The Beaconsfield Mine collapse in 2006 is an indelible event in the collective Australian memory. Seventeen miners were trapped; of those, fourteen escaped, one was killed and two, Brant Webb and Todd Russell, remained trapped for a fortnight. The nation’s attention was on this small Tasmanian town near Launceston, and on the extraordinary story of survival that emerged with Webb and Russell.
When Melbourne alt-country band The Distance (Gavin Leadbetter – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars; Mitchell Dean – vocals, acoustic and electric guitars, lap slide, harmonica; Darren Sheils – drums and percussion; Simon Leverett – piano and organ; Dean Harris – bass and voice-overs) were in need of new inspiration and impetus to return to making music in the early 2020s – after three albums and a six-year break, and with the pandemic in full effect – they turned to the Beaconsfield story. Vocalists/guitarists Mitch Dean and Gavin Leadbetter decided to write a collection of songs drawing on stories and coverage from Beaconsfield. In turn this became their forthcoming album Deep Down Underground, which will be released on 14 November.
The first single from that album is ‘So Destitute’, which is having its premiere here today.
Listen to the song: https://thedistancemusicoz.bandcamp.com/track/so-destitute
Written from the perspective of one of the trapped miners, the song has a momentum which suggests the drive to break out of tough times – perhaps a version of Sir Winston Churchill’s wartime exhortation ‘Never, never, never give up.’ The vocals are light but determined, reinforcing the story in the song.
‘It started as a tale about his childhood growing up on a farm and the hardships they had faced,’ says Dean. ‘But ultimately it’s a song about how he viewed his father during that time and what he learnt from him when times were tough. The song’s sound is influenced heavily by the style of early Jayhawks songs, from their Hollywood Town Hall era, with its acoustic-driven country shuffle, with the big harmonised chorus, and electric guitar hooks.’
The song is rich in detail and allows the listener to put themselves into the story – an indication, no doubt, of the experience of listening to the album and the world it has created.
