canada [march 06]

Ok so before i left for canada i did my research and learned that it was going to be minus 10-15 degrees celcius when i got there. I couldn’t really conceive how cold that was. I put all the warm items of clothing i own into my suitcase, but nothing could have prepared me for this kind of cold! Needless to say i had to acquire some new clothes when i got there to get me through (thanks Steve and Gislaine!). There was snow on the ground when i touched down in Toronto, and there was snow on the ground everywhere, everyday until i left. Canadian Music Week in Toronto was a hectic jet-lagged sleep-deprived blur of forums, meeting people, and performing showcases, as well as catching some of the other acts that were in town for the week. It was great to be there. Then it was on the road with DobaCaracol (www.dobacaracol.com), an awesome Montreal-based group whom i met back in September when we both played a festival in Cairns. They are a beautiful bunch of people who make great music and have a huge following in Quebec. We played to a full house every night and my french got a good workout introducing the songs to the audience...of course i made a couple of embarassing mistakes mais bon ce n’est pas grave!...also played an Australian music showcase in Montreal with Giants of Science, The Gin Club, Brindle and Iron On, all of whom put on a great show. Played a couple of my own shows in Ottawa and Montreal – thanks to Jeraud and Roni. Managed to fit in a side-trip to Quebec City which was awesome, the city is UNESCO World Heritage listed for the fortified old city which really is something else. I felt like i was back in the 1700s... Went cross-country skiing, fell into a frozen lake, went ice-skating on the Rideau Canal in Ottawa...saw Arianne Moffat in concert, also Alpha Blondy on my last night in Montreal which was killa! so all in all an awesome action-packed couple of weeks and i so look forward to coming back...maybe i’ll time it so that it’s a little warmer...thanks so much to ArtsWA for helping to make it happen, to Doriane, Carole et DobaCaracol, to Max, Micko Kempa, Patrice, to Franz, Kirya and Rene at Indica, and to everyone who gave me such positive feedback and bought cds merci a tous et j’espere qu’on se verra bientot! big big love xxx

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november 05
Phew! What happened to the past year? Where’d it go?? It’s certainly been a while between postings!...

So to fill y’all in on what I’ve been up to the past year, here’s a few words n pictures… The year started out Woodford Folk Festival, which if you’ve been before you know what that entails, if you haven’t then get there anyway you can. It is, in a word, HUGE!! The Woodford shows were the last of an extensive east coast tour (which also included shows at Folk, Rhythym & Life Festival (Vic) and Peat’s Ridge Festival (NSW)). In February I was lucky enough to visit and tour Aotearoa/New Zealand for the first time – what a land, what awesome people, what a great vibe! Caught all the best roots/reggae/dub bands at Soundsplash festival, including the mighty Trinity Roots in apparently one of their last ever shows… played about eight shows all around the North Island - thanks to Joel for booking the tour and to all who came to the shows, all the connections that were made - I want to come back sooner rather than later…did a Northern NSW/SE Qld tour end of March with the lovely paulieB and Geoff Green from george on bass and drums respectively… back to WA and the lineup of Daniele Dipaola on drumkit, Federico Duende on percussion and Alexis Sadler on bass established itself at the WAMI festival, Freo’s West Coast Blues and Roots Festival, and at Fairbridge Festival. April/May saw this lineup go into the studio (Studio Couch, North Fremantle, with Shaun O’Callaghan) to begin work on the next release, an EP. Before the mixes were finalised, an opportunity to go to Garma (see www.garma.telstra.com) beckoned, and 6 days in eastern Arnhem Land was all it took to be completely blown away by the Yolngu culture - fifty thousand or so years ancient yet evolving and contemporary, so complex and with such intimate and advanced connection to the land. A reminder of the 500 or so cultures and lores that were here long, long before any western/European cultures came in the wrong way and established themselves here… 17 dusty, bumpy hours in the back of a troupy and we were back in Darwin, where I stayed for a week or so gigging (with Gavin Shoesmith on double bass and Mark Smith on drums) and enjoying the pawpaw salad and ginger lime juice. Played at Gunbalanya open day for the second year in a row, including another visit to Injalak hill and the incredible rock art galleries there. Back home again played a show on board the Rainbow Warrior, which was in Freo en route to Hong Kong to continue its mission for peace. The EP mixes were finalised and the These Days/You’re the One EP released nationally on September 19 through MGM distribution. A 5-week, 22-date national tour followed, starting with the Uptempo Festival in Cairns. It was the first time to that part of the country for most of us and we blissed out in the tropical swimming holes and ate freshly caught fish wrapped in paperbark and cooked in the coals of a beach fire at Mission Beach. Yum!! Many many hours in the tour bus and 5000kms later we’d played 22 shows all down the coast (see past tour dates for show details), ending at the Grace Emily in Adelaide. Big love to all of you who came to the shows, and to everyone who made us feel so at home along the way – it really is a dream come true to be able to travel and play music to you all. See you out there sometime soon! x

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top end [august 04]
Waking up under a mozzie net to the sound of breeze through trees…so many different bird calls…a face full of freshly fallen frangipanis – mmmm…this is the Top End in dry season – what paradise!!
Played 7 gigs up here – Darwin Festival, for which we got a five-piece band together at the last minute and rocked it on the big stage in the botanical gardens – a totally magnificent venue…the Lizards Bar (possibly the best beer garden ever!), Mandorah Hotel, Nightcliff markets…two gigs in Katherine, including one with Ross Wilson (he wrote that Eagle Rock song)…after the gig, went to the hot springs…after I got over my crocodile paranoia it was the most incredible and surreal experience – stepping into natural hot springs on a freezing cold night, mist coming off the top of the water – mmmmm… did a workshop with the kids at St John’s College in Darwin which I really enjoyed – the kids are great, if a little shy! There’s some budding musical talent there for sure…my final gig was out at Gunbalanya community open day in Arnhem Land…I will never forget driving into Arnhem Land for the first time…got to time your entry cause too early or too late and the East Alligator river won’t let you cross!…but the country up there blew me away in a massive and profound way…you can feel the wisdom held in those ancient rocky ridges – and the birds! I read that one quarter of australia’s bird species live up here – totally incredible. Was blessed enough to witness layer upon layer of rock art here, Injalak Dreaming, courtesy of our guide Thomson who shared with us the land and culture of his people. This rock art is old. Very old. 20,000 years?… Another highlight at Gunbalanya was when Narbalek band played – those boys go off!! And I have never, ever seen anyone dance like those kids up there danced. Usually quite shy, when the band started playing they were off, shakin it like nothing else…

I managed to explore the Top End a bit on days off – there is so much up in that country its overwhelming and exciting – waterfall luxury in the massive Litchfield national park, sunset at Ubirr, Kakadu (majestic beyond words)…I managed to also visit the house I lived in as a toddler for two years in Jabiru which was great for me…and of course much time was spent at the Mindil Beach markets in Darwin, with fresh lime/ginger juice or mango smoothie in hand, watching the sunset…this is the life!! Can’t wait to come back…

Big up to juZ (and Andre) at Dragonfly Entertainment, who worked so hard to make sure the chaos was minimal!! And to gorgeous Leniece for everything…to JK, Les, Mark, Jo and Robbie for your time and the energy you gave to the music…to Rob at St John’s College and to Freedom – you rock! See you all next time xxx

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europe [july 04]
Someone once told me that Einstein only slept for 3-4 hours a night, with the odd siesta during the day…this kind of relates to the philosophy I have adopted for now whilst touring which is that sleep is highly overrated and to be done at a later time when there aren’t so many new people to meet, places to see, gigs to get to…those who know me of course know that this isn’t true and that I love my sleep…but when time is limited and you wanna do it all you’ve got to depend on that reserve tank of energy that kicks in and keeps you rockin…such was the case when I visited germany and spain…tip: when in germany do not assume that kissing strangers on both cheeks is normal when being introduced (as it is in many of it’s neighbouring countries) cause it’s definitely not and you might give people the wrong impression!…had a few hours to look around Munich…even met a genuine traditional Bavarian man, red-faced from all the one litre glasses of beer he’d been drinking…after weighing myself down with a traditional Bavarian meal (Knudel to be precise, absolutely delicious and which sat in my stomach like a boulder), played a set at the Pathos Club, a really cool venue which that night had a great vibe - dimly lit and intimate, you could tell everyone was listening to every word which is always amazing and intense…luckily most germans speak really good english too cause my german stopped at yr 10 level and has receded since then…danced to some rockin roots reggae, dub and dancehall for hours after the gig, MASSIVE thanks to Fred who put the whole thing together…couple of hours sleep then onto a plane bound for spain where I met Paul (drums) and Mayol (double bass) who had learnt all my songs and written out charts from the cd…was weird and wonderful to rock up and play a gig with people I’d never met before, let alone played with, but turned out great…did three gigs in all over three nights in Sitges and Vilanova – coastal pueblos (towns) just south of Barcelona…This was a chance to practise my Spanish (castillano), which I’m proud to say is pretty good, and I managed to do all the gigs speaking to the crowds and explaining the songs in Spanish… managed to fit in a whole heap of eating too (which is a big priority in Spain, none of this London-style ready-made meals, so much fresh locally made produce YUM)…and the Café del Mon did a great mojito – this is now my drink of choice…big up to JuanLu who got the whole thing happening and taught me a beautiful song of his which we sang together in spanish, to Sanjay who helped interpret when I got stuck (‘gratitude; in Spanish is ‘agradacemiento’) and also rocked on percussion and to Jose, Freddy, Kike, Hector and Alicia from Calimas too – me lo passe que te cagas gracias a vosotros!!! Hasta la proxima…besitos xxx

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london [21|06|04]
So, londontown…it has been wonderful to be reunited with the Raison d’Etre family over here. Healer Selecta and Crystal work so hard to put on these events, which always have such a positive, warm vibe…I’m so honoured and excited to be playing with Jamie Lawrence again (double + electric basses)…Jamie literally just got back from Romania where he was puppeteering on the 5th Chucky film!! Have also hooked up with Saul Eisenberg on drums and percussion…Saul is one of the most expressive and animated players I’ve ever seen…the launch at the Rhythm Factory on Wednesday was our first gig together, and it rocked (especially for one rehearsal!) Was a full house and I really enjoyed our set, great to be playing with a band again…

London is a crazy town indeed…I like to call it babylon(don)…it is massive, grey, dirty, overwhelming…it is vibrant, colourful, creative, exciting…a lot of people, it seems, have forgotten how to smile, which is a big shame. One thing I do love is there is always an opportunity to practise my Spanish, French, Portuguese…there are so many communities from all over the world here, who have established a home away from home. Before our Rhythm Factory set we went to Brick Lane (where all the street signs are written in Bengali as well as english) for a curry and MAN was it good!!!

For all it’s suited, straight-faced commuters, london sure is a hive for progressive and sustainable thinking and doing. I’ve been impressed by a lot of the street art/graffiti here…and there’s a non-stop buzz of music, theatre, dance and art, so much going on all the time…pretty much any live act you want to see comes through here at some stage…consumerism is so alive here it’s scary…people walking around loaded with designer shopping bags with big grimaces on their faces…walking straight past the homeless with their cardboard mattresses on the pavement…who is happier I wonder?…it’s a town of extremes that’s for sure…

Jumped on the train on Saturday, up to the Leamington Peace Festival…a great little festival with lots of peace talks and info on all the crazy stuff that’s going on in the world right now. Took part in a photographic petition, where they take your photo holding an anti-war slogan…great idea I thought…great to have so much info available…from Pagan treeplanting groups to Landmine clearing, pedal-powered hifi to fairtrade tea and coffee…we really do have to inform ourselves these days cause we ain’t gonna hear it in the nightly news!!!

I had a great gig at the festival, was really magic…it was really bloody cold just before my set, I was thinking ‘I thought it’s meant to be summer’…and everyone was looking pretty miserable…I thought, it’s gonna be a hard one…got up there and began to play, would you believe, halfway through my first song, the sun came out to play!!! Thawed everyone out, it makes such a difference! Yeah!!! And suddenly all these people came from nowhere, and I had a really big, appreciative audience…you gotta love that…turned out to be a great gig…

HAPPY SUMMER (or winter if you’re down under) SOLSTICE TO YOU ALL!!!

Big love and blessings,

saritah xxx

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