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Australians of a certain age who grew up in certain locations will remember El Caballo Blanco. It was a show featuring dancing white horses – hence the name – and as I grew up in Sydney, one of two Australian sites for El Caballo Blanco, I remember the TV ad, despite the fact I was only allowed to watch half an hour of television a day. That’s how effective the marketing machine of Western Australian artist Olive Mae’sgrandfather was. Her grandfather was a remarkable entrepreneur who founded several businesses apart from El Caballo Blanco. He died before Mae was born but, intrigued by his story, she wrote a song about it with esteemed artist Gretta Ziller, and has now released the single, entitled ‘El Caballo Blanco’, which was produced by Matt Fell.
Mae met Ziller at one of the SHE Songwriting Retreats run by Lyn Bowtell – you can find Bowtell talking about these in my recent interviews with her (as referenced by Mae in our own interview!) – but they didn’t write the song until later.
Mae then went on to attend the Academy of Country Music – of which Bowtell is the director – and found it a valuable experience, not least because she is in WA and, as she says, while there several country music artists in that state, they’re all spread out, and Academy is an opportunity to form connections with other artists.
The first time I interviewed Mae, a little while ago now, I found her a hoot and the experience was repeated this time. She’s also a really thoughtful and interesting artist, and it sounds like there are more songs on the near horizon, so stay tuned for more great stories from Olive Mae.
See Olive Mae at Tamworth Country Music Festival
Sunday 18th January – TCMF – Fanzone – Tamworth, NSW
Monday 19th January – TCMF – Riverside Stage – Tamworth, NSW
Wednesday 21st January – TCMF – Tamworth Community Centre – Tamworth, NSW
Saturday 24th January – TCMF – Atrium Stage @ Atrium Arcade – Tamworth, NSW
Listen to Olive Mae on Apple Music
