How to Find Y' Mojo!

It was only a short tour but Holy Smoke!.....it was just what I needed to get my mojo working again.

Here's what I learned I need to locate my zing, get my inspiration back, get excited again:
I stayed with muso's.  I played with muso's. I hung out with muso's. I met new audiences....and new audiences met and loved my music. Oh yes - I LOVE BRISBANE!  Some 22 hours of solo travel time - to and from, with just me and my thoughts. Hearing new bands and other songwriters. Just goes to show it's not quantity [or length of tour] that counts but quality [richness of the experience] That's my recipe and you're welcome to share it!

Here are just a few of the highlights of this little tour:

• Making Magic at Redland Folk  - Sunday afternoon could only be described as magic when I invited a whole bunch of musicians I didn't know to play on various songs in the set.  Chrissy and Julie on single then duelling harmonica, Chuck on stunning guitar, Richard on Trombone, and of course those gorgeous harmonies from Mary and Anne.  Didn't the audience just love it?!   And didn't we?!! Just an extraordinary experience, sharing the passion of music
• Discovering the gold nugget of Foco Nuevo - totally unexpected, totally different from what I'd anticipated.  Having Steele Chabeau turn up to play de-lovely Bass on my set with me - no charts, unknown songs, just cold play ....and he did he rock!!!!  Delightful audience.  Stunning music from Jumping Fences who were just soooo tight and polished.  A great set from the Toni Pollard Band [although just a tad long - and how the heck does she keep up that pace for so long?! impressive]
• Staying with friends Chris and Peter - Pete is a songwriter and lovely guitarist who used to live in Newcastle.  Yakking our heads off about music music music....and then lending a hand to write a great set of lyrics to a brilliant melody of Peter's and turning out an excellent song!   My first successful collaboration. 

    Plus many more little joys and delights to add to the memory bank [and subsequently flavour some new songs with in the future].....and a couple of experiences that I plan to forget once I reach the point where I can laugh about 'em [like a crap last gig, getting lost driving to Ballina via Ipswich].

I returned home with my head absolutely stuffed full and buzzing with new ideas, new projects, and new enthusiasm.   Doesn't take much, does it?!

Green 'n Clean

What a lovely Irish night at the RX theatre on Wednesday evening - St Pat's Eve!  And thanks to all the people who trooped out for it ....including some genuine Irish folk in town.

The feedback on Borderless was most gratifying with audience members commenting that they just loved the stories and appreciated that somebody was bringing this information to light.  For some, it was a real insight into just how influential Irish womens settlement was on Australian family and society today.  And with @ one-third of Australians claiming Irish ancestry, that's a whole lot of influence!

The audience also enjoyed some cracking Irish yarns from Clark Gormley and Catherine Knight - such accomplished storytellers! - as well as some sweet Irish songs from Bilbo.  And everyone - performers and audience alike - expressed appreciation of being able to celebrate St Pat's day [albeit in advance] in such an authentic way.

Those comments contrasted glaringly with some anecdotes related to me only last night...... "we went to 3 local pubs after work at it was ghastly!  They were all full of ugly drunks and there was NO music!!  We couldn't believe it!  What's St Paddy's day without Irish music?!" ... and this  "we found music at lunchtime in one pub but it wasn't REAL Irish music.  We were hoping to hear some traditional Irish but what we got served up was plastic paddy crap which just sooooo bad and then it deteriorated into stupid rock music sung in this ugly false accent"

I reckon it's a pretty poor indictment of local venues disrespect for their patrons.  And maybe that presents some good opportunities for alternative initiatives NEXT year.   If patrons can't get what they're looking for from their local pubs, they'll find it somewhere else.

Oh well, you know what they say .....it's an ill wind.......

WAITING FOR .....INSPIRATION?!

Oh Dearie Me!!
What a start to 2011......trapped in the Queensland flood, a traumatic escape, devastation for my son, and we're all still trying to come to terms with the experience and the fall out.

Is it any wonder that I'm lacking inspiration right now?

Funny, but everyone says "oh, there'll be a great song out of this, won't there?" Yet that's the last thing I feel like doing.
Fortunately, I'd finished a couple of songs during December - when I took a much needed break after a very heavy 2010 - planning to be back in the studio for recording in January.   Well, with the studio dates set for late January, the floods put a stop to that too!  So those new songs will have to remain as live-performance-only for the time being.

I'm back in SE Queensland in late March for a short tour and a series of small gigs so if you're around the Brisbane area and want to come along to one or two, just let me know.   Here's a brief look at a couple of the newies that I'll be sharing - and eventually recording:

• Cover Your Load - purely for laughs....about getting caught short on a road trip - we've all done it!
• Day is Done - a ballsy blues with guts
• Wasting Time - a funky little number
• All Dressed Up - a quirky tale of love's revenge
• Granny Hell- yeh, I said I'd never record it but I will - shhhh, don't tell!

Hope to see you at a gig soon.

OH.....by the way....for those of you in the Newcastle area who have been wondering when I'm going to get around to delivering the Borderless project here - it's coming to the Royal Exchange Theatre in Bolton Street on Wednesday Night March 16 (that's St Pat's Eve - appropriate for a show about Irish female settlement in Australia, eh?)

Love the Skin you're in!

Now some of you may have guessed from the photo's on my various sites that I'm not exactly....well.....er....trim, taut, and terrific.....well actually I AM terrific .... but the trim 'n taut bit, well....err.....yes....it's true!  I'm not!

Guilty!

And if I listened to the media, I'd get real sad about that .... depressed .... morose ....self-conscious.....uhm, embarrassed.....hmmmn.   Well reader, if you've ever seen me in live performance, you'll know that none of those descriptions apply.  I'm larger than life - and loving it!

But I'm fed up to here [pointing to the top of my wee short head] with the bombardment of 'lose weight' messages .....get fit....fit in....fit the right shape, the right size, the right clothes, the right pigeonhole.  Well Bugger it - I won't!  I refuse to be shaped by popular tastes and stereotypes.


And I'm REAL ticked off with a society that tells our young people that they can't be loved, accepted, worthy, unless they fit that bloody pigeonhole!  Because that's nothing more than marketing hype to fuel a weight loss industry which is making millions ....currently $750million per annum in Australia....and a marketing machine that wants to sell squillions of beauty-based products.


Well you know what.....I like to know who somebody is under the skin ...and I'm surrounded and loved by beautiful people who love me for who I am ....and who I am has nothing to do with how I look.  In my mirror I'm beautiful.  [my mirror's not for sale by the way!]  I'm respected, admired, appreciated by people who matter [including me]....and that's ALL that matters.


so endeth the lesson.........


but the reason I've shared that with you is so that you'll know what's behind the song A Little Fresh Air 'n Exercise.   It's a send-up song.  Written during the time of my last relationship with a dear man who couldn't handle any more than 9 years with a wacky muso!  [and we are still friends]   He used to say "gawd, I love a woman with a big bum - y've got something to snuggle in to"


I think you'll enjoy the song .....and if you haven't heard it, it's now loaded up on my reverbnation site.  You can have a listen.  And you can buy the track if you like it.  Even make it your ring tone!


http://www.reverbnation.com/mymaureenobrien


Oh, and its on the Many Shades of Blue Album - which won the national Trad&Now magazine award for best CD in Blues and Roots.  You can order that direct and we'll post it out.


Enjoy the listen ....and love yourself.