maitland-mateland-mateys!

I have been trapped in Maitland before. Its in my book. Mock horror!
Newcastle show was a blast. We drove through the lovely old party of Newcastle where a food fair was happening on our way out. People pay so much to live in Sydney, Newcastle is waiting to be discovered! Same as Geelong and Ballarat are for those paying through the nose for inner city ambience in melbourne. PEZ left to drive to the airport, Moorsey,Thommo and I drove to maitland, arguing with the GPS all the way. We changed the voice from Teabag Dominatrix to Metrosexual Smooth and back again, still its off key with our sense of direction. Mooresy is usually unflappable with her radar but the king st incident has us shaken. (She does not have any internal compass on that street in Newtown).
Maitland gig is at 5pm in a rock'n'roll shack in an old part of an olde towne. A real folk feel to this joint. They call it the Junkyard. We play a power trio set and then watch a band who have driven from teh Gold Coast called " a french butler called smith".
Then kebabs and tv in our motel room.
Maitland is alternately cute, threatening, lovely , poor and layabout. Changes at every corner.
Tonight (Monday 30th May) I am reading at the Art Gallery - 230 High st Maitland 6-8 pm.
Thursday we are at the Gollan Hotel in lismore.
Friday we are at the Jubilee Hotel in Brisbane.
Saturday 4th we are at the Sol Bar in Maroochydore.
Sunday 5th we are at the Great Northern in Byron Bay.

central coast- newcastle-firefights-triumphs!

jeez its in close fighting the further out you go. We ain't in Fitzroy anymore! Drove to Kincumber and set up to play. Two sets. My pipes (voice) are playing up due to excessive squawking. Having to find a new, more economical way of delivery. Lost the falsetto. Brian at Lizottes has tipped me to Lemon Myrtle tea with licorice and honey. I am buying into it. Very soothing. Getting a new , clipped style. Kind of country. The notes cut off quicker than usual. Doing two sets and a reading and so many shows is the cause of this situation. Lizottes at Kincumber is close in fighting. Squeezed onto the stage , right in peoples faces, with the spoons and forks being shoved into their mushes!
Met up with Martin who told me to write a book a couple of years ago. i slanderd him on tv, saying he was a dyslexic Postman. he said he was not on the beat, more an office type of guy. like Vic Godard.
I apologized.
After the show, a woman told me shed looked me up on the computer and ,seeing me with a top hatr and tails etc (!!!!) didn't know what to expect. I dont kow who she was looking up but she wouldn'tbe told otherwise. She yelled at me to remember her name as she is a writer too. Another woman breathed fire into my face and told me she'd written five chapters of a book but her computer crashed and her daughter stole the plot for her own book. Fierce!Another dame told me that my cd cover was just like Tim Rogers and that the same artist must have done them. Wouldn't be told any different.
Actually, everybody is asking if its my body on the cover. I never stopped to think of that. Tony Mahony did another cover in the 90s for the original single of "rock n roll is where I hide". Had a picture of a fat, drunk cover band singer. I never stopped to think then that people would think it was me. Tony didn't either. Record companies in the UK looked at it in horror. "I" looked like that fat, dirty guy from that UK comedy with Hyacinth Bouquet. Very nice people in general at the Central Coast.
Next show was in Newcastle. A lovely old cinema made into a venue. the crowd was hyped and so were we!Killed it!
Met many cool people after the gig.
My Fender M80 is on a volume setting of "1" and is deafening. Experimenting with rocking it back at an upward angle. A monsterously loud, clean sound.
Stu "Pez" Perera is back in melbourne for a few days.

We play as a trio this afternoon at the Grand Junction in maitland- me, Thommo and Mooresy - ahead of a reading I am doing at the art gallery 230 high st Maitland tomorrow (Monday 30th May) night.6pm.

Look out for us in Lismore at the Gollan Hotel Thursday 2nd June.
The Jubilee Hotel in Brisbane Friday 3rdJune.
The Sol Bar in Maroochydore Saturday 4th June.
The Great Northern in Byron Bay Sunday 5th June.

Dee Why- eat the book !

Across the bridge for the first time.(Went under it the night before). Sydneys topography still astounds a hayseed from the flat plain of Melbourne. A long drive through posh looking malls and ALDI stores in towering blocks. The first of three shows at LIZOTTES venues.There are very few gigs on this side of the city. The North Shore. I can remember playing many. The Mosman Hotel, Narrabeen Sands. Probably 1/2 dozen others but I haven't heard of them again.
Two sets and a reading. Taking its toll on my pipes. Lost the falsetto last night. I think I need to drink more tea before a gig and between sets. Honey maybe. Singers always get antsy about their potions. That PROPOLIS stuff! Thats what I need. Spoof from bees in a lolly! Of course!
Food swell, crowd very nice. These gigs are without Fitz on keys so its down to me and Pez to bring some fire and magic. Oh Mooresy and Thommo set the foundations true- but you know, guitars are the glory beeees of the trade.
Got an email today. A lady had bought a book for a friend for a gift but her dog had chewed it up during the night. She needs to buy another... Perhaps theres an angle I can work here. Must learn how to talk directly to the pooches. Beyond the owners to their canine friends. "eat the book!" Dog whistling. Might mean I have to read John Howards autobiography. I couldn't!

Playing at Lizottes Central Coast tonight (May 27th) and Lizottes Newcastle saturday (28th may).
An acoustic show at the Grand Junction in Maitland on Sunday and a reading at an art gallery at 230 high st Maitland on Monday, organized by the Maitland City Library.


Look out Jubilee Hotel Brisbane June 3rd!

Manly ferry-swells and rain

What an amazing trip to work it must be to ride a ferry across the harbour every day. Lucky people! It had been drizzling a fine mist all day in Sydney. I took the train to Circular Quay and got the regular ( as opposed to the fast one) ferry across the harbour. I stood out on the front deck with half a dozen others, ignoring the recorded messages not to do so as the swell through the heads was so strong. I wanted some sea air in my lungs anyway.
Got to Manly an hour early for my library talk. People rushing across the Corso through the horizontal rain. The rugby state of origin was on that night too. So I was surprised and gladdened that 30 hardy souls turned up to have a few glasses of wine and hear me speak. I love this scene. Read from my book and answered some questions about anything and everything. Thanks to Anne for organizing the event! Had a great time. Took the ferry back. manly streets were deserted at 8:30 pm . A stabbing fight at Bankstown threw the trains into chaos. Got back to the inner west quite late.

Putting the expensive ( kind of) pendant around my neck again and plugging into my Fender M-80 red knob (it had a furry pelt but I got it taken off and replaced with Marshall Tolex) at LIZOTTES in DEE WHY tonight .
Tomorrow, (Friday 27th) we are at Lizottes in Kincumber (Central Coast) and on Saturday 28th we are at Lizottes in Newcastle. Another Libray reading via Maitland Library at a gallery - 230 High st Maitland on Monday 30th May.

Here is a link to a youtube clip of us playing "you're just too hip,baby" at Braidwood in NSW in march.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUkTxm92f3M

further into sydney

Visited some old friends, Ken and Caitlin, who are running a beaut caff near Newtown called petty cash. Enjoyed their hospitality and caught up with news from fellow travellers and comrades we have lost sight of or touch with for mainly geographical reasons.Dropped into a bookshop in King st called Better read than dead to say hello.Went over to Redfern to see Leanne , who play drums with Kim Salmon on occasion. Then went to an art show bu Susie ODoherty in Chippendale. Old Sydney art crew. Extended fingers reaching to the Mentals and their various art wings. Mambo,Phantom,Brendan Gallagher. Had an altogether excellent day.
Chris and Pete O'Doherty tell me they are down in Melbourne for a week at a print shop in Carlton and to doa Dog Trumpet show at the Caravan Music Club. I strongly urge anyone to get a taste of their humanity and freakiness.
Tonight at 6pm I'm doing a reading at the Manly Library.

Tomorrow , Thursday May 26th, we rejoin Pez and Thommo and play at Lizottes in Dee Why. Then Lizottes in Kincumber and Newcastle.

On Sunday I'll be doing a solo gig at the Grand Junction in Maitland and then a reading at the art gallery 230 high st Maitland, organized by the Maitland Library.

On June 2nd we are playing at the Gollam Hotel in Lismore then June 3rd at the Jubilee Hotel in Brisbane. June 4th Sol Bar Maroochydore aqnd June 5th at the Great Norethern in Byron Bay.

why are australian people so grudgeful?

No book event tonight. Someone , somewhere, in some line of work had to decamp to Jakarta on account of some dreadful threat to existence etc. This book world is full of drama and intrigue!
Wednesday night at the Many Library of course.

Sun is out again this morning, Walked along the Cooks River. Formerly an industrial sewer, reclaimed as an inner western sydney idyll. Quite lovely. Old factory stacks and Victorian era mills set against grass rolling down to the banks. Saw a large flock of black cockatoos hanging about like a gang of bikers. A large Pelican sitting on a convenient pole in the water. Lots of garbage in the river though. Not for swimming just yet.

A man is building a two storey Victorian style house. From scratch. He knocked down the Federation era one and is going back to an earlier style. Why? Because he wants to I guess.

It is striking how good life is in Sydney. Australia in general really. Yet the screeching of the talkback radio and the anti Labour Government , pro big business newspapers make it seem as if we are in a movie such as "escape from New York". marauding "illegals" with knives in their mouths climbing into our tiny (!) country, business being squeezed by green fantasists etc. Alan Jones on the radio in the morning. he feasts on public anguish which he creates and fans the flames of even higher . Every day! Shouldn't such a rich and powerful man be happy? He carrys on like an old woman with bitterness in her veins. Horrible tone and style. This morning it was all about "the corruption of this labour government!" relentless. there is a younger generation of jocks on air now. Supposedly warmer and more caring. Paul Murray and Chris Smith ( Who led the anti carbon tax marches in every city last month) WE drove into town listening to Paul Murray going on about Sharia Law in Australia and health care being given to "illegals". The whinge of the week is about people who have invested in solar panels not being able to profit from them. The Jocks are wagging the tail of the state government they cheered into power.
Asylum seekers are everywhere on people mouths of course. That an issue can be so dominant is ridiculous.

But the trains in Sydney are great. They have people working at the stations. Yesterday I drove into the heart of the city at 4:30 , parked, did some shopping and drove out at 5:30. Parked on the street! Then i drove down george street and out Parramatta road to Canterbury road and the traffic flowed all the way. I mean the city works.
The Sydney Morning Herald had stories about climate change today. Their opinion pages consisted of a story by Gerard Henderson from the right wing Sydney Institute and a fellow called Ted from the equally right wing Institute of Public Affairs. All these think tanks do is trade in anxiety.

Television is full of adverts by the mining companies telling us how good we have it because of them. Getting truckers to pimp for them. A rugged working face. Tobacco companies are spending just as much to tell us how precious their brand names are and what a civil liberty it is to infringe on their rights. Jeez. What times we live in! What overt bullshitters are bullshittting us so severely!

rest days

Clarendon Guesthouse in Katoomba has always had POTENTIAL to be such a good gig. A place to put on a show. Lovely little boutique theatre setting in an old B'n'B type ambience in a mountain resort/health spa type area. A cute little town off the main road with an art deco feel about many of the cafes. One day...
Tonight I joust with Tony Delroy! ABC late night radio character beloved of insomniacs and kitchen table boozers across the country! the quiz! the Clue Free zone! I will be pre recording an interview as they are aware I may have other demands on my time. Would have done it in real time though. I love late night radio. The type of person who calls up a station then is from a different universe to the cat callers on the daylight hours. More intelligent I reckon. More lubricated sure, but definitely smarter. I mean, they've turned the tv off for a start. Sitting there in the shed or the kitchen or at work on night shift or in bed with the radio on. What an intimate audience! I would love to be an all night dj. I've been to a few late sessions at ABC radio stations. People padding about the carpeted corridors of the otherwise empty buildings. All to themselves. No pressure to engage with the people in the office. No agitated producers or eager work experience types fussing about. Just the room with blinking lights, a mic, a feint hum of the whole combine moving waves through the night and that audience...
Doing a few more book related things in Sydney this week. Ariel bookshop opening in Oxford st tomorrow night and then a reading at Manly Library on Wednesday. I posted a note to that effect on twitter and a person responded, asking if I was doing it because I didn't have my own copy? Tres droll, non?
Then we are to do three shows at venues called Lizottes. On Thursday at Dee Why, Friday in Kincumber on the Central Coast and Saturday at Newcatle.Lambton in newcastle. I am doing a little reading at all of these shows.

On Sunday I am to do a solo show somewhere in maitland. I'll get that up sometime this week. On Monday I'm doinga reading at an art gallery in Maitland. 230 High street in Maitland. Organized by the Maitland City Library.

Then next week we begin a slow drive north with a show in lizmore at the Gollam Hotel on Thursday June 2nd, The Jubilee Hotel in Brisbane on Friday June 3rd , The Sol Bar in Maroochydore and The Great Northern in Byron Bay .

coogee diggers-dog trumpet 'n' us

A highly emotional drive from the inner west to Coogee. Driving along a busy road we saw two small dogs dodging the traffic and looking confused. Although late for soundcheck we stopped the van and Clare and Stu (Pez) Perera went to try and help the pooches. Both very small and vulnerable, one seemed to be taking care of the other. Got them into the van ( with Pez having to use a towel to put over the smallest one).
Took them to a vet. Both very skinny and with patchy fur . Shaking. they were said to be quite old and neglected. Microchippped but obviously not being taken care of. They were gonna be taken to the Pound.
Dog Trumpet were on the bill with us. Reg Mombassa and Pete O'Doherty who were two of the four songwriters in mental as Anything.Brothers, though one changed his surname. Reg has such a trademark electric guitar sound. Rough and rude but beautiful. His and Petes songs are all delightful and the way they talk on stage is truly beguiling. You learn stuff! Bernie Hayes, who is a Sydney singer songwriter played a semi acoustic bass and the drummer is tight with him . Superb players.
WE had to step up for this show! Inspired and inspiring company. Seasoned , vintage, classic, great players!
I got a bit rude and we cruised through an hour and a half set. I read from the book. (The part about playing in Kalangadoo to give the Sydney swells a thrill).
Fayelord was there. he arrived and gave me a present of a Rapper DOLLAR sign chain for my neck and a PIMP CIGAR (plastic). He also gave Clare some twirling tassles for you know where. Clare wanted me to hit him but you cant get mad at the Fayelord. He meant well!He tied to get us lost again on the way home but I insisted we connect the GPS and threw his crystal ball out the window.
Got up early to go see two nephews playing in AFL games. Auskick stuff. Ex Sydney coach Paul Roos was red carded for yelling at the Newtown Swans U/14 team after a rough incident. He will have to front a tribunal!
Quite a few music types there. If these teams ran into some Victorian or SA kids they would be destroyed though. Dont have the DNA really.I had a run around afterwards and kicked the ball with my nephew who had just played TWO full games in the U/14 and U/16 teams.He's got the FEVER!

Doing a reading at Many Library next Wednesday 25th May then playing at Lizottes Dee Why on Thursday 26th, Lizottes Kincumber on Friday 27th and Lizottes Newcastle on Saturday 28th .
Also a reading at Maitland art gallery 230 High st Maitland on Monday 30th May. Organized by the Maitland City Library.

The VAULT -Windsor

With the Snowtown murders having been made into a tele drama/doco and now a film and also being generally a light hearted motif for people to alight upon and laugh at outer suburban loser types I am attuned to thoughts of grisly murder when entering old bank buildings. In Braidwood recently we stayed in a lovely old house which was attached to a bank and was where the managers family would have once lived. How the other half did live! Foot thick stone walls , lovely high ceilings and great air circulation. Staircases wide and beckonging and bookcases filled with National Geographics going back to the 1920s. In Newcastle we also had the pleasure of playing in an old bank building in the old part of town several times. Run by an old time freak who had worked in Amsterdam for years. He sold grog on the sly and ran this lovely room like a speakeasy with people lolling about on cushions. His experience was in lighting and theatre and he made a real great ambience out of an old room that once rang with the sounds of cash registers and adding machines.He told us he had days for families and just took the kids downstairs to the Vault and locked the door. "Kids love being scared!" was what he said and it made sense.They do! Should we have asked to have a further look around? (Cue forbodeing music) Actually Dean is a lovely guy and nothing untoward would have happened. He gifted the town some thrills.
This time around we drove for an hour or two through , in and around the commuter belt of Sydnmey to some very outskirts where we were to play ina place called the VAULT. this was a delightful building that was a heritage listed bank. people had been cracking gags at us about bike gangs and the like.People came and had a good time and so did we. The old actual vault was a wine cellar. Lovely stone building.
We did two sets and I did a reading. The reading gets people yelling! Breaks the flow. In a good way.
Two sets for a few nights in a row. Two hours of squawking, is taking a toll on my pipes and I am working out ways to take care of myself. Bobby Blue Bland used to turn his head to the side to get a rough gravelly sound out. As opposed to shouting or pressuring it out with wind and throat. He called it his "squall". I have to try and find some moves like that. He would do 250 shows a year. I probably do about 70. And I do a lot for an Australian artist.
Clare played amazingly well - AS USUAL- and sang a great version of PARCHMAN FARM. Stu "thommo" Thomas threw down his version of Princes "sign of the times" to much pleasurable catcalling from the crowd.

Its very pleasant playing with the five piece band. I could get used to it . Can't always afford it though. Two guitars, bass , drums and the incredible Mark "Fitz" Fitzgibbon on keys. You can pull back so much in the playing. So much interplay. Can empty things out and just touch a few notes. Talkin about the guitar here.
Tonight we play at Coogee Diggers with Dog Trumpet. Tomorrow we play at the Clarendon Guesthouse in Katoomba.
On Wednesday I am reading at the Manly City Library and on Thursday we start a run of three Lizottes venues. Dee Why, Kincumber and Newcastle.

sydney Notes- NOTES

yeah a note abouta show at Notes. Get offa my fuckin' NOTE! When Duke Ellington started a show they would doa blaring fanfare and each horn player would have a note. If a new guy came in and stepped on somebody elses note tahts what teh cry would be. GET OFFA MY FUCKIN NOTE!
Show last night was two sets from 8:45 , which is a very good time to play music I reckon. Two sets with a reading. The latter part went surprisingly well again. Seems to up the energy level of the show quite a bit rather than bring it down. Its a challenge and an intrusion.A change of gear.In Ballarat I read a part of the book mentioning that area. In Geelong I did the same and so to for Sydney. Couldn't do it in Hobart as that passage mentions a strange sexy woman grinding her pussy against the foldback speaker and she was actually there again. So I chickened out and read a part about being up myself in general.
Sydney is delightfully sunny yet cold. Perfect Autumn weather. Two of my guitar pedals are busted and my leather cap and trousers seem much more gay when I wear them here. I am chickening out of that too. Have to go shopping for some clothes.
People came to the show who have seen us play since the late 80s and even earlier. I am sometimes amazed how long this trick has spun out. Feel like a country singer.
People called out for strange requests - "Beautiful nightmare" (1991) "Maggie Cassidy" and "I held the cool breeze" (1993). The latter two were attempted and played very well. Very delicately as we felt for the chords. Mark Fitzgibbon had never heard or played them before and caught all the changes beautifully. What an amazing band!It was nice to be inside those songs again.
Somebody kept hollering for a song we had already played of course, which is a bit silly.
Fayelord (whose told us his name means FAIRY in Gaelic)was in attendance so he was no help as usual, despie helping , in either packing any gear or carrying it. But he was excellent and amusing company as usual. Nice to have a FREAK in the house . (You know I love freaks).
Tonight (May 20th) we play at the Vault which is in a place called Windsor which I have never heard of, tomorrow at Coogee Diggers with Dog Trumpet and Sunday at the Clarendon Guesthouse in katoomba.

driving to sydney

yes that Hobart show was fierce. Never know what to expect down there. Saw Tony Joe White at the airport. Travelling light as usual. An icon and a comrade.People came to our show after seeing him earlier at the Casino.
Yelling and screaming - whooping and hollering crowd- and not just me...
Back in melbourne I did BLB at RRR with E Wack and Mick Harvey came in to talk about his latest album "sketches from the book of the dead". Was on the show for an hour talking about the recording and the deaths and the singing.
Lighter than it sounds. The talk and the sounds.

Drove down the Hume and stopped at Tarcutta at 8:30 pm . Tried Holbrook and Gundagai in the past.The lady brought home cooked lamb shank soup to our rooms. Country cooking and hospitality! I didn't think it existed!
The next day we drove into Sydney. Stopped at Gundagai. A most beautiful country town on a lovely Autumn morning. Sun shining and air clear and clean . Townsfolk are mostly elderly. Had a coffee from the art deco Niagara cafe. Drove on.
Got into Sydney and did a reading/ talk type show at the Seymour centre with Steve Cannane from the abc. Signed a lot of books and met people who would rarely go to a live show. Took questions from them.

The next day I did an interview at Fbi which is Sydneys community radio. Always an inspiring place. Interesting people working there. I had to play some fave artists. I played all contemporary and local stuff. Teeth and Tongue,Sons of Rico,Laneous and the Family Yah, Jane Dust, the Ancients, Belles will Ring and a few others. Meant to play Art Rush and Cloud Control and Stu Thomas and Yeo but not enough time.

Tonight we play at Notes Live on Enmore Rd- 2 sets from 8:45 pm with reading. Sound like a chef/ redstauranteur.
Friday 20th we are at the Vault in Windsor.
Sat 21st we are at Coogee Diggers with Dog Trumpet.
Sunday 22nd we are at the Clarendon Guesthouse in Katoomba.

On Wed 25th I am doing a reading at Manly Library.
Then we do Lizottes in Dee Why, Kincumber and Newcastle.
Then a reading at Maitland Art Gallery - 230 High st Maitland- organized by the Maitland City Library. Thats on Monday 30th May.

melbourne cd launch-hobart republic may 14th

We played two fine venues in Geelong and Ballarat on thursday and friday. Both towns that had been on our list to never set foot in again due to the population of music lovers therein ignoring our presence there on several occasions. They could have it!
A new album a new book , a new agent and we were again walking onto a stage in both joints. people who do come to shows in these regional centres are always up for a good time so its rarely a total bust. Both Nights were pretty riotous rave ups actually. I did a reading from my book in both venues which is a new thing. A bit of an intrusion into the normal flow of things. A challenge to me and to the audience to make it work or to let it work.
The opening act in geelong was a bunch of teens called the Murlocs who got that "Nuggets " sound that so many strive so hard for, so absolutely perfectly. they have a great drummer and guitarist ( the oldest at 21). bass player and singer. the latter is called Ambrose and he has the louche poise, the wayward fringe, the high Keith Relf like tone in his voice and incredible chops on the harmonica. I hope they can stay together to record something. Who knows?
Stayed the night in Geelong to make some pr stops the next day. Went into a t shirt and geek shop to pass some time. Learned much from the proprietor. Young blokes in the area and down to the coast are mad for that Nuggets sound. Shirts with Brian Jones on walk out of the store. The guitarist of the frowning clouds sits in a corner of an Indian restaurant where he plays sitar all night. Bowie shirts are selling to young women. Smiths shirts sell but not Morissey. River Phoenix from 'stand by me" sells but not from "my own private idaho". Shirts related to "the Big lebowski" sell by the van load. I am told that young stoners int he area watch the Big Lebowski "10 times a month" and they talk in lines from the film! I bought a t shirt with Lou Reeds "sally can't dance" cover and Clare copped a Bowie.
We both wanted a BIG BANG THEORY related t with Sheldon on it but there were too many to choose from.
We moved onto Ballarat where I did an interview on the afternoon show on Victorian ABC.
The show in Ballarat was so cold the audience had overcoats, beanies and gloves on . And it was inside!
The following night we played at the Northcote Social Club. WE are playing as a 5 piece with Mark Fitzgibbon on keys. Go Go Sapien opened the show with a preview of their new video clip for "altered ego". They all dressed in white , the drummer had headwear normally reserved for people working at a damaged nuclear facility. Cal on guitar had an Aztec feathered mask. Em and the bass player looked almost normal and Will the singer had a giant white furry shape over his whole head.
They were very strong and powerful and dynamic. A great band.
The audience were very psyched for our show and we had an absolute ball. The reading raised the tension and the screams and we kicked it home.
This week we are in Hobart which I expect to be colder than Ballarat which is of course , built on the side of a witches tit.

Saturday 14th May- the Republic Bar- Hobart.Special guets- Hey Mook.


Thursday 19th May -3pm Better Read Than Dead Book Signing
265 King St, Newtown
http://www.betterread.com.au/
Wed 18th May- reading event at the Seymour Centre -Sydney writers fest-7pm

19/05 Thursday - Notes, Newtown
www.noteslive.net.au
20/05 Friday - The Vault, Windsor
vault146.com.au
21/05 Saturday - Coogee Diggers
coogeediggers.com.au

22/05 Sunday - Clarendon Guesthouse-- Katoomba
http://www.clarendonguesthouse.com.au/

Sat 23rd may -1001 australian nights -POPCORN TAXI Event at Bondi Cinema 7pm
Monday 23rd May - 7.30pm Ariel Booksellers Launch.
42 Oxford Street PADDINGTON NSW 2021

26/05 Thursday Lizotte’s – Dee Why
27/05 Friday Lizotte’s – Kincumber
28/05 Saturday Lizotte’s - Newcastle


Monday 30th May - Maitland Library READING
480 High Street, Maitland



Thurs 2nd June Gollan Hotel 73 Keen st Lismore
Friday 3rd June Jubilee Hotel - Brisbane
Saturday 4th June SOL BAR, Maroochydore QLD
Sunday 5th June- Great Northern - Byron bay-Ph: 02 6685 6454
Saturday June 11 in the courtyard of Happy Yess Arts Inc Darwin
Friday 17th June Westernport Hotel - San Remo Victoria
Saturday 18th June- Baha Tacos - Rye Victoria
Friday 24th June the Loft Warrnambool Vic
Sat 25th June- the Wheatsheaf Hotel - Adelaide
Sunday 26th June- Semaphore Workers Club- SA
Thursday 30th June- Transit Bar - Canberra
Sunday 3rd July- Williamstown RSL

april into may notes

yes I have been doing a few readings in bookshops and the like.One of the likes being at Handsome Steves House of Refreshment. Handsome Steve being the trademarked handle for Steve Miller ,guitar player in the Moodists. This was a very intimate affair.Knew everybody stuffed into the room. Wasn't scared or anything , just very hot and clammy in that room.Very enjoyable. Warm reception. Hugs!
Otherwise, spent a day walking around some shops gripping and grinning. Used to do that stuff in the music biz when there were record shops with people in them. Still are a few thank god but I go to them anyway.
Oh, there was International Record Shop Day which saw me standing on a small stage at Basement Discs in Melbourne for a few hours with a mic in hand, in the company of Henry Wagons. And his poor little pug Gordon who Henry pimps all over the joint to sucker people into thinking hes a nice guy. What sort of a nice guy would treat a pug so wantonly? I arks you!That thing is a ball of wasted anxiety!
Only one reading was a bit of a bummer. Badly organized, like being in a episode of "Flight of the conchords". I've been wearing a t shirt with my name and face on it . i was in a Collingwood/Fitzroy Douche-topian street. A fat man on a bicycle treddlied past and made a "tsuh!" sound in my direction. I upset the vibe of his "Xanadoucheian idyll. Still got it.
Was a relief to get to a rehearsal room with the band last week and go over some music. Tour starts tonight and is on until early July.
I have started playing the clarinet which is a joyful experience. Not to do it on the stage for a while yet.
The Harry Howard N.D.E. album is being mastered. The N.D.E. did a gig at the appallingly twee rock theme pub in the city . In the equally twee AC DC Lane. Opening acts both sounded like Free or the Egar Broughton band and could only be listened to out on the street, so loud were the amps! All band members had ear plugs but.
In honour of the cartoonish rock theme I put two sleeves of tattoos on. People were scared, especially Harry.
I am now acquiring a headless Steinberger bass which may see me thrown out of the band. You can stick them in your pants pocket though. The basses.

Our new cd is available at our website.

http://www.thedavegraneyshow.com/General/swag007.htm

Thursday 5th May - Bended Elbow- GEELONG.
Friday 6th May- Bended Elbow - Ballarat.

May 7th - Northcote Social Club _ "ROCK"N"ROLL IS WHERE I HIDE" cd LAUNCH with special guests Go Go Sapien.

Saturday 14th May- the Republic Bar- Hobart.Special guets- Hey Mook.

Wednesday 18th May- 7pm- Sydney writers festival- Seymour Centre
Thursday 19th May -3pm Better Read Than Dead Book Signing
265 King St, Newtown
http://www.betterread.com.au/
Wed 18th May- reading event at the Seymour Centre -Sydney writers fest-7pm

19/05 Thursday - Notes, Newtown
www.noteslive.net.au
20/05 Friday - The Vault, Windsor
vault146.com.au
21/05 Saturday - Coogee Diggers
coogeediggers.com.au
22/05 Sunday - Clarendon Guesthouse-- Katoomba
http://www.clarendonguesthouse.com.au/

Sat 23rd may -1001 australian nights -POPCORN TAXI Event at Bondi Cinema 7pm
Monday 23rd May - 7.30pm Ariel Booksellers Launch.
42 Oxford Street PADDINGTON NSW 2021

26/05 Thursday Lizotte’s – Dee Why
www.lizottes.com.au
27/05 Friday Lizotte’s – Kincumber
www.lizottes.com.au
28/05 Saturday Lizotte’s - Newcastle
www.lizottes.com.au

Monday 30th May - Maitland Library READING
480 High Street, Maitland



Thurs 2nd June Gollan Hotel 73 Keen st Lismore
Friday 3rd June Jubilee Hotel - Brisbane
Saturday 4th June SOL BAR, Maroochydore QLD
Sunday 5th June- Great Northern - Byron bay-Ph: 02 6685 6454

Saturday June 11 in the courtyard of Happy Yess Arts Inc Darwin

Friday 17th June Westernport Hotel - San Remo Victoria
Saturday 18th June- Baha Tacos - Rye Victoria
Friday 24th June the Loft Warrnambool Vic
Sat 25th June- the Wheatsheaf Hotel - Adelaide
Sunday 26th June- Semaphore Workers Club- SA
Thursday 30th June- Transit Bar - Canberra
Sunday 3rd July- Williamstown RSL