Ian Moss to play at Bathurst | Western Advocate

MANY a big Australian musical name has a memory of playing a show at Bathurst over the years.

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ON HIS WAY: Ian Moss has played at two of the more imposing locations in Bathurst. Next week he will play at a more sedate city venue. Photo: DANIEL BOUD

But how many of them can top Australian guitar legend Ian Moss, who remembers performing at two of the city’s most imposing locations during his days with the definitive pub-rock band?

“I have fond memories of the early days with Cold Chisel, including playing on a stage set up inside the Mount Panorama racetrack. I have done the hot lap a few times at Mount Panorama,” he said.

“I have also played, with Cold Chisel, at Bathurst jail.”

Playing at Bathurst is one thing, but knowing how to say the city’s name to the satisfaction of the locals is another.

Recent visitor Guy Sebastian admitted he was “schooled quite aggressively” in how to pronounce Bathurst when he first performed in the city.

“I might have been putting a bit too much emphasis on the 'R', but was informed it's more like Bath-hust,” he told Fairfax Media in June.

But Moss reckons he has the pronunciation down pat.

“This a trick question?” he asked.

“It’s always been two syllables: ‘Bath’ pronounced with a short ‘a’ sound, as in cat or rat, and ‘thurst’ as in ‘thirsty’.”

Moss - who was described by Andrew Stafford in a profile piece in The Sydney Morning Herald earlier this year as “blessed with one of the finest white soul voices anywhere, a prodigious songwriting gift, and palpable on-stage charisma” – is back on the road to play songs from his new self-titled solo album.

He will be at the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre next Friday, August 10 before doing a run of shows in regional NSW through the month and into early September.

Asked if he knows much about the Bathurst district, Moss is honest.

“No, but I know that it’s a beautiful area,” he said.

“I also know Bathurst does cold really well in winter.”

For the writer of the Cold Chisel classic Bow River – a song about a man’s yearning to travel to Australia’s north, and which features the lyrics “goin' for the heat, babe, and a tropical rain” – August in Bathurst might come as a bit of a shock.

For tickets to the Bathurst Memorial Entertainment Centre show, visit www.bmec.com.au or call 6333 6161.