The album is done –
how are you feeling?
Excited. I cannot wait for it now. I think the last time I
was talking to you I was releasing my last single and I think I was hinting
there was a new album coming out. I’m just so excited because it’s been such a long
process and I’m ready for it to be out now.
I remember talking to
you quite a while ago when ‘Linburn Lane’ wasn’t even on an album at that time
– you were talking about the song and it sounded amazing. So how long has it
taken to write the songs for the album, and how long has the recording taken?
I stepped into the studio itself straight after Tamworth
[2017]. I started the first week of February and I’ve been recording on and off
until about maybe August. All my stuff got done really quickly but because
there’s been so many different people on the album as instrumentalists and
musicians, it’s been a process of trying to get them when they’re free.
Everyone’s just so busy. But it’s so worth it. And prior to that I guess I was
probably writing songs for well over a year. So you can see why I’m ready
[laughs]. I’ve had these songs under my wraps for so long and I guess I’ve been
test running them at gigs but now it’s all but done. I’m ready for it to be
released.
Did you have more
songs than you needed?
Oh, way too many. I think initially I had maybe 31 songs or
something silly. I had to take a step back and say, ‘Oh my goodness, what am I
going to do here?’ [laughs] I found myself combining some as well, because I
thought, Well, they’re very similar so
maybe I can take those lyrics out into this … And it just seemed to mesh
really well. By doing that sort of thing, and complete culls as well, I got
down to 15 or 16. I sent them away to my producer in Newcastle at Funky Lizard
Studios, Rob Long, and said, ‘Mate, it’s up to you now. You need to tell me
what’s going to work and what’s not because I’m too close to it now.’ So we got
down to the 13 tracks that are on the album.
I always think it’s
better to have more than less, because you don’t ever want to be in a situation
where you’re trying to play catch-up with yourself and then you might end up
with songs that are less than ideal.
Definitely. And I don’t think I’ve ever had the problem of
never having enough. When I released my first album I think I had to write one
song for it, and I thought, That’s cool.
That’s heaps. Then for my second album I had way too many and I culled a
few. This time it was way, way too many. It was very hard this time. It’s kind
of like saying, ‘Which kid is your favourite?’ [laughs] So I did as much as I
could and left the rest to the professional.
The next single is
‘Australian Dreamer’ – can you talk about what inspired it? What’s it about?
Really the inspiration was my house. I live 20 Ks out of
town. It’s this really old place. I’ve only in the last year put on TV. It’s a
hundred-year-old house and I really just got to thinking one day – I’d been
working all day and I thought, I wonder
how many people have been in this house, have lived in this house. The
families, what they used to do. And I got to talking to my grandmother,
who’s 93, and she can remember because she’s from this area. She was telling me
all these stories. And I thought that’s a lot like our family – they’re a very
hard-working blue-collar family overall. And I think that’s probably what it is
– the song captures that hard-working essence of what all Australians are. We
work hard – it doesn’t matter what we do, we’re very hard workers, and we’re
doing it for a better future for us but also for our kids.
Do you have a
favourite song on the album?
[Laughs] Oh, don’t ask me that. It’s hard. But I think
‘Linbur Lane’ is always going to be the one that stays with me, because it’s so
personal and I’ve had it for so long. I didn’t even think I was going to put it
on the album initially, or release it. And because I’ve done that, I’m just
really proud of myself for getting it out because it’s been so emotional. And
because it’s about my grandma I think it’s probably going to be one of the
songs that is my favourite, for sure.
Why did you hesitate
to put it on the album?
Because it’s so personal. I had it written for months and
months before I even plucked up enough courage to sing it in public, let alone
put it out so the whole world could hear it. It’s just been a process because
our family is so close, and I was afraid, I suppose, what my mum and my aunties
and uncles, her kids, would think about me writing a song about my grandmother.
If it wasn’t good enough or accurate enough. I think all those insecurities came
out because I just wanted to make everyone proud, I think. So it was hard. The
very first time I sang it, my mum and my auntie were in the audience and they
were bawling, and I thought, Okay, I must
be doing something right. I think from there it was a lot easier – each
time it got a lot easier to sing – and now I can sing it as many times as I
want and the emotion’s still there but the physical welling-up isn’t there.
Everyone has really taken it and rolled with it, and they appreciate it, so I
think that’s been the biggest thing for me. I just can’t believe it’s got so
much momentum.
I think it’s probably
because it’s so personal, and it’s offering up that vulnerability in yourself
and that’s something that people do connect with. So many of us struggle to be
vulnerable in their own lives, but when someone else offers it, and offers it
willing and without any conditions, it gives the listener an opportunity to
feel it in themselves and start to explore it. And that’s one of the things
country music is so great at – that connection. So you, having now done this –
and I acknowledge how much courage is required in doing something so personal –
do you feel emboldened to try exploring some other subjects that might have
felt too personal before?
Yes, definitely. And I think as well this album is a lot of
that. Because ‘Linburn Lane’ was written way before any of these other tracks
and I went through all that process of performing it live for the first time
and all that sort of stuff way before any of these other tracks were written
for the new album, I think this new album is … It’s still my very sassy self
but it’s dug deeper than that. One of the tracks on there is about a wild bloke
I was entangled with for so long, and it wasn’t until I could sit back and look
at it that I thought, I can sing about
this stuff. I went through a break-up, and I’m not necessarily writing
about a break-up so much but now I’m on my own and I can think for myself, and
I think that’s where the song ‘Solitary Mind’ comes from. I get told what
you’re leaving behind and how bad it’s going to be, but now I’m free and I can
think for myself. And all of that sort of emotion – I’m not the sort of person
who’s going to write about the break-up and how much I hate or love. That’s not
who I am as a person. But the residual feelings and all the stuff that comes
after that, that’s what I can now write about because ‘Linburn Lane’ let me do
that.
You’ve given yourself
permission to do it.
I think so. And that album is such a healing process for a
lot of different aspects of my life. And getting back to my roots – getting back
to the stuff that I love to do, liking being out of town and doing farm work,
head down bum up sort of stuff, and getting around the family – it’s all been
such a process, and I think the last part of it is getting the album released.
You’re going to
launch the album in Tamworth on the 20th of January – in fact, you
have quite a line-up of gigs for the festival. What is planned for the launch
show in particular?
So I just really wanted to have a lot of fun. That’s what I
love to do: music and perform for people and just make them feel the energy
that I’m feeling about my songs. We’ve got a full band that I love to perform
with, and I’ve got a few guest artists. There’s a guy by the name of Brock
Henry, who’s from Newcastle, and he’s just amazing. He’s just hit his straps
and going so well, so I said, ‘Mate, come and do a few songs at my launch!’
Kahlia Martin, who’s an awesome guitarist and singer from Cobar, she’s going to
be playing guitar and doing a few songs as well. I’ve also got Carl the
Bartender, who is one of my great mates. He used to be in Good Corn Liquor, so
he’s gone out and he’s now Carl the Bartender. He’s just real chillaxed and he
has a great sound. So it’s going to be a lot of fun.
Brock Henry is going
to be on your bill for some other shows and you’ve also got Allison Forbes, who
I know is a long-time colleague of yours.
She’s actually doing these things called the Medicine Shows,
upstairs at the Tudor, so it’s going to be kind of cool. Years ago Allison and
I and another girl, Gretta Ziller, we had a trio and did a few gigs, and we had
so much fun. So we’re kind of doing a little bit of that this time. We’re doing
our own music but also a few songs together, so it’s going to be just a bit of
reminiscing and a lot of fun.
What else are you
looking forward to about the festival in general?
For me the festival is always so much fun. It’s always so
bloody hot but it’s so much fun. I haven’t seen a lot of these people for
twelve months. A lot of my friends, I haven’t seen them or caught up with them
properly. We might have talked on the phone or on Facebook or messages, but you
don’t get to really catch up with them and play music. And I think that’s the
best thing to be able to do – not just release my album and show people what
I’m made of, but get out there and support other people and watch other people,
and catch up and have a bit of fun. So I’m excited for that.
Over the years of
going to the festival, do you think that connection with other people has been
the best thing that you … I don’t want to say ‘got out of it’, because that
sounds a bit mercenary. But your impression of Tamworth – overall do you think
of it as a music festival or do you think of it mainly as that chance to
connect with people?
Both. It’s a great music festival but it’s probably one of
the more relaxed festivals that you’ll ever be a part of. And that’s my kind of
thing. I love to have a lot of fun playing music – for me that’s the ultimate.
And being able to do that around not just fans that have followed you for the
past few years but also new people who have never seen you before, and then
also around your mates who play music, mates you get to catch up with. I always
think of Tamworth as being just a really relaxed time before the rest of the
year hits.
Speaking of that
year, I would imagine you’re planning to tour your album once you’re free and
clear from Tamworth.
I have a massive year lined up. It’s going to be big. I
haven’t done such a big tour probably since my last album So I’m excited to get
out to some new places and head down south again and head up north again, and
go out west, and visit all the places that I haven’t been for a while but also
that I’ve never been to.
I remember when you
did your Queensland tour – you were going to pubs in places you hadn’t been
before. Do you think of yourself as adventurous or is it the music that makes
you adventurous?
I don’t know. I’ve always liked to get out and see new
places. I guess to a certain extent I’m adventurous. But I also get very
nervous going to new places, because I don’t know what to expect. I don’t know
if people are going to turn up. I don’t know if people are going to like it. So
it’s definitely that adrenaline rush, but I also love getting out seeing new
places and seeing Australia, and if I can combine that with music, well, isn’t
that awesome? [laughs] Isn’t that the way you should be touring as an artist?
It’s not just getting out there as a tour, but get out there and meet the
people. So I guess, to a certain extent, I’m adventurous, but there’s a certain
amount of anxiety that comes with it [laughs].
Friday 19th January 2018 | 1pm
Tudor Hotel [Front Bar], TAMWORTH NSW
327 Peel Street, Tamworth
(02) 6766 2930 | www.tudorhoteltamworth.com.au
Saturday 20th January 2018 | 8.30pm
ALBUM LAUNCH PARTY
Tudor Hotel, TAMWORTH NSW
Special guest: Brock Henry
327 Peel Street, Tamworth
(02) 6766 2930 | www.tudorhoteltamworth.com.au
Monday 22nd January 2018 | 3pm
DAG Sheep Station, NUNDLE NSW
Richo’s Roundup
Crawney Road, Nundle
(02) 6769 3486 | www.thedag.com.au
Tuesday 23rd January 2018 | 3pm
Tudor Hotel [Upstairs], TAMWORTH NSW
327 Peel Street, Tamworth
(02) 6766 2930 | www.tudorhoteltamworth.com.au
Wednesday 24th January 2018 | 12pm
Tudor Hotel [Upstairs], TAMWORTH NSW
327 Peel Street, Tamworth
(02) 6766 2930 | www.tudorhoteltamworth.com.au
Thursday 25th January 2018 | 3.30pm
The Albert Hotel, TAMWORTH NSW
w/ Good Corn Liquor Tribute
211 Peel Street, Tamworth
(02) 6766 6363
Friday 26th January 2018 | 12pm
Tudor [Upstairs], TAMWORTH NSW
Medicine Shows w/ Allison Forbes
327 Peel Street, Tamworth
(02) 6766 2930 | www.tudorhoteltamworth.com.au
Friday 26th January 2018 | 8.30pm
Tudor [Front Bar], TAMWORTH NSW
Special guest: Brock Henry
327 Peel Street, Tamworth
(02) 6766 2930 | www.tudorhoteltamworth.com.au
Saturday 27th January 2018 | 3.30pm
The Albert Hotel, TAMWORTH NSW
w/ Good Corn Liquor Tribute
211 Peel Street, Tamworth
(02) 6766 6363
For more information, please visit www.jessholland.com.au
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