COUNTRY music royalty John Williamson says his audience in Bathurst next month will get a show tailored to them – as do all his audiences.
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“In Bathurst, I’m going to do songs that relate to that area,” he says.
And when you’ve got a back catalogue of hundreds of songs, you’ve got plenty to choose from.
Williamson – writer of iconic Australian songs such as True Blue and Raining On The Rock – is off on a tour of NSW and Queensland that will take him to Bathurst, Orange and Dubbo in late November.
And does he have a limbering-up period before he hits the road?
“I get the fingers going three to four days ahead,” he says. “I walk around doing voice exercises. I have to get the memory back into gear.”
Williamson has seen everything in his almost 50 years in the industry: not only the various musical trends, but also the seismic changes in the recording process that mean you can now shift bits of songs into a new position with barely a thought – which increases the chance of you “buggerising” about too much, he admits.
But the country folk scene is not as affected by trends, he says.
“The nice thing about it is that it does not change too much.
“Story songs, with a catchy chorus and reasonably simple melody, will always last.”
He says an artist might come and go in people's minds, “but the music can go on forever”.
“Good melody, good rhythm will always be there,” he says.
Williamson says he gets a bit tired of airports, but touring has become easier over the years “because I've gone past trying to prove myself”.
“My challenge now is to keep writing songs that are as good as in the past.”
He doesn’t have any rules for writing his songs, but says he tries to avoid creating anything that “sounds too samey” – which is easier said than done when you have a bulging back catalogue.
“Sometimes I’ll start with a melody and I will think, hold on, I've stolen that from one of my own songs,” he says.
The writer of Rip Rip Woodchip, a protest song about the destruction of Australian forests, remains passionate about the bush and its protection.
He has been watching Indian company Adani’s efforts to establish a massive coal mining operation in Queensland’s Galilee Basin and hears some echoes from the Rip Rip Woodchip days.
“That’s always the blackmail: jobs,” he says.
Williamson will perform at the Bathurst RSL on Saturday, November 25. Call the club on 6333 2999 for tickets.
