The T-Bones

And here's the man himself ...

2007-03-30T18:50:00.000+10:00

Gram Parsons and Emmylou Harris live at Liberty Hall, Texas in 1973 doing Big Mouth Blues

A song from youtube ... Whiskeytown does Gram

2007-03-30T18:19:00.000+10:00

Whiskeytown doing Gram Parsons A Song For You

T-Bones @the Retreat Sat 14/1

2006-01-11T13:17:00.000+11:00

Yep , it's on again - The T-Bones at their most rockin' at the Retreat Hotel, in the front bar at 7pm. This week we'll have CD's for sale, that's what I'm sayin' ...if Charlie brings 'em. I might even have two guitars that work properly, instead of none; Pip'll get there on time, Miles will be in a good mood, and Alex our outstanding stand-in bassplayer will make us all look like has beens. Come and get it.

Stewie

Retreat Hotel Saturday 10 Dec

2005-12-08T07:51:00.000+11:00

... being what it's been (shit, is that possible?) December is a mixture of things. It's a great time to push the button and act without further consideration on a looming catastrophe such as your obsession with the girl from the office who'll be at the Christmas party for instance. You could tell everybody that after covertly converting to Islam last year you have decided to announce it and thus you won't be involved in present giving on the "big day". You could take yours or your sisters kids to some huge shopping centre to stand in line for ages so they can sit on Santa's lap, at the last minute you think you recognize Santa and you say "Hi Bob" and all the kids laugh at you, like, what an Idiot, "HIS NAME'S SANTA!!!"

Or you could fill your front lawn with cut out reindeer, dancing Santas and Christmas tree shapes and then get electrocuted and fall off your roof while trying to attach a half broken set of fairy lights to the TV antenna .

ORRRRRRR you could of course go to the Retreat Hotel in Sydney Rd Brunswick this Saturday at 7pm to see the T-Bones , Ian Kitney late of Overnight Jones and now of Tim Rogers and the Temperance Union will be playing drums with us ...

Oroonie.

ps.We'll also be there next Saturday the 17th ......

Retreat Hotel, Brunswick October 1

2005-09-25T15:16:00.000+10:00

You notice it on the ground beside your car as you’re about to get in and drive home. Driving home is one of the real rewards in your life right now, the delicious forty minutes between the quarter-witted grasping creeps you work with and the woman, nominated as your life-long soulmate who increasingly looks at you like you’ve stranged out and everyone who ever thought you were shit had special insight.

Notice is probably too strong a word. You didn’t really notice it … more you remembered that it was there when something else jogged your memory half way through the trip. "Installed as oposition leader in his early thirties ... the apparent suicide attempt …” AHHH!!! You say, “There! See! I knew he was a leg man.” A personal victory in political forecasting. Take that Anthony Green.

Afford yourself a little smug laugh as a master of the universe cops a whack … gonna be hard ‘round home for him for a while … Uh Uh. Wouldn’t catch me being that stupid … last time I pinched some arse I got a look that hinted politely that my personal opinion of my sex appeal and reality were separated only by the universe and everything in it. Great wedding night that was.

The radio says there’s an accident on your normal route home so you take a turn off, with everybody else. The accident has been cleared and you’re still negotiating the traffic around the North Balwyn Calisthenics club, going out of your brain.

WHO CARES if they sell Telstra, you find yourself saying … Having a Telstra account is like having a Moray eel attached to your side. And giving the wheel to that Yank is the best thing Howard could’ve done to make the friggin’ thing unpopular so they can ditch it. The Bush? Fuck them. Those farmers haven’t paid tax for years and now they want free broadband. And as for Barnaby Joyce he didn’t even come from the bush in the first place. Of course he wants tax incentive zones, he’s a bloody accountant. More rules, more tax returns. See?

Back on the freeway. Thousands, they reckon might have died in New Orleans and there’s some woman on the radio saying her daughter probably won’t go overseas ever again. The loss of innocence. Now Abbott's on the radio and saying that if people thought he should say sorry for something he apparently hadn’t thought much about then he thought that was the right thing to do, and so he would. Tony was once in the seminary you remember. Hmmm, the devil must have been offering a hell of a transfer fee …

Teetling around in your mind as you nearly rear-end a Prado at the Hoddle street end is the thought that they probably got Brendan Nelson in the same deal Turnbull? despite his ARM involvement it turns out he was begging (well gagging actually) for a game.

Basking in your own comedic glory you realise moments too late that you’ve just spent more time thinking about them in the last minute than they will ever spend thinking about YOU.

Ten minutes to go and you remember what it was. The SHITLIST! The dear old SHITLIST. That’s what it was. It must have fallen out of your case onto the ground when you got out the keys for the Magna. What’ll you do now? They’ve been thin on the ground and that one was the best of them. It was the infamous Cornish Arms edition and you’ve lost it.

Eventually she comes out of the house after hearing the car in the drive ten minutes earlier and asks "So, are you coming inside?”

"Yeah"

Gee, when an irregular opinionated bored rant from an unhinged sociopath is one of your treasured posessions you’ll know that genuine fulfillment is going to be hard to find.

Look for it at the Retreat Hotel on Saturday the 1st of October.

Stewie

Gigs, MP3s and other stuff

2005-09-09T17:48:00.000+10:00

Next gig is at the Retreat Hotel on Saturday October 1. Take it down!

Meanwhile, T-Bone buddy Rich Webb is in Germany and other parts of Europe spruiking his wares and he's packing a few T-bone samples too. Check it out here.

And finally, check out this new T-Bone page complete with MP3s of a bunch of our songs. Rank us, comment ... come on, tell us what you really think.

Last night's gig

2005-06-19T10:46:00.000+10:00

We played the Retreat last night …. At the start we were terrible, and I can tell you that with all honesty, after that, you can believe me, we were fantastic.

The night before at the Retreat saw the Re-mains put on a show. Clint, head honcho at the R said “Jeez it was packed”. Charlie asks “…so they’re pretty good?” Clint replies ”They pulled a bloody big crowd“.

I‘ve heard some very good things about the Re-mains from people whose opinion I respect. And In-press says they are Australia’s best country rock band. I’m sure they’re great, but I’d be surprised if they could shade Charlie Wilde and Andrew Pupillo as songwriters. If they are performers as honest, committed and natural as Pip or if they were trying less hard to be something they aren’t than those two. I can say this because I joined (forced my way into) the T-Bones because they are everything that a heap of shit bands want to, but never will, be.

I will never ever feel foolish playing those songs. I’ll never look back and think it was anything other than topnotch honest, real stuff. If you’ve seen the T-Bones when it all comes together you’ll know what I mean. Hell, my mum came to the gig last night; she’s 77 and she got it .

You are looking at the only publicity that the band does for gigs right here. We just wanna play. Interviews? Ads? You’re joking aren’t you? We spend about fifteen seconds wringing our hands over a small crowd and then get on with it. Me? I just feel sorry for those who miss out. That said, it was a great crowd last night; a real buzz. My mum wanted to go out on the piss after but I was too stuffed .

Finally we get to what I wanted to talk about. The mention of Sophie Panopoulos stirred up a bit of a reaction in last week's RMB. Somebody offered me her email address last night but I neglected to get it down. In all fairness, If I’m talking about Sophie the least I can do is send it to her as well. I mean, it’s only fair. The little fella buckled this week to Petro’s demands and so I reckon little Soph’ might be feeling a bit isolated and in need of a cheer up.

The next T-Bones gig is on the 23rd of July at the Retreat.

- Stewie

Darwin and other stuff

2005-06-19T10:13:00.000+10:00

The most recent exploit in the band's illustrious aglommeration of events that some would refer to as a career was a trip to Darwin.

Soundcheck at the Botanical Ampitheatre in Darwin

Stage gear was supplied by the promoter - guess who drew the red marshall?

Recent news on the political front sees law and order becoming a "pertintent" issue in the deep north … this weekend's election is being fought over who’ll “whup”the local indigenous population in the most convincing manner. The Country Liberal Party has stopped short of devising a final solution …. This isn’t a sign of wetness but an indication they probably don’t read many books. The other party up there who are “to the left of the CLP but not necessarily left of centre” are putting it as a campaign against public drunkeness….. Here’s the point (thank christ). If some of these mooted new laws about public drunkeness were in place when the T-Bones were in Darwin we’d still be there, in jail.

Speaking of hospitality, we were shown some of the best kind by Fiona Stewart who showed us the sights and worded us up on the local taboos.

Do not go to Darwin expecting a smorgasboard of variety. It’s got that feel of a small, but popular, bar ….. intense and buzzy but in a strange world of it’s own…there are no views and a cool change would be a drop from 31.5 to 31….. The barramundi is fantastic, and everywhere……it must be good because two of the six times I ate it the "cook" had done his best to incinerate it, and it was still delicious. Another strange and brutal custom in Darwin is that the airport seems to operate between 11pm and 4am ……flights to Melbourne leave after 1am and arrive in Melbourne at 6am…..basket case city.

Sophie Panopoulos is my favorite politician, where would the world be without self-important bossy numbskulls like Sophie? She was one of the constitutional monarchists who posed the question during the republican referendum debate , “would you let politicians choose our leader”? err, hang on?? Now she’s calling the only people in the Government with evidence of cardiac tissue political terrorists for calling for the release of women and children from our immigration detention centres. Stick her in there.

Bill Farmer gets an AO for beating up refugees and imprisoning the mentally ill, deporting Australian citizens and, well, lying. Before you all turn your noses up this country has a proud tradition of obfuscation and squirming.... only last week were papers of the former Australian Governor General Paul Hasluck released ... he described Sir William McMahon as "a professional dealer in lies .... etc"..... btw he also described Alexander Downer's father as "busying himself in pursuit of a Lordship". He wasn't Robinson Crusoe there. Henry Bolte it was claimed spent a large amount of time agitating for " a Peerage". I just love it how one of Victoria's most prominent bridges is named after our best known drink driver .... Sir (hiccup) Henry Bolte. Dickhead.

Eddie McGuire gets an AO for services to Eddie McGuire …."came as a complete surprise.” He must have been so busy on the make he forgot he’d nominated himself.

Douglas Wood is about to enter the most difficult period of his life. Six weeks after being kidnapped he has been released (or freed depending on who you ask) and the vultures are circling …. Vulturus Downerii, and the slightly smaller but infinitely more agile Vulturus Little Fellerus. It sounds like Dougie’s after a beer and a bit of quiet time. Me thinks the government will be concocting a myriad of functions , presentations and well lets face it photo opportunities where they’ll be lining up like infantry-men outside a knockbox for their moment with a true Australian hero.

Well that was about as scattered as they come; there was no plan and almost no point.

This was the Roadside Mailbox, see you at the gig.

- Stewie

Lomond Hotel this Saturday night

2005-05-02T13:41:00.000+10:00

The T-Bones are playing at the Lomond Hotel on the corner of Blythe and Nicholson streets in East Brunswick on Saturday the 7th of May, 9.30pm.

All was quiet at the SHITLIST resort on the island of ROADSIDE MAILBOX, a gentle breeze played with four gayly colored cocktail umbrellas on the deserted bar where a cock-sucking cowboy sat unemptied.

In the aquarium that formed the partition between this bar and the next the fish stared as if watching a movie being played somewhere out there beyond the beach. That was of course where all the guests were - out beyond the beach.

That morning news had quickly spread that the reefs of bullshit and tedium were lying high and dry for all to see. Sniggering accusations of paranoia were put aside as holiday makers stared in disbelief at the treacherous crags emerging as the sea of entertainment and the waves of truth retreated. Some naysayers stood on the high ground and warned that this could be a dangerous anomaly like the "unplugged" phenomenon of the nineties when shameless big-haired has-beens and witless long-haired numb-skulls siezed acoustic guitars as the shortest route to enlightenment and maybe a bit of the other. Celtic tattoos and genital piercings to that, I say!!

No, this was different. This was a King Low Tide of smart arsery, a drought of abuse, an absolute mountain of un-asked questions ... Astonishment and wonder … look there "The X Factor". We sailed straight over that on the way in … There’s Kim Clijsters' old boyfriend and his new girlfriend … we missed that too ... More troops going to Iraq … It really was a museum of self important goons and their kooky bullshit lurking just below the seemingly benign surface of this tranquil sea of fun and entertainment … But in the distance there was a sound, and to those who were less than totally engrossed it seemed to be getting louder. And louder. Those with keen ears had heard the tales of devastation that had been wrought by the SHITLIST and its aimless intemperate diatribes; devastation on its own shores, deep and exacting blows from heavyweights tired of the threat of truth malaria from the flimsy SHITLIST mosquito. But on it buzzes .

Since our last installment boss cocky of one of the branches doing the big fella’s work down here shuffled off. I am sorely tempted to go further but I’ve got a strange feeling on this one.

I’m a huge fan of Kate Ceberano’s. In fact, I think there should be a lot more scientologists on TV … I like her more than I like Jeannie Little or even Stan Zemanis.

In a management style harking back to the glory days of the Bjelke Peterson regime in Queersland's darkest days - Australia has been had. Yes folks you heard right. We’ve been duped!

Like Joh’s star front bench our Prime Minister, or the "little fella", now has an all-star cabinet who specialize in bombarding us with "new" stories at such a rate that we never hear or even expect to hear the resolution of any given matter. Medicare. Troops. Tony’s wayward dick. Chapelle’s stash. Anzac day litter. The sale of Telstra.

People, if you’ve given up caring no-one can blame you. We’ve been jumped by the most loathsome and single-mindedly ambitious politician this country has known. He doesn’t want you to care, he wants you to be relaxed, comfortable and to look the other way.

In the latter years of his captaincy (of the Australian test cricket team) Mark Taylor became known for breaking records: longest captaincy by an annoying boring knob-head, most innings by a leaden dullard, most statements of the obvious by someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about, and what do you know … he was a chum of our Prime Minature.

Am I being cruel to ask the question, the question that has so long begged to be asked? Does ANYBODY love John Howard? Surely not those who’ve hitched to his cart for their own advantage … read Abbot, Minchin, Janette … maybe Prue does, but I mean really love not just sitting on top of him with a red face making whale noises. What about the crew of the Kanimbla who would rather sail at half speed so he could get back from Galluppollee’ in time to tie their boat up for them rather than spend time with their families? How much longer do we have to put up with crap like "I’m enjoying being Prime Minister immensely" The Prime Ministership shouldn’t be a reward for being the political equivalent of tinea.

Speaking of small and insidious …

Anthony Callea, amen.

If you think your life is meaningless, insignificant and trivial you should turn on Channel 31 during the day and catch one of the fine productions from The Jeff Janz school of singing. People who are putting it all on the line, real people giving it a go, but why is it on the telly? It’s on the telly because it’s cheap, harmless and people want to watch it (some of those try hards have got big families), and most of all its proof that your average Joe is a match for the elites. How did Mark Holden go from dead-set-embarrassing-should-be-forgotten-about in denim to "Mr Touchdown"? Who cares who he was, he’s famous now! And Corey, Brendyn or whatever your name is now, it could be you next.

World politics is boring. Who cares who Saddam was or where Iraq is? Death penalty? Mate I haven’t even heard of Denpassar. Four cycles a year and a rate rise doesn’t sound like good news, or does it? Tra ... la la la la ….

The only truth is that the T-Bones are playing a gig at the Lomond Hotel on the corner of Blythe and Nicholson streets in East Brunswick on Saturday the 7th of May.

Yeah mate, that’s next weekend. Oh yeah, at about 9 o’clock I’d reckon.

That’s bloody marvellous I hear you say. Well, how about this ... the weekend after that sees the band make their Northern Territory debut with a gig at the Ozlive festival in Darwin that is also notable for the fact that Jim Carden will be jetting over from Bris-Vegas to play drums for the show. This gig could be good, or alternatively it could be something else. Getting preached to by a country band from friggin' Melbourne could be the last thing Darwinites think they need. Fast talking latte drinkers helping themselves to the local unattached professional expat southerners could be reason for a tarrin' and a featherin' …

So if you know someone in Darwin tell ‘em to get along and check-out your favorite band the T-Bones … Whatever happens in Darwin will be fodder for the next SHITLIST, but ‘til then your next fix will be at the Lomond.

They have meals there, and they’re edible … last time the band played there they told us we were too ‘king loud. This time we’re going to play unplugged …

- Stewie

Here's to Hester

2005-04-06T14:46:00.000+10:00

Photo: Craig Sillitoe / The Age

Last week saw the untimely passing of Paul Hester best known as the drummer from Crowded House. Paul took his own life after a losing battle with depression. As is common in this situation the most frequently heard comment is “I can’t believe it, I never thought he’d do that".

Depression is a corrosive state of mind that devalues everything in your life, and diminishes your ability to appreciate, maintain and even at times remember your life and what is good in it. Paul fell to earth after years in arguably one of Australia’s best ever bands, the silence in his head must have been deafening.

If someone you know exhibits a lack of care for themselves, a lack of interest in what they love or used to, ask them if they’re thinking of hurting themselves. The worst and last decision is made when one thinks they’re not wanted and can’t continue. Tell ‘em they are wanted and they can continu. Paul was creative, quickwitted and a beautiful drummer whose death has made a huge number of people very sad, it’s a pity he couldn’t appreciate that.

This Saturday The T-Bones are playing the Retreat Hotel in Sydney Rd at 5pm.

After the gig James Stewart will play a solo set; it was to have been with Al MacInnes but he’s off to a wedding … so come armed with your obscure Warner Brothers and Overnight Jones requests.

So there it is folks Saturday from 5pm ‘til about 8.30 or so you know what your doing ……….see you there.

- Stewie

Retreat Hotel this Saturday

2005-03-09T21:52:00.000+11:00

We're playing at the Retreat Hotel in Brunswick this Saturday from 5pm. Come down and have a beer with us!

Summertime Grooves

2005-01-31T10:21:00.000+11:00

Another Saturday in Melbourne Town. The view from the stage in front of the Arts Centre.

On stage, January 30, 2005. Photo: Ellen Martin

Photo: Ellen Martin

Photo: Ellen Martin

T-Bones at the Arts Centre this Sunday

2005-01-25T08:59:00.000+11:00

This coming Sunday sees a three o'clock gig for the T-Bones on the forecourt of the Arts Centre ... and one for James Stewart and Al MacInnes at the Brunswick Green in Sydney Rd Brunswick at about six.

The last couple of T-Bones gigs have been an absolute hoot (dontcha know that rhymes) with the most recent being followed by an impromptu set from Stewie to a hungry, drunk crowd at the Retreat. Every single Warner Brothers fan ever seemed to be there. They still remembered the words, hell they could still sing in tune and they were every bit as demanding as they ever were. Sadly, Stew's memory is every bit as bad as it ever was so a couple of requests had to remain unfilled. Free to Choose My Poison was one of them which begs the question: Stew, if you aint gonna play 'em , who will?

The T-Bones gig was predictably tear-it-up with a rousing version of The Message to finish. CUB didn't do as well out of the day as the week before but everybody knows that you don't have to be drunk to have a good time. Well, nearly everybody.

Yesterday your erstwhile correspondant went to the Gold Coast Big Day Out. It was hot but thankfully not too humid. Heard the Frenzals from a distance whilst taking some medication in the car-park and listened to D4 while finding our bearings and working out what was where. The first urgent appointment was the Donnas who have the necessarys to help them stand apart from bands like, say for instance, the Spazzys. Grouse guitar and a genuine rhythm section make them a REAL band. Next to that their sound was appalling, bludgeoning bass made them difficult to listen to, stage moves and "we love Orstrayleeya" was pretty cute.

I have the first Eskimo Joe album but didn't compelled to get in front ... sang along as a few notes drifted past and fought our way for drink tickets and then two quick beers. The Hives were right on the money with el-snazzo suits in black and white and front man Pelle's stage swagger in its fullest glory "Do you love yourself? I say ... DO YOU LOVE YOURSELVES? You can't love anybody if you don't love yourself and that's gonna be a problem if you can't love me because I want you to love me because I am the singer of your band ... because your band is the Hives." They hammered. Because.

It was pretty hot at that point so we took it upon ourselves to smoke a joint at what turned out to be the BDO Police Kiosk. They left us alone as they were all E-ing and didn't want to dull the buzz.

The Music were doing their thing on one of the main stages we failed to get involved. We wandered over for some more beer and a bit of a stand around at the back of the biggest tent I've ever seen to hear Spiderbait. Aint never bought one of their records, but every time I've seen 'em at a festival they've gone nuts ... "It's very hot, and I'm an old man from Melbourne said Kram." He rocked all the same.

An enthusiastic young lad managed to climb up one of the guy ropes onto the edge of afforementioned tent and proceeded to unbutton the front of his shorts ... standing at the bottom of the rope was a security guard who promptly shook his head. Young bloke nodded and then proceeded to rebutton his fly and ask the bouncer for a hand down, which was a slap in the face to his mates who laid a killer diversion on the bouncer so he could get up there in the first place.

At this point a casual aquaintance that your correspondent and friend made in the crowd likened your correspondent to Howard Marks. He was most pleased. We hung around because next was the MAN. The Blues Explosion have done it for me time after time after time but somehow not quite this time. Hell they were good, real good. It's just that they didn't seem like they'd invented rock and were trying to kill us (or themselves) with it this time. There was precious little theremin, no manic hip thrusting, and it didn't seem like this could be the end of the musical world as we knew it.

After The Explosion was The Streets. Yeah I know what you're saying, but I don't care. I like 'em. The show was tops. "You 'ear me "!....Fit but you know it and Dry your eyes were dead killer.

It was getting on. Time had taken its toll beer had helped it. I took it upon myself to buy twenty chips. They were a pinch at twenty cents each. You do the maths. There was a fire display and some absolutely incredible electrical discharge thingy that stopped when we went over to get a closer look while Powderfinger did what they do so well. What?

Then it was the Beastie Boys. They are smooth competitors as anyone with an ear for good music would recognize. Some new, some old, some full on stage work, some fucking mindblowing turntable work, and some grouse soul. They are giants, not only of their field but of music. Inflateable cocks? So what. That was the BDO.

Dont forget T-Bones at the Arts Centre.

- Stewie

Retreat Hotel, January 15

2005-01-14T09:36:00.000+11:00

Da da da da da da da da da na na na na da da da daa ( thats the ABC news theme in case you were wondering) ... who's he gonna demean, slander, or just plain abuse this time around you're thinking? Well nobody, EXCEPT, nah I haven't got it in me at the moment and it's holiday time and its stinkin' so I'm not gonna get hot under the collar about anything.

Last week the T-Bones played at the Retreat on Saturday, it went crazy, and I mean crazy. This week its on again at about five o'clock in the front bar and great heights are within reach. Last week comparisons were made with some of the greatest live performances in the history of the world. Some thought the T-Bones were right up there with the little samba band that played when Helen of Troy did her little strip to send the fleet on its way. Apparently Jimi Hendrix's version of the Star Spangled Banner kind of paled next to the tremolo drenched version of the Melbourne Bitter theme that was heard sometime in the first set, and frankly the great Caruso would have shaken Pip's hand if he heard the rousing version of Grand Master Flash's "The Message" In fact the excitement was so great that some of the band got a little woozy and the standard after gig party back at Stew's house was a complete flop .

So that's what you're doing on Saturday (yeah, at five ).

But what of Sunday? Ah well don't worry your pretty heads, readers ... I've got just the thing: James Stewart and Al MacInnes. Yeah, you know Stewie the loud mouth lead guitarist in the T-Bones and his cousin, Al - who was half of the Dan and Al duet - are playing at Brunswick Green in Sydney Road at about 3pm. They'll be playing Stewie's stuff from the Warner Brothers and Overnight Jones, as well as more recent songs.

If you reckon Stewie's a good guitarist you might want to know that in reality he can't even piss on Al MacInnes's boots - because Al is a magician, that be the truth .

herendeththelesson

- Stewie

T-Bones rock the box

2005-01-11T13:33:00.000+11:00

The T-Bones headline Episode 2 of Series #3 of Nu Country TV on Saturday January 15. 8.00pm, channel 31

Retreat Hotel, January 8

2005-01-07T16:55:00.000+11:00

We're playing at the Retreat Hotel in Sydney Road this Saturday, 5pm-7pm. If you miss this gig we'll be back there next Saturday - same time.

T BONES - LOWDOWN (CORDUROY)

2004-12-07T10:16:00.000+11:00

Birth and death have rarely been staples in the diet of seasoned Sunraysia spawned band, T Bones.

But, now 17 years down the Western Highway, the passing of time and relatives have impacted on the co-founders.

The band kicks off its belated sixth album with a humorous homily about a life long drifter who morphs into a cane toad on Moving On.

But then it’s time to pause and reflect on the passing of guitarist Charlie Wilde’s sister in Big World Now and blossoming of singer Andrew Pupillo’s daughter in Lila May.

Pupillo delves further into parenthood triumphing over the climactic extremities in the metaphor of Summer Days.

There’s also a dab of soul searching in Wilde’s mortality tale I’d Die For That and the healing hand of time in his title track.

That haunting self-doubt also inhabits Pupillo penned Loneliness.

But it’s the social chasm of two former friends that is the focus of Wilde tune People Like You:
“We both came from the same small town/ you moved up when we moved down/ you caught the plane, I took the bus/ same direction the two of us.”

A sibling song of sorts for Wilde’s Goodbye Loser where a femme fatale chooses Jack Daniels ahead of the character’s beer in her new romantic romp.

“She said goodbye loser, I got a brand new man/ he opens the bowling and you’re 12th man.”

The T Bones blazed a hedonistic trail of life on the cutting edge in the rural and urban fast lane on earlier albums.

They return on Wilde’s Across The Bridge where the shotgun toting, speed-snorting anti-hero shoots the pursuing police posse who land in the river as the villains flees across the Queensland border.

So you might ask - that’s your an opinion on the songs, what’s the music like?

Well, the instrumentation of dual guitarists Wilde and James Stewart, bassist Hugh Martin and drummer Miles McNichol compliments the melancholic mood swings of the songs.

And Ed Bates pedal steel and Bruce Haymes and Michael Bryant on Hammond organ sizzle - especially in Across the Bridge.

Reviewed in Beat magazine by David Dawson

Rockin' at the Espy

2004-11-25T16:23:00.000+11:00

In the green room

2004-11-24T11:12:00.000+11:00

Here's Shiel again, with some elegiac reminiscences prompted by the news that 60s supergroup, Cream, is planning reunion shows.

"Whenever I think of White Room, I remember one beautiful summer day at Maroubra beach. I was out the back in perfect 4-6 foot surf, straight in front of the dressing sheds, where you could hear the radio that blasted from the giant speakers across the beach, in the way that they did in the '60s. I remember hearing that wah-wah solo off White Room kick-in. The moment has always encapsulated what I understand by the word 'stoked'."

Keith does Gram

2004-11-24T11:05:00.000+11:00

The signal to noise ratio in Australian blogland is pretty bad, but occasionally you strike gold. Christopher Shiel's Back Pages was one rich vein. Shiel has shut the blog down to concentrate on writing a book, but some of his pieces have a long shelf life - this piece on Gram Parsons is one:

"... the authentic spirit of Gram also lived, and still lives, on, supplying an inexhaustible source of inspiration for musicians world over. Among the not yet mentioned artists who've acknowledged their debt to GP are REM, Amazing Rhythm Aces, Poco, the Pretenders, the Black Crowes, Ryan Adams, Gillian Welch, Sheryl Crowe, and the whole Uncle Tupelo, Wilco, Son Volt strain. Not only have Gram's songs become multi-covered standards, the people who count these things now say that no other artist has ever had so many songs written in tribute, numbering
about 20 or so."

Moonshiners and morphine addicts

2004-11-24T10:48:00.000+11:00

So who saw Gillian Welch? Seems like most of Melbourne's roots fans turned out to hear her songs of "coal miners, dirt-poor farmers, moonshiners, morphine addicts and wayfaring gamblers" as Sophie Best describes them. Not so different, really, to the T-Bones subject matter: amphetamine-fuelled shearers, cars, guns and broken hearts.

2004-11-11T15:39:00.000+11:00

Gigs ahoy!

2004-11-11T15:11:00.000+11:00

It's been a long time between drinks and there's a lot to report. To start with, though, we'll keep it short. In a word: gigs!

We're playing at the Lomond Hotel in Nicholson Street East Brunswick tomorrow night (that's Friday November 12).

And next Friday (19/11) we're at the Commercial Hotel in High Street, Northcote.

There's a wee story to tell about next week's Commercial gig. Some time back the Boners launched a new record at the Cornish Arms (more about that later). Unfortunately, the CD didn't make it to the launch. Well, you may ask why ... we did, but no answer was forthcoming. So we played the gig and planned another.

We now have the CD in our possession (it's called Lowdown) and we'll be flogging it on Friday night.

And one more thing. The Commercial is now a real rock venue following a change of management with Matt and Buddha and crew from the old Punters Club and the Corner Hotel taking over. Music fans rejoice.

Introducing The T-Bones

2004-02-22T10:54:00.000+11:00

Charlie Wilde - Guitar. Charlie’s the lead guitarist and his sinewy Telecaster sound has been a defining element of the T-Bones from the beginning. Charlie hails from Robinvale on the Victorian side of the Murray. As well as being the band’s lickmeister, he is also one of the two principle songwriters. Good songs are the T-Bones’ forte and Charlie has written some of Australia’s best country music.

Andrew “Pip” Pupillo - Vocals, acoustic guitar. Pip sings and strums his old Maton acoustic because he says he feels like a nekkid idiot onstage if he doesn’t have something musical to do with his hands. We’ve offered maracas, tambourines, wood blocks and a tin whistle, but he insists on sticking with the 6-string thing. And he’s right! Pip’s music, like Charlie’s, is steeped in the tradition of bush storytelling. Pip also hails from the Murray region, from Euston on the other side of the big river from the Wildes.

The T-Bone songwriting team is less of a partnership than a good-natured competition. Between them Charlie and Pip have marked out a sound that’s original and recognisable. Despite this, their individual styles as writers are different, and the difference adds to the layers within a T-Bones set. They have made a specialty of chronicling life between the bush and the city. Originators of the Sunraysia Sound, the T-Bones sing songs about growing up in small country towns, cars, football, and a country boy’s view of the city. It’s a rare perspective in Australian music and a goldmine of material.

Hugh Martin - Bass, vocals. Hugh has been a stalwart of the band since 1995, which makes him the third longest serving member (out of 11 current or ex T-Bones). Before joining the T-Bones he played with a number of fine Paul Cumming outfits (Bootless and Unhorsed, Nine Slab Riders, Trytones) in the early 90’s; before that he played guitar in garage pop band the Cracked Jaffas and blues with the Mudcrabs in the 80’s.

James Stewart - Electric guitar, vocals. “Stewie” is best known for his work with Melbourne band Overnight Jones, A highly regarded songwriter in his own right, with a fine solo album (James Stewart’s HQ Rear Window), Stewie’s dynamite guitar playing is now a feature of the T-Bones sound.

Myes McNicol - Drums, vocals.

THE T-BONES Seventeen (best of) CD

2004-02-21T08:22:00.000+11:00

Nick Phillips writes:
"Well you know I love this band. Originally from Robinvale near Mildura, they are Australia's answer to Green on Red (high praise indeed!) - incredibely good lyrics and stories backed with impeccable country twang ... the only truly Australian band that I know ... and not in some terrible John Williamson-type way ... these guys are the real deal with impeccable Ray Daviesesque phrasing from lead singer Pip. Finally they've put together a best of from all their various albums and EP's. It's downright un-Australian not to own this CD."

And in The Age, Sophie Best writes:
"Seventeen was one of the first songs Pupillo ever wrote and like much of The T-Bones catalogue, reflects on the experience of growing up in rural Robinvale, in northern Victoria. "

Rural rooted country?

2004-02-21T08:08:00.000+11:00

hmm ... nice turn of phrase, Dave ...

Dave Dawson writes:

Sunraysia reared country band The T-Bones are the epitome of rural rooted country with a hard urban edge.

The band, which hails from Robinvale, followed in the slipstream of punchy predecessors 'Saltbush' and the 'Dead Livers' by writing about life in the Aussie country fast lane.

Thumbs up for SMARTEST KID IN TOWN

2004-02-21T08:05:00.000+11:00

Review by Dave Dawson:

When Sunraysia spawned band The T-Bones recorded their fifth album in 15 years they didn't re-invent themselves for the cyber café latte lilies who wilt after seasonal fashion fries.

The T-Bones play a healthy hybrid of rural and urban country with little concession to the tides of the myopic mainstream and snow depression devotees.

Although the band performs live about as often as punchy predecessors the Dead Livers they have the same hard edge.

They showcased most of the album when they shared a Nu Country FM benefit bill with singing Texan crime novelist Kinky Friedman on August 26, 2000.

It was then that Easy Money - a Charlie Wilde penned crime narrative with the same title as a Todd Snider gem - punched itself into the psyche of even the most casual listener.

There stands the T-Bone strength - an innate ability to embed credible yarns with hooks strong enough to stand the test of time.

The band uses its car songs as more than just a vehicle for nostalgia, awakening, identity, guilt and loss.

Singer Andrew Pupillo injects She Starts and It's Gone with sufficient sardonic stuffing to ensure the audience gets it.

But it's Wilde's title track - the album's entrée - that sets the mood for a journey through the lads' collective country childhood to urban middle age.

The pathos-primed tale of a desolation angel, scarred by paternal tragedy in adolescence, is a salient signpost to the guitarist's escape to the bright lights of the city in Headed Out Of Town.

The journey has many rich poetic pit stops - Pupillo's wry Bass Playin' Man and timely footy metaphor in his heart wrenching Only One Light - companion song of sorts to the desperation of Wild With The World.

Wilde's evocative Learning All About Love is in sharp contrast to the satiric streak of 5 Car Pile Up - the parodic analogy of nocturnal TV news car carnage and horror movie flashbacks.

But it's then that the band reverts to Wilde's biblical bookend - Religion and Smartest Kid reprise, replete with accordion playing by Pupillo pa, Sam, and Ian Collard's harmonica.

That's cream on the country crop of the twin guitars of Wilde and James Stewart, dual drums and percussion of Michael Barclay and James Carden, Hugh Martin on bass and pedal steel from Ed Bates.

This probably surpasses the Dead Livers second disc, 'Reaching To The Western Sky,' as the best fair dinkum roots Aussie country band disc of the new millenium.

The T-Bones have a major advantage over the Shamworth chaff chappies and alt dolts refried rock - they don't preen in trend tarnished mirrors for the sponge finger direction.

They've lived out or soaked up their material from hard riding on the edge without the shallow stimulus or safety of a sales saddle.

The only major criticism - the production was finished by Michael Thomas in September of 1999 but only escaped this month.