australian stars as Lee Kernaghan, James Blundell, Gina Jeffreys and current Nashville hit machine Keith Urban (although being from Whangarei he was almost halfway there).
I really had to wrestle with myself over whether to enter what is essentially a talent quest, having not done so since the Napier City Country Music Club's New Year Awards in the songwriting section of 1990, but the achievement of even making the finals is enough to garner some very positive exposure.
Entries are received in their thousands from all over Australia and New Zealand for the 17 places to join the three automatic entrants from regional competitions, so it is a real feat to make the finals.
And it's good news month in November as thanks to Janice Brown I have my first gig, at the Pumicestone Country Music Club on December 29.
Some of you may have noticed I have put another gallery on the web site at www.glenmoffatt.com, featuring more photos of gigs, after-gigs and Norfolk Island adventures. There's also a picture of some fool in Kiss make-up.
Well, now that there's something to read at the gig guide, go check it out and I'll catch you at a show real soon.
Glen
The web site glenmoffatt.co.nz is on its last legs as I'm going all .com in the next couple of weeks. If you have any bookmarks or links to the old site please update them to glenmoffatt.com.
My new web host is a free one so unfortunately you will have to deal with pop-up sponsors' messages and the like, but I believe these are kept to a minimum. Do let me know if you encounter any problems when visiting -- I do know the Audio/Video page is not functioning properly yet. The contact details on the site have all been updated.
I was absolutely stoked, not to mention proud, to receive in the post this month the New Zealand Music Industry Commission's 'Sweet! A Taste Of New Zealand Music' school music study package. The kit is provided to schools for year nine and 10 students and includes a book, a CD-ROM and a poster of Kiwi musicians as drawn by Chris Knox.
Right there on page 27 is "Somewhere In New Zealand Tonight" by yours truly. The teaching notes are quite a laugh, especially the special effects which list the vocals as "throaty, southern accent". Does that mean Invercargill or Waikaia?
To be in the kit alongside the likes of Dave Dobbyn, Te Vaka, Salmonella Dub and one of my favourites, Herbs, is a wonderful honour. Quinn takes great delight in pointing out all of Daddy's "friends" on the poster, but Melissa thinks my caricature looks more like Frankenstein than me (see Gallery 2).
It's a great resource for the schools back home and something that has long been missing from the education system. Congratulations to Arthur Baysting, Maria Carter and all at the New Zealand Music Industry Commission for pulling it all together. I know it was a hard slog for you all.
Well, I'm still no closer to any gigs, but Geoff Wright and myself have been hounding the Queensland agents, and Noel Parlane is in the process of sniffing out some shows, so fingers crossed to that end. Tamworth festival gigs look to have been sewn up a few months ago so I may have to gatecrash the gigs of friends and contacts as I did last year.
Anyway, do keep an eye on the gig guide and I hope to catch up with you at a show soon.
Glen
So sorry I've taken an age to write. Well, we made it; we're here in the land of really loud birds (and I do mean the flying variety). We arrived in Australia on August 13 and, having overstayed our welcome at two different motels, have settled in Mount Gravatt East in Brisbane.
Thanks to all who emailed to see if we were still alive. We did read your messages in various Internet cafes and they were all appreciated. Now that we're back on the Net things should return to some form of normality.
In the last month I've reacquainted myself with Michael Fix and Sue Jarvis, who I first met at a festival in Geraldine in 1997 and then at the Norfolk Island festival the same year, and former New Zealand recording star Noel Parlane.
I've also caught up with a raft of contacts on the phone, including regular Java Jive guest from the old days Geoff Wright and his wife, Judy, Michael Roycroft and Michael King, all former Kiwis. I plan to catch up with all in person once I get a ute. Words from all have been encouraging, but there's no doubting the enormous task ahead of me to eventually release some product in Australia.
Haven't seen much live music what with trying to find somewhere to live, but did accidentally stumble across the Wild Turkey Band at a Sunday-morning market. This young trio covers the gamut from Bonnie Raitt to Steve Earle to Eddie Rabbitt, and features hot guitar picker Benjy Pocock.
By a pure stroke of luck, another former Kiwi, Paul Rowe, put me in contact with Garth Pocock, Benjy's dad, who offered me a spot on an upcoming concert for which the Wild Turkey Band is the backing band. Would I like a spot? You bet. Noel is also featuring on the bill.
One pinch of irony was that my wee son, Quinn, got on stage in Brisbane before I did. Having had dinner with family friends of Melissa's at an AFL club, 22-month-old Quinn took to the dance floor and made enough of an impression for the performing duo to haul him on stage to display his moves. Needless to say, he loved it, and it did eradicate some of Melissa's and my stress of the previous weeks. Many thanks to John and Glenda for having us.
I got very favourable feedback from the NfS compilation which informed me "The Least You Could Do" received high rotation on over 20 radio stations Australia-wide, as well as medium-level plays on a whole lot more. The NfS scheme is a great way to get your material in front of radio programmers, and you do get to see tangible results.
I'll be going hard now to find some musicians and play some gigs in Brisbane and try to get some spots in Tamworth in January. I hope to get some work there at The Vault, where I performed with the Lawrie Minson Band at this year's festival. Do drop back to the site soon because the gig guide, although looking a bit sad now, is set to grow!
Once again, thanks for hanging on. If you no longer wish to receive monthly updates of what I'm up to just drop me a line telling me so and don't expect a Christmas card!
Glen
I'm beginning to feel like the character in Sonny Throckmorton's hit song "You've Got The Longest Leaving Act In Town". We thought we'd be well over the Tasman by now, but in the words of another great songwriter, "I'm still here," trying to get the best price from the removal companies we can.
Having played just one private function since the official final gig at Java Jive in May, I'm itching to be playing again and quite looking forward to starting again in Australia. The inclusion of "The Least You Could Do" on the NfS radio compilation in Australia has seen me gain some airplay over there, so I'd love to get over and take some advantage of it.
Speaking of the Java Jive finale, it was a real blast. It was great to see so many friends and supporters get along. We were joined by three special guests through the night, totally unplanned, in Red McKelvie, Ritchie Pickett and Rob Galley -- three men who have each played significant roles in my career in New Zealand. It was really fantastic to have them along.
The week before at Admirals Arms in Coromandel was also a good send-off with a group of us retiring upstairs to party on a wee bit too long. Let's just say the trip home with a head full of whisky seemed to go on forever. I wonder if Bill and Dawn's cows got milked.
Well, there's not much news, but I will stay in touch and let you all know when we're off. Cheers for now.
Glen
And now the end is near. The countdown is on for the last two public gigs for me in New Zealand -- Admirals Arms in Coromandel this weekend and Java Jive in Auckland on May 17. These are both fun venues to play so I hope a fair few of you can get along to say farewell and to buy an album, if you haven't yet.
It will be my third appearance at the Admirals after helping out Lisle Kinney there in the final days of 1999. There I met Dawn and Bill and co who had come to hear songs off 'Somewhere In New Zealand Tonight' that the band didn't know, so I had to appease them with acoustic versions and Hag and Hank covers till the wee hours. Last time there, earlier this year, was much the same, but friendly proprietors Dennis and Ngaire have promised not to keep me up so late this time.
We will be without brand new pentagenarian (is there such a word?) Ricky Ball in Coromandel as he's heading to Indonesia, but he has confirmed he will be back for the farewell gig at Java Jive on Friday May 17. This is our last public performance in New Zealand before I chance my arm over the Tasman. It will be a fitting place to wind things up having got my country thang going in Auckland there in late 1992.
Speaking of Ricky Ball, it was a real pleasure celebrating his 50th birthday at the King's Arms on Anzac Eve. Chet, Neil and I got to perform a set firstly with old buddy Gordon Joll on drums before it became impossible to hold Ricky back any longer.
One of the gentlemen of Kiwi rock, it was great to see bandmates from Ricky's 30-plus years on the scene help him commemorate the milestone. All but one of the Sailor boys were there and performed "Gutter Black" and "Lyin' In The Sand", as well as Mark Heke's Ponsonby Express, another quarter of Ticket, and a couple of the Challenge old boys.
A good few of us ended up down at the Java where it didn't take much prompting to get Chet, Neil and I up once again, this time joined by Neil Williamson on drums and the extraordinary Stuart Pearce on keyboards. I swear, having Stuart sitting away to my left during "Up On Cripple Creek" was tantamount to having Garth Hudson on board!
To top it all off, Ricky and Jo arrived from the KA around 3am and Ricky finally treated Sandie, Jane and Moose to that long-promised rendition of "Wipe Out". And we couldn't let the moment go by without Chet producing his harmonica for a run-through of THAT Sailor song. Thanks to Diana and Neil Edwards for letting us hijack the place.
Well, I really hope to catch you all at one of these last two gigs.
Glen
Slowly it's dawning on me that perhaps Whangarei is the home of country music in New Zealand. Last month had a particular Northland flavour to it for me in the form of a gig with a country institution from up there and a dance do in Kamo.
Early in March I got another chance to play with those fabulous Wallace brothers from Whangarei. Waltons singer-writer Tim Werry booked me to do a private party, the idea being I would provide the band and Tim would perform a guest spot. After the usual finding-a-guitarist complications, I put an email through to guitar-picking Alex Wallace and thought it would be easier if he brought his brothers Jimmy (bass) and Robert (drums) down with him.
A last-minute rehearsal at Tim's place just hours before the gig allayed his fears and the night was a great success. The party was for a boat-building firm obviously with money to burn -- three bands and a huge PA and lighting rig.
We had the prime spot, between 10pm and 2am, and, having been warmed up by Sel Nash and Brendon Ham, the guests were ready to get rowdy. The big PA system helped immensely with us able to mike everything up for a monster sound. Once again, it was a pleasure to front the Wallace boys, a true family tradition in country music.
Unfortunately, the Kamo Rockers do in Whangarei later in the month wasn't such a success. We were raring to go after last year's gig there, but this time there were two rock 'n' roll functions on in town, plus the wedding of one Robert Wallace (see above), the reception of which was in full swing when we visited after the gig.
We gave the small crowd at Kamo a bit of everything, but it's hard to get a good vibe happening in a big room that's only half full, or is that half empty? Thanks to Sandie, Eric and Jane for making the trip up from Auckland, and to Gerry for giving us the gig.
Our accommodation in Whangarei was the Casa de O'Connell -- the long-time home of Chet's mum and dad. In fact, this is the very house they brought young Chet home to when he was just days old. We were spoiled rotten by the O'Connells: Johnny with tales of the old Post Office and band days, matched only by Ian's, and Fay with a huge breakfast which set us up for Sunday. But if I have to listen to Chet sing one more verse of Toby Beau's "Bulldog" I'm gonna scream.
This month sees us for the last time back at the Stetson Club, with a special guest, the Jolly Farmer and the Papatoetoe Cosmopolitan Club. Check the gig guide for the information. I hope to see you at one of these gigs.
All the best.
Glen
It never ceases to amaze me: the apathy of the supposed New Zealand music fan. There I am at the Java Jive taking in Ritchie Pickett and the Ti Raukau Two with only about a dozen others on Sunday night (March 3). The man who inspired me to take up songwriting tickling the ivories as if there was a crowd in the hundreds, backed up by as solid a rhythm section as there is, in front of an audience barely four times the band's size.
Breaks my heart. I've known many nights the same -- usually the ones promoted as original country music, where you stray from the proven yellow brick road of Rolling Stones and CCR and Lennon/McCartney covers. Funny old place, this.
The songwriter's lot, I suppose. I'm still thankful for the two men I got at Whakatane while riding high on the release of 'Somewhere In New Zealand Tonight' in 1995, even though they had to leave after an hour for a child's birthday party. That $10 went a long way, and it's the only time 50% of an audience has bought a CD.
Speaking of Java Jive, plans are afoot to do a farewell gig there in May before the wee Moffatt clan jumps the silver bird across the Tasman. Seems quite apt, really. In the 10 years I've been making music in Auckland, almost five of those have been spent hauling my amp and guitar down Pompallier Terrace every Sunday and on to that Java Jive stage, or beer-stained carpet as it used to be.
Sunday at the Java still remains a night celebrating country music, with Brendon Ham and his band taking up where the likes of Paul Walker, Stan the Man, The Waltons and us left off. It's a bit like a spiritual home for me because it's where I got my country thang happening in a pool of Guinness and phonetically learned Cajun music.
We also have a final gig booked at Admirals Arms in Coromandel in early May. I touched on this venue in my last e-news after we played there one Sunday following the Coromandel Flavours festival. It's a great little bar with very friendly and tolerant hosts in Dennis and Ngaire.
The band is back at the Duke of Wellington in Mount Wellington this month. The guitar player is such a surprise guest even I don't know who it is yet! They're all the same. Just wait until I get my head around 'The Beginner's Guide to Guitar'. You would have thought with the money I'd invested in my guitars they would have come with all the chords on them.
It was incredibly sad to see another honky tonk hero shuffle off this mortal coil last month with the death of Waylon Jennings. I guess every day after giving up his ticket on Buddy Holly's plane was a bonus, but such an individual talent will be sorely missed in these days of assembly-line country music. I must say our send-off of "Honky Tonk Heroes" at the Papatoetoe Cossie was appreciated by the Waylon fans there.
Ah, that brings me back to Ritchie. "Honky Tonk Heroes" is just one of a huge pile of songs Mr Pickett has penned. Thing is you have to go to see him play to hear them -- "This Is It", "More Fey Ray", "Honky Tonk Angels Part Two". He's back at Java Jive next month, so, after you've checked my gig guide, click on Heroes & Friends and visit the gig guide at the Java and Ritchie's own web site. You'd be a fool to miss him again.
Catch ya at a gig soon.
Glen
I don't know why it took me so long to get to Tamworth, but it's not going to take that long to get me back there again. What an awesome festival. Great bands were everywhere, and even if I had four and a half weeks instead of the four and a half days I spent there I still wouldn't have had time to see them all.
Such great Australian guitar pickers as Bill Chambers, Jeff Mercer, Jake Lardot, Stuart French and Michel Rose, superb singer-songwriters like Kasey Chambers, Kim Cheshire, Kevin Bennett and Hunter and Suzy Owens, and band names like the Feral Swing Katz, the Wolverines, King Horse and the Flood.
I got into Tamworth on the bus just before midnight on January 22. Less than an hour later I had reacquainted myself with James Blundell, who I had had the pleasure of opening for at Sky City in Auckland a few years back, met songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Lawrie Minson and was on stage singing three of my songs with the Lawrie Minson Band in the middle of an all original set at The Vault on the main street.
In her absence this time, Auckland's Marian Burns had put me in touch with the Howie family who knew all the hot spots and were always ready with a nightcap, no matter how late, before tucking me into bed. Bruce and Glyn and the girls really were the icing on the cake and I can't thank them enough for their hospitality and for introducing me to a lot of their festival friends.
On the Wednesday morning I did a guest spot on the Topp Twins' sold-out show at the West Tamworth Leagues Club. The afternoon brought an appearance at the Bill Chambers Sessions at The Pub, in front of a band consisting of Bill, Michel Rose (pedal steel), Chris Haigh (bass), Trev Warner (banjo and guitar) and Doug Gallacher (drums). You can't get much closer to the real thing, folks.
That evening was the New Zealand Showcase at Fan Land, organised by Michael King. Now resident in Brisbane, Michael was fresh from winning two Tamworth Independent Artists Recognition Awards (better known as Tiaras), including one for male vocalist. Good on ya, Michael.
Although the crowd was smaller than expected, the Kiwis put on a great show. Also in the line-up were Cameron Clayton, Sheryl Higgs and Dusty Spittle. Special thanks to Wendy Lyford and her band for nailing my set after 10 days with just the CDs. Brilliant.
I managed to conjure up another spot with Bill Chambers on the Thursday, caught up with Lyn Bowtell and Southern Steel, and bought tickets for the Wolverines' late show before Bruce and I stumbled on to what, for me, was the great surprise package of the week -- the Hunter and Suzy Owens Band.
This husband and wife wrote great honky tonk songs and led a band which not only featured Lee Kernaghan's guitar player, Jake Lardot, but master of the Telecaster, and Slim Dusty guitarist, Jeff Mercer. When he was introduced to the audience, Jeff's name rang a bell and it turned out he had been in former Golden Guitar winner the Happening Thang, whose LP I had bought as a cadet reporter in Napier late last century.
After an interview on Festival FM on Friday, it was back to the Tamworth Hotel for the midday King Horse slot. Fronted by former Wheel singer Kim Cheshire, this was a mixture of the Band and the Amazing Rhythm Aces with the odd Cheshire original. The Tamworth Hotel was one of the best venues of the festival with King Horse, Hunter and Suzy, and Kevin Bennett's Flood playing daily.
That night Kasey Chambers and band threw a huge free concert at the Bicentennial Park which included a reunion of the Dead Ringer Band (the Chambers family) for a bit of Townes Van Zandt. Kasey is the leading light of Australian country music with the likes of Dwight Yoakam, Steve Earle, Lucinda Williams and Emmylou Harris singing her praises.
The Topp Twins had me back on their show on the Saturday morning, and it was a great privilege to support such a fine New Zealand export. Australian country music has really taken to Lynda and Jools, and they had their audience in stitches every day of the festival.
For me, the festival ended the way it had started: back at The Vault. This time I ended up doing a set with the Lawrie Minson Band while Lawrie was involved with preparations for that night's Golden Guitar Awards. A case of being in the right place at the right time and Bruce having the contacts.
Getting back to Bruce and Glyn's around 1am, the guitars and nightcaps came out and the decision was made by about 3am that it was probably best to stay up until the bus arrived at 5.50am to take me back to Sydney.
Of course, Tamworth was sandwiched between three great gigs on home soil. The weather held out for Music in Parks at Jellicoe Park and the Coromandel Flavours festival in Coromandel. That was followed by a very late and raucous night at the Admirals Arms in Coromandel. The band will be back there in May, so keep an eye on the gig guide.
Catch ya at a gig soon.
Glen
Summer, summer, summer. Where has it gone? It's been hot enough, but a body sure can get sick of all that rain. Fingers crossed it stays away and lets the sun shine long enough for the band to perform at the Music in Parks event at Jellicoe Park, Onehunga, on Sunday.
We've been lucky enough to become almost an annual fixture at these Auckland City gigs and the weather has always played its part in some way. Some of you may remember the umbrella that tossed Jeremy's amp into the air and impaled itself in Gordon's head one windy afternoon at Tahaki Reserve a few years back. Oh, happy days (!)
Music in Parks has come a long way from the days when you had to provide your own sound gear, and the council and Dave Bishop should be applauded for all their hard work in getting people into some of Auckland's natural amphitheatres for some all-expenses-paid live entertainment.
This time around we're at Jellicoe with two men who don't need any introduction -- Gary McCormick and Hammond Gamble. The gig gets under way at 4pm with Glen Moffatt Band doing a set. Gary and Hammond perform from about 5pm, and we wrap things up with a set at the end. If it's a miserable day there is a rain date in March, which I won't tempt fate by revealing now.
Well, after a quiet start, 2002 is about to get a lot busier for me. I fly off to Australia on Tuesday for the 30th anniversary Tamworth festival. It's my first time there and I'll be performing on the Topp Twins shows at Blazes, West Tamworth Leagues Club, on the Bill Chambers Sessions at The Pub, and on a New Zealand showcase at Fan Land. More details are available on the gig guide.
I should have some stories to tell when I get back. I'm particularly looking forward to catching up again with Bill Chambers, leader of the Dead Ringer Band, who I met at the Geraldine festival in 1997. One of my favourite memories of that was sitting up till the wee hours singing all the oldies with Bill and Di, the Coalrangers, Mal McCallum, Kylie Harris, Amanda Gilmour and Marian Burns. What a pity Marian's not making the trip over to Tamworth this year.
The weekend after I get back the band is entertaining at the Coromandel Flavours festival for the second year running. This time we've got a gig at the Admirals Arms afterwards to give the gluttons for punishment somewhere to continue partying. Rumour has it an Auckland contingent will be making the trip this time.
Remember to keep checking back to the web site for all the latest, and I hope to catch up with you all at a gig somewhere down the road.
Glen
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