IT'S taken Allan Caswell 67 years to do the research for his book.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With each chapter of My Version of the Truth it becomes clear the venerable songwriter has done some strange things in his life.
He's dabbled in politics, written at least 40 Golden Guitar acceptance speeches and publicly asserted his distaste for streaming.
"If you're going to tell the story you have to tell the truth, there are things I'm not proud of and embarrassed about," he said.
"In the music industry half of the process is to let people think everything is wonderful, to tell people how great everything is going even if it's not.
"There were a lot of tough times I'd forgotten and I had to go there with the book, but those are the things that made my career successful because they made me fight harder."
If there's a famous name in country music, Caswell has written with them.
He's one of Australia's most-recorded songwriters and he's set foot in nearly every town in the state, New Zealand, LA, New York, Nashville, East Timor, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.
In the music industry half of the process is to let people think everything is wonderful, to tell people how great everything is going even if it's not.
- Allan Caswell
He doesn't have a lot of faith in politics, he's got a jaundiced view of the music industry and there's plenty that gets under his skin.
But Caswell is equally entertaining, he's friendly and by all accounts a bloody good bloke.
"I refuse to have Spotify anywhere near my computer because I can't support something that's not rewarding people for their work," he said.
"We're fortunate in country music that a lot of fans still want to buy a CD and get it signed, there's a bond between the artist and fan and that's hugely important.
"I got into a lot of trouble referring to streaming as theft, but these are the things affecting young artists - the money that used to be there is no longer there and that lies at the foot of streaming."
The book, like Caswell, isn't linear.
Read also:
Each chapter focuses on a moment of significance in his life, with one dedicated to his time in Tamworth and another in Nashville.
"If I was being really honest about what I wanted the book to be, I want it to be entertaining," Caswell said.
"If I was building a show I'd have funny songs, ballads, rockier and more sensitive music and I want the book to be like that."
Caswell launches his book My Version of the Truth at the North Tamworth Bowling Club on Thursday at 7:30pm.