Apologies weekly fans... This has been a hectic few days. Moving house, preparing to go overseas, road trips, camping, gigs. Well you know how it goes. Some things get missed... As I type this, I am still yet to finish packing my things for Phuket (see gigs...), and it is after midnight. Again this comes as no surprise, because although I made a plan some time this afternoon to be in bed before midnight, I kind of knew that I would figure out a way to be up a lot longer than that. That's just the way it's always been. I have learned to live with it.
So...
I haved move out of the city. Yes. And although I will miss the convenience, I certainly won't miss Fitzroy Street a great deal. Not the cars, nor the trucks, nor the buses, nor the tow trucks that used to pull up outside my bedroom window at 5.30 in the morning to move cars from the clearway zone. Ah yes the joys of inner city living. And that's just the traffic. Make no mention of the neighbour who asks for garbage bags in the middle of the night dressed only in a pair of Y-fronts. Not something anybody needs to experience let me tell you.
Anyway there is a point to this. That is to say farewell!! This time in 2 days I will be belting out a few of the classics in Thailand. Either that or I will be lying on the beach somewhere... Depending on what time of day it is... So if you're in the area, why don't you stop by www.twinpalms-phuket.com and say hi. And if you're not in the area, why don't you drop me a line and say hi anyway. I'll be by myself you see. So chances are I'll get back to you. Because in between gigs I'll be on the computer - trying to plan the assault on Europe. But that's another story altogether.
Don't forget - Wednesdays in June we'll be at The Excelsior Hotel in Surry Hills. Every week in fact! Check out the gig list for full details. And speaking of the Excelsior, why don't you check this out why you're at it:
WED 30TH APRIL - Excelsior Hotel Surry Hills
LONG LIVE THE GIRLS..
Sara Storer
Sarah Humphreys
Bec Willis.
Music from 8PM. Tix $15 on the door.
I've been a few times... It's great! And I have it on good authority that there might be a few guest appearances from people who would not normally be playing the Excelsior... That's all I'll say.
OK then, I'll be signing off. Next week you get Thailand stories - assuming I get there in one piece, and I remain in one piece for long enough to make it to the next weekly. Which happens to be a lot less than a week away....
Cheers for now.
Renny
PS - I can't think of a PS. I like them is all. But I just don't have one right now. Next time you get a PS and a PPS.
PPS - I got one - I just booked a gig in Cork! Cool.
PPPS - Ooooh now I am on a roll. Last night I saw Lior at The Basement. Such a great show. Great singer. Great songs. Great band. All the ingredients. And all independent! Gotta love it. You go man.
www.lior.com.au
News and updates from the musical adventures of Renny Field...
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The Weekly... Volume 5
Welcome back here to the Bee-ELle-Oh-Gee...
(That's what Richie Benaud would say. One day I will make it happen... A video blog maybe... Hmmm).
Well last night at the Brass Monkey kind of restored my faith in music. Not that it needed a great deal of restoring, but faith can always use the occasional "top-up" (for want of a better term), and last night topped it up quite nicely. Just 9 paying customers, but that's all it took. And if you don't understand, well neither do I really, it was just great. So thanks Brass Monkey - you did it again. And thanks to the band - Matt, Pat, Sarah and Andrew.
And if you've never been there, then PLEASE go. (Not for me - for yourselves!)
www.brassmonkey.com.au
(Diesel personally recommended the Hummus - I am serious!)
The rest of the week - well there was a show in Wollongong, a Banana Cake, and discussions with sounding boards (these are important).
And now it's just 9 days till I take off for Thailand. They have beaches you know... If you want to come visit, I'll be here:
www.twinpalms-phuket.com
And and and...
The lineups are now posted for the June residency at the Excelsior. Big one to Start with Move Trees and Kitch - look out! Wed June 4 - Gideeup.
Finally - more shows being added to the Europe Tour - cool.
Cheers for now,
Renny (Still in search of a new punctuation mark in between a full stop and the exclamation mark).
!
My road trip to Hurstville. 17/04/08
Hurstville, I have decided, it like a Microcosm of our fine city of Sydney. It's a nice enough place - got most of the things you'd ever need in fact. But you see there's this thing that's happened. They've built a town before they really thought about the town planning. So the streets loop round and back in and over the top of themselves, and there isn't really a system, and some of them are one way (usually the ones you need to go the other way on...), and there are traffic lights in odd places, and random pedestrian crossings, and a train somewhere in the middle of it all - which is probably running late for somewhere. Sound familiar?
And I could have accepted all that until it became obvious that the parking police had also adopted other general rest-of-Sydney-like characteristics. Unlike the distinct lack of planning involved in the street configuration, there is actually quite a lot of planning that goes into the training of a perfect "ticket dispensing prick". By that I mean the man in the bright yellow vest (Why do they make them wear those things...?) who managed to nail me by all of about 5mins. This despite me reaching him before he had finished writing the ticket. And despite me standing about 10m away from my car talking to some friends as he was writing the ticket (I noticed the yellow vest mid-conversation, but apparently didn't make it across to him in time). Would he listen to reason? No Chance. Did he have a conscience? Negative.
So you see I am not bitter, but I don't think I'll head back out to Hurstville again too soon. Not that it's a bad place, it's just that I can get all those things right here in Surry Hills, and it's a lot closer to the beach.
Adios.
(That's what Richie Benaud would say. One day I will make it happen... A video blog maybe... Hmmm).
Well last night at the Brass Monkey kind of restored my faith in music. Not that it needed a great deal of restoring, but faith can always use the occasional "top-up" (for want of a better term), and last night topped it up quite nicely. Just 9 paying customers, but that's all it took. And if you don't understand, well neither do I really, it was just great. So thanks Brass Monkey - you did it again. And thanks to the band - Matt, Pat, Sarah and Andrew.
And if you've never been there, then PLEASE go. (Not for me - for yourselves!)
www.brassmonkey.com.au
(Diesel personally recommended the Hummus - I am serious!)
The rest of the week - well there was a show in Wollongong, a Banana Cake, and discussions with sounding boards (these are important).
And now it's just 9 days till I take off for Thailand. They have beaches you know... If you want to come visit, I'll be here:
www.twinpalms-phuket.com
And and and...
The lineups are now posted for the June residency at the Excelsior. Big one to Start with Move Trees and Kitch - look out! Wed June 4 - Gideeup.
Finally - more shows being added to the Europe Tour - cool.
Cheers for now,
Renny (Still in search of a new punctuation mark in between a full stop and the exclamation mark).
!
My road trip to Hurstville. 17/04/08
Hurstville, I have decided, it like a Microcosm of our fine city of Sydney. It's a nice enough place - got most of the things you'd ever need in fact. But you see there's this thing that's happened. They've built a town before they really thought about the town planning. So the streets loop round and back in and over the top of themselves, and there isn't really a system, and some of them are one way (usually the ones you need to go the other way on...), and there are traffic lights in odd places, and random pedestrian crossings, and a train somewhere in the middle of it all - which is probably running late for somewhere. Sound familiar?
And I could have accepted all that until it became obvious that the parking police had also adopted other general rest-of-Sydney-like characteristics. Unlike the distinct lack of planning involved in the street configuration, there is actually quite a lot of planning that goes into the training of a perfect "ticket dispensing prick". By that I mean the man in the bright yellow vest (Why do they make them wear those things...?) who managed to nail me by all of about 5mins. This despite me reaching him before he had finished writing the ticket. And despite me standing about 10m away from my car talking to some friends as he was writing the ticket (I noticed the yellow vest mid-conversation, but apparently didn't make it across to him in time). Would he listen to reason? No Chance. Did he have a conscience? Negative.
So you see I am not bitter, but I don't think I'll head back out to Hurstville again too soon. Not that it's a bad place, it's just that I can get all those things right here in Surry Hills, and it's a lot closer to the beach.
Adios.
Monday, April 14, 2008
The Weekly... Volume 4
True to my word, you're always going to get something... even if it is late on a Sunday night yet again. But not too much tonight, as it's the final round of the Masters in the morning. And I am a Masters tragic - ever since I used to get up and watch Greg Norman - so many emotions - much like the North Sydney Bears rugby league team... But that's another story.
Poem this week:
"Most of the time
We just tow the line
Walking in Circles
With the end nowhere in sight
Girl of the wine
So sweet and divine
One day with you
And everything's just fine
Don't get me wrong
This here ain't a love poem
I just got something in my veins
You came along
and I finally found my happy song
It came from you and your simple ways"
This is an unfinished song you see - and one day I will finish it - hence making it a finished song. But until then, you'll have to put up with this...
TUES 15 APRIL
Solo show @ Wollongong Uni
Music from 4pm at the Uni Bar.
And maybe this...
SUN 20 APRIL
Full Band Show @ The Brass Monkey
Supported by Jak Housden (The Whiltlams)
and Kitch (Kitch)
Bookings on 9544 3844
www.brassmonkey.com.au
(This one will be a good one!)
And finally a few observations from the week that was:
Monday:
Nothing significant to report.
Tuesday:
Same as monday.
Wednesday:
Went to Adelaide for a show - it was great! They call it Radelaide down there... or the "Big A". I actually really like the place. Thanks to the Grace Emily once again, and to all you folks (Jaan, Alice, Eli et al...) to happened to wander down for the gig. Unlike the last trip, it was just my own show this time round, so I got to play through a fair bit of material - including a few old songs that I rarely get the chance to play any more. Based on the way I played them, I think I should probably practice playing them a bit more often, but there you go - lesson learned. How cool is the Grace Emily?! It's very cool. Almost didn't get to the show however, courtesy of my making the check-in time by about 2 seconds... In fact, I was so late that my bag had the "Last Bag" tag on it when I collected it at Adelaide Airport. And as late as I have been in the past, I don't think I have ever had the honour of being the "Last Bag". This is not something I will be trying to replicate...
Thursday:
Ikea for breakfast!
No, we didn't try to eat the store, although I'm sure you could probably eat parts of it if you really wanted to.... In fact, a friend of mine took me to Ikea to get a cooked breakfast for $1.95. No sh... $1.95!! This includes Bacon, Scrambled Eggs, Hash Brown, Baked Beans, Tomatoes and Toast. Also, you can get bottomless Coffee for $2.00. Now this is not a cooked breakfast to write home about, but it fills the hole pretty well, and I did manage to circumnavigate the entire Ikea store.... nearly twice in fact... without buying a single thing! An Ikea store is both fascinating and terrifying all at the same time... Also, when you've finished walking round the store, you can buy a hot dog and bottomless Pepsi for $2.
And on the subject of meals, the Exeter Pub in Adelaide does a great Curry on Wednesday nights.... And the Grace Emily (where I ended up again - to watch a gig) serves a great Pint of Coopers Pale. (Pint in South Australia being a Schooner in New South Wales of course.... I never get that... there must have been someone who did it first... and then did they change the name each time they started a new state? Surely there are more effective ways to give a new state it's own drinking identity....).
Now I did at some point on Thursday afternoon manage to do an interview and a couple of live songs at Radio Adelaide with a lovely girl by the name of Lisa - who happens to be traveling to Nepal in a few weeks time to make a documentary on women in the media. I suggested that if she wanted to do a documentary about women in the media, there were probably easier ways to go about it than catching a bus 10hrs north of Kathmandu - but hey what an experience! As for the interview, I think it well, but I may have sounded like a tosser.... In which case I am fortunate that it is being aired in another state, and I most likely will never have to hear my incessant rambling. Which sounds like this blog would sound if you read it out aloud, only much worse I am sure...
(Did anyone actually try reading the blog out aloud there? I hope not....)
Friday:
Home sweet home.
Thanks Cookie for your spare bed.
There is a good fish burger shop in Surry Hills.
Saturday:
Much of life is about swallowing ones pride. If you want a really good mouthful, I suggest playing a covers gig to a room full of drunk people and coming to terms with the fact that the applause you get for a bad version of "Brown Eyed Girl" could potentially exceed anything you are ever likely to receive for your own music...
Sunday:
Manu Vatuvai scored two tries for the Warriors.
Until next time, stay well peoples.
Renny
Poem this week:
"Most of the time
We just tow the line
Walking in Circles
With the end nowhere in sight
Girl of the wine
So sweet and divine
One day with you
And everything's just fine
Don't get me wrong
This here ain't a love poem
I just got something in my veins
You came along
and I finally found my happy song
It came from you and your simple ways"
This is an unfinished song you see - and one day I will finish it - hence making it a finished song. But until then, you'll have to put up with this...
TUES 15 APRIL
Solo show @ Wollongong Uni
Music from 4pm at the Uni Bar.
And maybe this...
SUN 20 APRIL
Full Band Show @ The Brass Monkey
Supported by Jak Housden (The Whiltlams)
and Kitch (Kitch)
Bookings on 9544 3844
www.brassmonkey.com.au
(This one will be a good one!)
And finally a few observations from the week that was:
Monday:
Nothing significant to report.
Tuesday:
Same as monday.
Wednesday:
Went to Adelaide for a show - it was great! They call it Radelaide down there... or the "Big A". I actually really like the place. Thanks to the Grace Emily once again, and to all you folks (Jaan, Alice, Eli et al...) to happened to wander down for the gig. Unlike the last trip, it was just my own show this time round, so I got to play through a fair bit of material - including a few old songs that I rarely get the chance to play any more. Based on the way I played them, I think I should probably practice playing them a bit more often, but there you go - lesson learned. How cool is the Grace Emily?! It's very cool. Almost didn't get to the show however, courtesy of my making the check-in time by about 2 seconds... In fact, I was so late that my bag had the "Last Bag" tag on it when I collected it at Adelaide Airport. And as late as I have been in the past, I don't think I have ever had the honour of being the "Last Bag". This is not something I will be trying to replicate...
Thursday:
Ikea for breakfast!
No, we didn't try to eat the store, although I'm sure you could probably eat parts of it if you really wanted to.... In fact, a friend of mine took me to Ikea to get a cooked breakfast for $1.95. No sh... $1.95!! This includes Bacon, Scrambled Eggs, Hash Brown, Baked Beans, Tomatoes and Toast. Also, you can get bottomless Coffee for $2.00. Now this is not a cooked breakfast to write home about, but it fills the hole pretty well, and I did manage to circumnavigate the entire Ikea store.... nearly twice in fact... without buying a single thing! An Ikea store is both fascinating and terrifying all at the same time... Also, when you've finished walking round the store, you can buy a hot dog and bottomless Pepsi for $2.
And on the subject of meals, the Exeter Pub in Adelaide does a great Curry on Wednesday nights.... And the Grace Emily (where I ended up again - to watch a gig) serves a great Pint of Coopers Pale. (Pint in South Australia being a Schooner in New South Wales of course.... I never get that... there must have been someone who did it first... and then did they change the name each time they started a new state? Surely there are more effective ways to give a new state it's own drinking identity....).
Now I did at some point on Thursday afternoon manage to do an interview and a couple of live songs at Radio Adelaide with a lovely girl by the name of Lisa - who happens to be traveling to Nepal in a few weeks time to make a documentary on women in the media. I suggested that if she wanted to do a documentary about women in the media, there were probably easier ways to go about it than catching a bus 10hrs north of Kathmandu - but hey what an experience! As for the interview, I think it well, but I may have sounded like a tosser.... In which case I am fortunate that it is being aired in another state, and I most likely will never have to hear my incessant rambling. Which sounds like this blog would sound if you read it out aloud, only much worse I am sure...
(Did anyone actually try reading the blog out aloud there? I hope not....)
Friday:
Home sweet home.
Thanks Cookie for your spare bed.
There is a good fish burger shop in Surry Hills.
Saturday:
Much of life is about swallowing ones pride. If you want a really good mouthful, I suggest playing a covers gig to a room full of drunk people and coming to terms with the fact that the applause you get for a bad version of "Brown Eyed Girl" could potentially exceed anything you are ever likely to receive for your own music...
Sunday:
Manu Vatuvai scored two tries for the Warriors.
Until next time, stay well peoples.
Renny
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
The Weekly... Volume 3
Welcome Back!
The 3rd Edition of the weekly is a day late... courtesy of it being my birthday yesterday, so I gave myself the night off. Notice there I said night and not day - a reference to my more than impressive knack of leaving the "weekly" till the very last moments of "the week" (ie late Sunday evening) before I actually think about typing anything. Well not this time, I just let the deadline sail right past! In fact I think I was out having a beer somewhere... but enough of all that... I don’t mind being a year older - I’m cool with that.... and I am taking the extra year on the road to celebrate:
WED 9TH APRIL - SOLO @ GRACE EMILY, ADELAIDE
ON STAGE 8.30PM - FREE ENTRY!
Those of you who have been keeping track of things lately will have noticed that I am currently recording an album of some description. You may also have noticed that I am getting quite good at talking about it, but perhaps not quite so good at coming up with the final product. Well I checked the old RF Scoreboard the other day, and I think I have discovered a potential reason...
Procrastination 29
Discipline 3
So you see there is progress being made, but sadly at this stage it appears not the type of progress that would produce an entire album. Perhaps a makeshift 4-track EP with a couple of bonus scratch tracks, but that’s not really what I am going for... So April is shaping up as the month of organisation! Hoping to have a lot more of this damn thing finished before i head to Thailand, so when i get back in June I’ll be able to apply the finishing touches. That’s the plan. Whose idea was it to self-produce an album anyway...
This past week was a good one. Decent gig at The Hoey on Thursday night - must give a shout out to good friends Tammy Ingram, Brendan Maclean and Three Quarters Hazel. We had a great bill assembled. Shame about the last guy...
I had an epiphany too this week - I realised how lucky we are as musicians to be able to find so much inspiration in what we do for a living - through art, through new ideas, new approaches, new songs. I think this is the benefit of following the less certain path - maybe it’s like a risk-reward thing. But yeah - that was my epiphany, and I think it was a good one. (Not all my epiphanies are great you see... there was one about wearing a Bandana as a trademark item of clothing - not one of my best that one - I looked like a Chump - good thing there was a reverse epiphany the morning after the first Bandana gig).
Anwyay the weekly must rest for a while... I’ll leave you with the last two days of the March Walkabout. More stories next week from my quick trip to Adelaide this Wednesday, which I am really looking forward to. Who knows, I may even write another song in between nearly being arrested twice ... just like the last time I was there... (it’s a long story).
Farewell.
Renny
PS - Congratulations to Shane and Bree (you know who you are and what for). You guys rock.
----------------------------------
MARCH WALKABOUT CONTINUED:
Sat 15th March - Woojam @ The Blue Mountains Folk Festival.
Woojam, for those of you who didn’t know, was a great little open Mic night that some friends of mine used to run at Bar Me in the Cross. It was awesome - once a fortnight on a Monday night, and most of the time you could barely find a seat from the first act right until the end. The Woojam stage up in the Blue Mountains was basically a selection of us people who used to play at Woojam all the time (The Tragics...), and on the Saturday we got to play in the Baroque Room at the Carrington Inn - just a beautiful place to perform.
Now the trip from Wollongong was not without it’s challenges, as once again the Friday night in "The Gong" ended up keeping us awake till around 4.. which I can never understand, but that seems to be the way of things down there. It was fun, but the drive not so much... via Sydney... Lots of driving remember I just drove back from Melbourne Via Wagga 2 days earlier... Fortunately during the course of this tour I was reminded of how much your stage craft improves when you are playing every night. Not a huge thing, but little subtle differences that you notice from having to sing so much. Reminds me that it’s important to make the effort to tour more often. So I will. Has anyone got some suggestions? I will come to you!
The Saturday night at the music festival was good value (Great value in fact - especially with the performers pass!). Higlights for me were Brett Hunt, The Fumes, and the Ukalele guy - Joe? Jake? I can’t remember, but he was a you-tube sensation, so you can find him on there, and he can play a mean Uke! Some others were less impressive, but it all made sense with apple sponge cake at 11pm.
Woo to that!
Sun 16th March @ Will and Tobys, Sydney
And with the final leg of the tour negotiated safely, it was back to Will and Toby’s for the last show. Nice to be back in the room actualy- it will always hold fond memories because of our show there last October. I hadn’t done a band gig in over a year, and I locked one just for the hell of it... In many ways, that show renewed my faith in music - it made me realise how great it was to have a full new set of songs to play, and how important it is to set yourself new challenges creatively. So with this in mind, I was really looking forward to this gig - the last one on Walkabout. Plus I had again managed to organise a little bevy of musicians to help me out - namely Matt Field Drums, Pat Savina bass, Simon Rudston-Brown Guitar, Sarah Humphreys backing vox, Tom Trathen trumpet and Kent Eastwood accordion. Always fun with a few different players on the stage throughout the night.
For this show, we were joined again by our friends Cookie and Jaan from Adelaide, who played great. Really dig the tunes. Nice to share the stage also with Lyall Adonis and his band The House of Kings. Great band, and hopefully we’ll get to do another show soon together. Makes me think I should have a "and the....." name for my band. But they are always different players... Any suggestions? Tammy’s band was good the other night - Tammy Ingram and the Sound - I liked that one. Maybe I could be Renny Field and the ... and the ... and the .. and the NFI.
The main part of the night wasn’t till right at the end - where I had arranged a crowd sing-a-long for one of the songs on the New Album - "Our Time" (I think you can hear a live version at www.triplejunearthed.com/rennyfield). (You see this is all part of the limited progress I was talking about earlier...). Anyway we all had a sing, and it was great that so may stuck around to help out so late on a Sunday night. Turns out I got exaclty what I needed, and i think it’ll sound great when I finish the rest of the track. So thanks to everyone who was a part of it - you are all now officially the "Our Time Choir". Almost caused myself heart failure trying to set up all the recording gear, but I think it was worth it.
And that, my friends, was the end of that. The end of the tour. Thanks to everyone that offered me a show, thanks to those of you who helped my along the way, and thanks to anyone who took the time to tune in.
And I’d like to write something profound here, but from memory I already tried a couple of times this blog and it didn’t quite work...
So for now - farewell, and I’ll catch you soon. I’ll leave you with my favourite quote....
The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
~Theodore Roosevelt
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