SINGER-SONGWRITERS are descending upon Nundle’s The DAG Sheep Station for the annual Songwriters’ Retreat, with Luke O’Shea so keen he arrived yesterday to soak up the winter atmosphere.
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O’Shea said he was getting into the zone of what Nundle had to offer before the retreat began today.
Aspiring songwriters from across the country will collaborate with O’Shea, Felicity Urquhart, Kevin Bennett, Lyn Bowtell, Jeremy Edwards and Aleyce Simmonds at the retreat over the weekend.
“I always really looking forward to it because it’s a very inspiring weekend for tutors and students alike,” O’Shea said.
“You can’t delve into that creative space without pushing yourself into new territory and that’s the fascination of songwriting. When get into such an amazing and magical environment like you do at The DAG, I get really excited.”
During the retreat, Urquhart and O’Shea will work through the process of writing a song together in front of the students, so they will see what happens.
“It’s quite interesting for me because you never know what’s going to happen. It’s a combination of many things that sometimes just magically appear or strike – it can be a serendipitous line or hook or melody that might appear or it mightn’t,” O’Shea said.
The tutors will then go one-on-one with the students and end up writing five songs with different students in various states of completion.
“The songs could be to completion or part songs,” O’Shea said.
There are no rules because you just don’t know what is going to happen and that’s why it is forever fascinating.”
O’Shea said The DAG was “such a creative space, you can’t help but be inspired”.
As well as the retreat and songwriters showcases at The DAG, O’Shea has his own songwriter dinner show on Saturday night at the North Tamworth Bowling Club.
“I’ll share some stories and be open for requests,” he said.
“These are my favourite shows, where you can connect with the lyric and the story and, if it’s over fine food and wine, then that’s all the boxes ticked.”
O’Shea will ride off into the sunset from Hats Off to continue travelling the country with his songs, with his latest, My Country My King, getting high-rotation on the Country Music Channel.
“It was a very important thing to say at this time (with the federal election) because my country is my king,” he said.
“The public are not buying into the short- term popularity contests anymore, and people are seeing through the quick buck sell-offs to gain popularity. We want long-term vision and leadership for Australia that will extend into the next millennium. We want to be assured that we have a strong vision for our children and our survival on the world stage.”
His next single will be Old Man’s Shed written in Nundle with The DAG’s co-owner John Krsulja.