What do you get when you put a Canberra author, real estate agent, foreign correspondent, public servant, and press secretary on stage?

You get Willie and the Correspondents, of course.

The iconic local roots-country-folk band are gearing up to treat fans to a riveting performance of their greatest hits of the past two decades this week.

Willie and the Correspondents have seen a few faces come and go over the past 30-odd years. But the current line-up is a group of men who would seemingly know all of Canberra’s secrets, having seen the inner workings of Australia’s highest places.

There’s the two original members: author and former cabinet minister’s private secretary, Hugh Watson, and former ABC chief foreign correspondent, Philip Williams.

They’ll be joined by real estate agent, Matthew Herbert, former government agency IT manager who once performed with The Seekers and John Farnham, Peter MacDonald, and former press secretary to Prime Minister Paul Keating and former Opposition Leader Kim Beazley, Greg Turnbull.

Lead guitarist, Matthew Herbert, says the band will keep on performing until one of them has “had enough” or they don’t get welcomed back to a venue. So far, neither scenario has eventuated, so the band is still entertaining the masses.    

“If you’re a musician, it’s not much fun playing by yourself in your bedroom – you want to perform, but it’s the challenge of being able to maintain it,” Herbert says.

“Especially as we get older, people give up because it’s hard to get gigs, but we’ve taken the alternative view that we’ve got something special going on, so why stop now?

“Two of us in the band aren’t retired but the rest are, and we’re all looking for things to do that fill up our days. Music is good fun, so we’re filling up our lives with stuff that makes us happy.”

Anticipating his band’s upcoming gig to be “pretty upbeat”, he says Canberra can expect a mixed bag of their classic oldies along with new songs no one has ever heard before.

“We decided we would play our 20 most favourite original songs – some of the older stuff and some of the newer stuff. We don’t always get these opportunities for self-indulgence with our favourite songs,” Herbert smiles.

Their closing song, Doesn’t anybody care about the country anymore, is guaranteed to “send you home on a high”, says Herbert, and their brand-new songs will be recorded live on the night.

“I’d describe our band as an alternative country-folk-rock band, with songs ranging from our experiences to political songs, and songs about life.”

Willie and the Correspondents are genuine, Waltzing Matilda-style storytellers. Their songs relay tales of innocent lives lost in war (Sons of the Somme), poking fun at Kim Jong II, former North Korean leader (Dear Leader’s Country Band), and even an overheard conversation between two ex-criminals on the train to Sydney (We’re free, We’re rolling).

Willie and the Correspondents will play at Smith’s Alternative, Friday 3 June 7-9pm; tickets via www.smithsalternative.com

Canberra Daily would love to hear from you about a story idea in the Canberra and surrounding region. Click here to submit a news tip.