JAMES Dungay leans against a towering river red gum on the banks of the Peel as he plucks a leaf and begins to play Leave him out there in the Longyard by Slim Dusty.
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It’s mid-morning Tuesday and the Kempsey man has returned to the very tree where be began busking with a gum leaf 25 years ago.
James, better known as Gurri, came to Tamworth Country Music Festival out of curiosity back in 1992.
“I thought I’d try my luck at busking,” he said.
“I didn’t know how to do it, so I started playing a gum leaf under a young sapling here.”
Nearby campers recognised the tunes and called him over. A few scores later, he was $20 richer and armed with the confidence to head to the busking mecca of Peel Street.
“I thought okay, I’m on a roll, so I ended up at the town clock and started playing as a demonstration,” he recalled.
“A nice lady put coins where I was sitting. I said, I’m not busking. She had a smile as big as the Harbour Bridge, and she gave me the thumbs up and, well, wasn’t I happy.
“I was on Peel Street, I had made it! So 25 years later, I still go back to the town clock and I’m back at the same tree.”
That tree has withstood floods over the decades – and it’s likely Gurri will stand a similar test of time.
As I try to take a leaf out of his book, he explains how to choose the pitch-perfect leaf.
“Young gum leaves are for learners,” he explains.
“If I give you a mature leaf, it’s like giving a young boy a motorbike. You’ve got to start a bit slower.”
