Whitlams front man Tim Freedman is hitting the road to tour with his country project, The Whitlams Black Stump Band, including a stop at the Royal Hotel Queanbeyan on Friday 5 August. CW had a chat with Freedman to discuss rediscovering his spark in regional towns and long lost record stores.
1. The Whitlams Black Stump Band recently debuted at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. How did the project come about?
It was just a whim as I played in Orange and Gunnedah, playing regional shows around the country during the lockdown; I really enjoyed the enthusiasm of the regional audiences. On a whim, I called golden guitar winning producer Matt Fell and he said let’s record with an A team band that he hired.
2. The video for the new song, The Day John Sattler Broke His Jaw, features a clip of your dad reading the news. Was that something that was important for you to incorporate?
As soon as I knew that footage existed, it was obvious it had to be in the clip. I was shocked to see the whole broadcast existed on YouTube. Someone had uploaded it to a Rabbitohs fan forum because it contained 12 seconds of a match and my father happened to be the news reader.
3. You have three events around Canberra in the next two months. What can audiences expect?
At Canberra Theatre, we will be playing Eternal Nightcap in its entirety and a greatest hits set; that’s a night of sweet rocking nostalgia.
Queanbeyan is the country experiment which is sounding great in rehearsal. It has Australia’s best banjo player, Rod McCormack, producer Matt Fell on bass, and young Ollie Thorpe on pedal steel. A lot of Whitlams songs have been repurposed and the other half is a new repertoire.
The National Film and Sound Archive, I will be playing a few snippets of songs and being interviewed with the producer Rob Taylor, about our memories of making the album. It’s a once only insight into our memories of that time, 25 years ago.
4. Eternal Nightcap is 25 years old and has been in constant circulation. How does it feel to have an album that has stayed popular for so long?
It’s very useful for an act to have a piece of work like that acting as the vanguard for people to hang their fondness on.
There was one record store that used to be in the city – I can’t remember the name … That one store sold 1,600 copies of Eternal Nightcap.
Two of the original members were Canberra boys; we always had strong Canberra connections and always had enthusiastic audiences. We played at Tilley’s lots and lots at the turn of the century.
5. What’s next for you?
I’m going to finish off the Black Stump album and keep up the momentum I’ve gathered the last 12 months.
For tickets: National Film and Sound Archive, 5 August 6pm, www.nfsa.gov.au; The Royal Hotel Queanbeyan, 5 August 8pm, royalhotelqueanbeyan.oztix.com.au; Canberra Theatre, 21 September 7.30pm; canberratheatrecentre.com.au
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