There is, of course, an art to making a song that is beloved by many over the course of decades, but it’s not one that can be distilled to a course or a handbook, because it involves imagination, a brace of skills, a dash of courage and a willingness to tell a story to someone, and the alchemy of these elements is peculiar to the artist. Doing it even once is not a fluke, though. Doing it a few times is a marvel. Tim Freedman, of The Whitlams, has done it a few times; there are many Australians who could sing the words of ‘No Aphrodisiac’ and ‘Blow Up the Pokies’ back to him, then move on to ‘You Sound Like Louis Burdett’.
The stakes are, therefore, somewhat high if you’re Freedman and you decide to remake these beloved songs in a different image: a country music image. Your audience may not go with you, let alone like what you’ve done. But, then again, you may find a new audience who doesn’t even know those songs and will come to them with fresh ears and different contexts. This is what Freedman has committed to with The Whitlams, Black Stump Band, a project that began a few years ago when Freedman was touring Australian country towns, playing shows, and starting to think about reinterpreting some songs as country music. He put in a call to his friend, in-demand producer Matt Fell (Fanny Lumsden, Shane Nicholson, and many others). Fell is now a member of what became the Black Stump Band, along with fellow producer Rod McCormack on banjo and guitar, Ollie Thorpe on pedal steel and Whitlams stalwart Terepai Richmond on drums. Fell and McCormack produced the record with Freedman, and they’re all on the road together for an extensive tour (dates below – some dates Freedman and Thorpe only).
Freedman has chosen the songs on Kookaburra, the new album from The Whitlams, Black Stump Band, to work as a set piece, not necessarily because they’re his best known, although some of them are. What becomes clear, almost immediately, is that his instinct about remaking them as country music tracks was right, because these songs are clearly stories and, therefore, they fit right in to country music.
What is also profoundly clear – in a way that it wasn’t on the earlier recordings – is that Freedman is a really lovely singer. There is something about the way these tracks have been recorded – perhaps it is the perspectives of Fell and McCormack – which means that Freedman’s voice sails cleanly over the crispness of the instruments and we can appreciate his tone, his articulation, and a lightness that was not there in some of the earlier recordings. Maybe he was simply having fun in the studio. Maybe, having put these stories down years – decades – ago he has his own perspective on them now and he can tell them in past perfect rather than present tense, and is relaxed accordingly.
While most of the songs are from the past, there is one new track, ‘Fallen Leaves’, and there is a cover of Bernie Hayes’s ‘Your Boyfriend’s Back in Town’. Anyone who is familiar with Hayes’s recorded or live work (and if you’re not, you should be) will know what a wonderful singer he is, but there’s no risk for Freedman in covering the song because he can match Hayes in technique and feeling.
So you could come to Kookaburra for the stories and stay for the singing. Or vice versa. Either way, you will not be disappointed. This is an album made by experts and the listener is rewarded accordingly. Freedman’s high-stakes gamble has paid off, and old fans will no doubt mingle with new as he takes these songs to people all over the land.
thewhitlams.com.au | Listen to Kookaburra on Apple Music
KOOKABURRA TOUR DATES:
Fri 8 March – Lizotte’s, Newcastle – NSW – SOLD OUT
Sat 9 March – Blazes @ West Tamworth League Club, Tamworth – NSW
Sun 10 March – Avoca Beach Theatre, Avoca – NSW – SOLD OUT
Sun 31 March – Bluesfest Byron Bay – NSW
Fri 26 April – Hopgood Theatre, Noarlunga – SA
Sat 27 April – The Gov, Adelaide – SA
Thu 2 May – Springlake Hotel, Brisbane – QLD *
Fri 3 May – Imperial Hotel, Eumundi – QLD
Sat 4 May – Princess Theatre, Brisbane – QLD
Tue 7 May – Piano Bar, Bendigo – VIC *
Wed 8 May – Piano Bar, Ballarat – VIC *
Thu 9 May – Piano Bar, Geelong – VIC *
Fri 10 May – Kindred Bandroom, Footscray – VIC
Sat 11 May – Memo Music Hall, St Kilda – VIC
Thu 16 May – Wilder Tasmania, Gowrie Park – TAS *
Fri 17 May – Royal Oak, Launceston – TAS * – SOLD OUT
Sat 18 May – Forth Pub, Forth – TAS
Sun 19 May – Longley International Hotel, Longley – TAS
Thu 23 May – Resin Brewing, Bulli – NSW * – SOLD OUT
Fri 24 May – Tallagandra Hill Winery, Gundaroo – NSW * – SOLD OUT
Sun 26 May – Dangar Island Bowling Club, Dangar Island – NSW * – SOLD OUT
Thu 30 May – Avoca Beach Theatre, Avoca – NSW
Fri 31 May – Factory Theatre, Marrickville – NSW
Sat 1 June – Avalon Beach RSL, Avalon – NSW
* Black Stump Duo – Tim and Ollie
