DAVE'S DIARY - 30 JANUARY 2005 - AUDREY AULD MEZERA
AUDREY RETURNS DOWN UNDER
 Audrey Auld Mezera |
When
Van Diemen's Land refugee Audrey Auld fled to California to be with
her new husband Daniel Mez Mezera she also resurrected her career. Audrey settled in the sleepy hamlet of Bolinas in northern California and made it her base for tours of Texas and other country music loving states. And it was in Austin that she recorded her third solo album Texas that she is touring Australia to promote. |
This is her
first tour home since moving to the US in 2003 - it started in Auckland,
and included Tamworth, Sydney, Canberra, Tasmania and Melbourne dates.
Audrey describes her style as "music with the dirt left on, closer
to being organic, than something that's been manufactured."
The Brunswick concert also enables her duet partner Chambers to showcase
songs from his new album cut for Nash's Essence label in Australia and
Audrey's Reckless Records in the U.S.
TEXAS STUDIO CAST
| "In
October 2004 Bill and I were touring Texas so it was natural to invite
Bill along to the recording session," says Audrey who earlier
cut the duet disc with her former paramour and writing and touring
partner. "Carrie Rodriguez & Darcie Deaville came along to the shows, so I invited them along to the session. Will Landin & Wally Doggett from Jimmy LaFave's band are Austin natives so I invited them along too. |
 |
"Gabe's
mum is Kimmie Rhodes & his studio is located out back of her house
at Briar Cliff, West of Austin. He built the place, brick by brick, over
a six year period and it's imbued with all the earthy beauty you hear
in his music.
"Texas is about people those who have inspired the songs - Woody
Guthrie, Harlan Howard, Billy Joe Shaver, Karla Faye Tucker, Dead Ringer
Band, father, husband and the universal family to which we all belong.
"Also about an ensemble gathered in the studio, capturing the moment
when, united
by the music of a song on the edge of being known, the here & now
is transcended.
"The one-take tracks include the creaking of the pump organ pedals,
the anticipation of skin on steel & wood, the deflated sighs as John
Kerry conceded, and the ash softy falling from Gabe's cigarette."
TEXAS TRACK LIST:
1. LOVE
YOU LIKE THE EARTH (Audrey Auld Mezera)
A rare love song from my pen! It was a thrill to hear Kimmie Rhodes sing
harmonies.
2. KARLA
FAYE (Mary Gauthier/Crit Harmon)
Karla Faye Tucker was executed in Texas in 1998. After an extended drug-binge
she and another person murdered two people. Imprisonment lead her to a
Christian faith and a plea for a stay of execution in exchange for a life-long
sentence. Denied.
3. MY
FATHER (Audrey Auld Mezera)
Redemption for the teenage years.
4. SONG
FOR HARLAN (Audrey Auld Mezera)
On hearing the story of Harlan Howard's passing I wrote this song whilst
playing his guitar, sitting in his chair. Heavenly harmonies by Kimmie
Rhodes.
5. BALL
AND CHAIN (Audrey Auld Mezera)
Featuring Bill Chambers on his hillbilly lap-top.
6. HOLE
IN MY LIFE (Audrey Auld Mezera)
Death: the inevitable separation.
Inspired by a banner in San Francisco promoting Walk for AIDS a fundraiser
for ongoing research.
7. WOODY
(Audrey Auld Mezera)
Woody Guthrie is an icon to the travelling singer/songwriter. His writing
rings true, today as much as ever.
8. MISSIN
MEZ (Audrey Auld Mezera)
I met Mez when I was 18, in Hobart, Tasmania. I saw him for a day in San
Francisco 10 years later, and married him 21 years after our initial meeting.
This song came during the 6 weeks we spent on our respective continents
(USA and Australia) prior to our wedding. Now I'm Audrey Auld Mezera,
and he's Lucky!
9. BILLY
JOE (Audrey Auld Mezera)
No Depression magazine conducted an interview with Billy Joe Shaver soon
after his Son Eddy had passed away on New Year's Eve of 2000. In 1999
Billy Joe's mother, his Wife Brenda, and her mother had all passed away.
Billy Joe said he'd always thought that he'd be the first to go but was
glad that it was he who was left if it meant sparing his family the pain
of grief. Billy Joe Shaver is a most impassioned entertainer and his songwriting
is the most vital it's ever been. Features Darcie Deaville on fiddle and
harmony.
10. SHINE
(AUDREY AULD MEZERA)
It would seem the Dead Ringer Band have travelled every road in Australia,
and carved a few new ones. Their faith, talent and vision are an inspiration
to many.
11. ONE
EYE (AUDREY AULD MEZERA)
I thought I wrote this about other people then realised it's as much about
me as anyone. Features vocals from Carrie Rodriguez and Bill Chambers.
KIMMIE RHODES
 |
Kimmie
Rhodes is the mother of Gabe and singing spouse of Joe Gracey -
a pioneer country music DJ on revolutionary Austin radio station
KOKE FM. < Kimmie Rhodes |
She first
married at 16 and starting a family where she spent several years working
on a North Texas farm with her first husband.
Rhodes arrived in Austin in 1979 with two young sons and a guitar.
Kimmie soon met Gracey - prime mover in the Austin progressive country
music scene.
She was performing as Kimmie Rhodes & the Jackalope Brothers with
Bobby Earl Smith.
The band attracted the attention of Willie Nelson, who invited the group
to record in his studio in 1981.
Her first three albums, Kimmie Rhodes & the Jackalope Brothers
(1983), Man in the Moon (1985), and Angels Get the Blues (1989,
were released in Europe.
Kimmie's 1996 CD West Texas Heaven featured 12 original songs and
duets with Waylon Jennings, Townes Van Zandt and Willie Nelson.
Her 1998 CD release was a compilation of original songs from her first
three albums called Jackalopes, Moons & Angels.
In 2000 she recorded Rich From the Journey (Sunbird) - produced
by Gabe - with a guest appearance by Gillian Welch and David Rawlings.
As a playwright and actress her debut theatrical project was writing and
performing in her 1998 workshop production of her musical, Small Town
Girl.
SHOTGUN WILLIE NELSON
Directed
by and starring Joe Sears of Greater Tuna, the play was staged in Willie's
famed western town movie set - Luck, Texas.
She and Joe Sears wrote and produced a new musical review called Hillbilly
Heaven in Luck and in Cody, Wyoming.
She released Sunbird Press novella/cookbook, The Amazing Afterlife
of Zimmerman Fees, a story by Kimmie with recipes by Joe Gracey and
Kimmie.
In 2002, Kimmie released Love Me Like A Song (Sunbird) with duets
with Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Beth Nielsen Chapman and Heartbreaker
keyboardist Benmont Tench.
And in 2003 she released a compilation of duets with Willie - Picture
In A Frame.
The disc featuring the Tom Waits-penned title track, brand new Willie
song It Always Will Be, five original Kimmie tunes, and classics
from Rodney Crowell and Willie.
The record includes new recordings of past duets as well as Rhinestone
Highway - a track from Kimmie's unreleased theatrical production soundtrack,
Small Town Girl.
It was recorded at Willie's World Headquarters in Luck, Texas with a small
acoustic
Group.
 |
Her
2004 CD release is titled Lost & Found - a set of songs
and recordings, masters that were recorded between 1996 and 2003 and
are now being released for the first time, featuring a song co-written
with Waylon Jennings. She also released Windblown - a soundtrack for new performance art piece featuring live music, interpretive dance, and character portrayals by Joe Sears, scheduled for its debut performance in January 2005. A Kimmie-Willie duet will also be featured on the new Willie Nelson duets disc on Australian label Raven. |