I got given a great compliment after I finished playing at the Wanneroo Tavern last Friday night. A gentlemen of about fifty or so came up to me and said that he'd really enjoyed my set. He apologised for playing pool throughout but he maintained that he was listening intently. He called my set esoteric. I thought that was brilliant. Esoteric. If there's anything I like to be called, that's one of them. He he he...

One thing I never wanted to be seen as was routine or predictable. I hear people talk about bands or acts who pretty much do the same songs night in and night out. I don't use a setlist when I play solo. I like to think of a couple of songs to start off with and then see where the night takes me. At a place like Rosie O'Grady's in Freo, I get heaps of requests, so that's not really a problem. If I'm at the Wanneroo though, I don't get a huge amount of audience response. There are a group of regulars there too, so I have to really make sure I mix my song choices up. I even try to make sure I play songs I haven't played for a while at that venue (or at all) and remember what I played the week before. It doesn't always come off, but I succeed most weeks at making it different.

But, getting back to the esoteric comment; that was just magic. I'll play the Brown Eyed Girls and the Khe Sanhs if I have to, but I like to do stuff that's a little different. This gentlemen singled out my renditions of Sledgehammer and Time After Time as his favourite moments of the night. Unusual choices for a male solo acoustic performer, and that's just the way I like it. I had one guy at the Foundry (RIP) come up to me after I'd played One Man Guy, which was written by Loudon Wainwright III. Hey said he enjoyed what I was doing, and added a "Nice Wainwright, by the way" in for good measure. I get a buzz when I get comments about a Warren Zevon song too, which happens from time to time.

That's one of the things I love about playing with the Wesley Goodlet Jamboree Scouts. We have (or rather, give ourselves) the freedom to play songs that are a little left of centre. Murphy's Lore is a different beast, as we need to be a little more crowd pleasin'. Not that Scouts do all obscure stuff, but we throw in the odd Squeeze, Big Star, Bobby Womack and They Might Be Giants song. We are gravitating towards 80's stuff at the moment, which is great, but we're doing songs not many other bands cover. That's the juice. That's the gas. That's what it's all about for me. How many other bands are playing Bowie's Modern Love or Everybody Wants To Rule the World by Tears for Fears? Being an acoustic trio we are limited in our soundscape too, which just adds to joy of it. I'm a fan of the stripped back, rather than the multi-layered. I think I've said it a few times, that I'd happily play with the Scouts seven nights a week. The possibilities are limitless! One time we did the last three songs of the Ziggy Stardust album (Ziggy Stardust, Suffragette City & Rock n Roll Suicide) just because we wanted to. It did get the response we imagined, but we had fun. I'd love to perform an entire album. Possibly Neil Young's Harvest? Or the Beatles' Rubber Soul? He he he...