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| Repping the Reds 2021 Indigenous Jersey while listening to my favourite singer of all time |
A few years ago, Paul Kelly organised a festival in Dirranbandi (or “Dirran” as the locals call it.) It was going to happen again last year, but got cancelled for obvious reasons. Fortunately things clear just enough for it to go ahead in 2021!
We drove out on Saturday and stayed the night in a little town called “Westmar” We managed to score free accommodation and meals because my two mates Chris and Jake played some live music for them in the evening! The Westmar locals were a nice crowd and the hospitality was top-notch!
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| Jake and Chris made the locals happy with some live tunes |
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| Outside the Westmar Roadhouse before heading to Dirranbandi |
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| Westmar is in between St George and Dalby... one of the many nice small towns we visited. |
The next morning we drove to Dirran and upon arrival, made our way straight to the main stage!
The sound was loud and the music was awesome. Brisbane local Benny Nelson and his band turned me into a new fan! Hope D also entertained the crowd with her loop pedal skills, before the big man arrived...
Troy Cassar-Daley
Troy Cassar-Daley is my favourite artist of all time. That’s saying something because I’m a huge Johnny Cash fan. People often ask me what type of music I like. The answer is all types of music, but mainly country and classic rock. If I had to listen one style of music all day, it would be country!
Troy is my favourite singer for a lot of reasons and many of them were in on full display during this show. His singing, his relatability, his story-telling and amazing musicianship were all on display. Even more impressive was the fact that he played with only two other musicians, a 3 piece band! (Most country singers have another guitarist on stage with them to fill out the sound, but because of Covid restrictions, it was just him, a drummer and a bass player.) His guitar playing was flawless! No doubt, there are not many world-class singers out there that could be the lone guitarist in a band and still pull off a show like the one we witnessed!
He sang my current favourite of his, “Back on Country” and a number of my favourites like “Dream out Loud” and “Trains”. He even pulled out a surprise cover of “The Gambler”, which the crowd loved.
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| It was pretty exciting meeting Troy for the first time. Hopefully it won't be the last. |
After that, it was on with the show. The great Russell Morris was on next with his band! (He’s the guy that sings “The Real Thing”) and then to mix things up, Ian Moss put on a great solo set.
After that, the OTHER big guy got up. Paul Kelly put on a massive show with a huge band. Thanks to someone special helping me out, I got a front row seat. As you can expect, he sang all classic like “How to Make Gravy” and “From Little Things Big Things Grow”.
He even had Troy back on to sing their song “Wish I was a Train”. What a night!
We went back to our camping ground knowing we had witnessed something special. Many of country folks (and a few city folks) had an amazing time and we felt even better knowing that the money raised from the event was going towards a local Agricultural Studies program and scholarship. It was good to see that Alliance Airlines had sponsored the event, helping out with some free chartered flights. (Alliance are also one of the Queensland Reds great sponsors, in case you didn't know.)
Thanks to Paul Kelly and our mate Danny Sheehan for putting on an awesome event. I'm looking forward to next time already!
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I can't wait to get on the road again....
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