Perhaps best known for his rousing Aussie anthem, True Blue, Queensland-native, John Williamson, continues to be a force to be reckoned with on the thriving country music scene Down Under and earlier this year released The Big Red, his first album of new material since 2008's Hillbilly Road
The record deals with a variety of themes currently of concern to the 66-year-old troubadour, such as life, death and nature. The songs celebrate the land of his birth (as has most of his work over the last 42 years), both in terms of lyrical content and the unique way in which they're sung.
John Williamson on American Country Music
"It might dismay Americans that I rarely listen to their music these days," confesses Australia's True Blue Balladeer." I have, over the years, admired Roger Miller, Tom T. Hall, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson. Roger for his humour, Cash for his simplicity and Tom T. and Kris for their word craftsmanship.
"Willie I admire for being so original. When I first heard him, I thought he had a nasally tone and was hard to listen to. He proved to me that if you stick to your guns, your sound will stand out among the rest because it is so authentic.
"Willie took a long time to make it. I have a theory that if you keep control of the horses and rise slowly, the descent will be just as slow. How many artists rise quickly and fall at the same rate?"
John Williamson: Musical Beginnings
"I never decided to really become a country singer," admits Willo, looking back on how he first became interested in music. "My first love was folk music. I’d been playing ukulele and harmonica since the age of seven. I took up the guitar at twelve and when at boarding school in the early '60s, I became hooked on The Kingston Trio, Harry Belafonte and Joan Baez.
"It was the stories and entertainment values these people brought to the stage - not just one song after the other without explanation. The variety of the folk artist style is the basis of my shows. It’s not just about music; its having opinions, a sense of the earth, a sense of humour - all the things that keep an audience glued to their seats with tears and laughter and pride.
"At this point I must point out that the first songs I heard as a child were from musicals (especially Oklahoma). It is still important to me to take people on a journey with my music. I am a landscape songwriter. My landscape is Australia and the scenery is infinite in one lifetime."
John Williamson: Country Roots
"The title of ‘country singer’ is a quandary nowadays," he continues. "For sure it is just a musical style or genre that is not necessarily from the countryside. For me, a country song is born out of the love of the bush. We must not lose that connection. If an old tree loses its roots it falls over, with branches strewn all over the ground to rot.
"Speaking of roots, the pick-strum guitar style of our pioneers, Buddy Williams, Tex Morton and Slim Dusty, is what I call 'Australian Country Music Roots'. It is often tossed aside by modern music makers as ‘too hillbilly’ or ‘old hat’. This says to me that these people have no idea of the power of this style, if executed properly.
"And I can tell you it has taken me some time to master it. The acoustic guitar in this style is picked and strummed with a thumb-pick. As the old blokes didn’t have bass players or drummers originally, they played simple bass lines with chords on the one guitar.
"It is very Celtic and gets the folks tapping their feet on the on-beat, usually in a 2/4 rhythm. There is rarely an album that I don’t pay homage to this style. For instance, Marree Girl on my latest CD - that is keeping in touch with our roots.
"There are many little ‘balladeer’ clubs around Australia that feel this is the only style of country music worth pursuing. I disagree. I have used the style to build on with the utmost respect. How boring would it be if our landscape painters never progressed from Tom Roberts and Hans Heysen?
"They were innovators of their time. They are absolutely respected by our great new artists, but not copied. Our music can progress in the same way. My songs can be like Hans Heysen, but sometimes like Sidney Nolan, who are both iconic landscape painters."
John Williamson: Guardian of Australian Country Music Culture
"As President of the CMAA (The Country Music Association of Australia), I see my role as the guardian of our country music culture," concludes the dedicated storyteller, who took over the post following Slim Dusty's retirement in 2003, and who has always been very vocal in his support of Antipodean music and culture.
"Of course, there are many other issues, but the above is the most important to me. There are always talented ‘copyists’ among us who see the American country music genre as the yardstick. While Keith Urban, for instance, has proved that an Aussie can be successful at being American in style, I don’t believe it does anything to grow our belief in ourselves.
"Surely we in Australia have much to sing about? Surely we have our own melody, our own accent? Australia is a huge continent with such diversity of lifestyles (as is the USA). However, having said that, I do not criticise or blame artists for wanting to make world status under the title of Country Music. If world fame is their goal, then they should ignore my opinion.
"I just hope there will be a handful of talented youngsters coming through who will feel the way I do. It all comes back to being proud of who we are. Those Aussies who might criticise me perhaps have a complex about our ‘Australianness’. It is them who make my resolve stronger.
"Perhaps, one day, our real country music will have a title that distinguishes it from the rest. I hope so... At the moment it’s like hoping that we lose the Union Jack off our flag and having our own head of state."
Adrian Peel - Adrian is an English freelance writer and journalist currently living in Mexico. Over the past eight years, he has had articles, features ...
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