Touring with Macca

G’day, Just got back to the motel after the Esperance (WA) gig and it was a great concert and top responsive audience. Played Albany last night and off to Kalgoorlie tomorrow (after a look around this great part of the world) for the next concert in the tour. Played Bunbury, Mandurah and Perth last week and they have all been exciting and what a buzz to play to such packed houses. Met a number of old friends and of course, made some new ones – thanks folks for coming up at interval and after the shows to make them extra special. It’s great working with Macca and the “Gum Boot Band” – Ian Simpson (guitar and banjo), Brian Hunt (bass) and Mark Marriot (drums) – A big “thank you” also to Jane Germain for her great vocal backings to my songs. Look forward to the Kagoorlie gig on Sunday night – hope to see you there. Cheers Tony

Tamworth Song Writer Salute awards

G'day there,

There's celebration in McKenna Country about having three songs nominated in the 2011 TSA Salute award finals - they are;

Traditional Bush Ballad of the Year: "Mr Jack" - (the touching story of a young boy's friendship with his trusted old drover mate)

Contemporary Song of the Year: "Billy Ringer" - (follow Billy and his guitar from the remote outback as he seeks fame in Tamworth)

Country Ballad of the Year: "Spirit of the Land" - (this powerful ballad will lift you to a place where you will feel the "spirit" touch your soul)

You can listen to these tracks by clicking on the "music" tab on our web page

We're excited about visiting Tamworth this month, catching up with old friends and making new ones and certainly looking forward to the road trip over from WA.

Cya in Tamworth in a few days time!

Cheers
Tony

Album completed

YEEAAH!! We finished mastering (the final step in the recording process) the new album (CD) “Spirit of the Land” last Friday – hey, what an incredible experience – We had a blast during the whole recording and mixing process and the team involved became very close over the past weeks and … the songs sound FANTASTIC!! We love ‘em and know you’re gonna love ‘em too.

It was also a buzz to have my son Ben join me with backing vocals on one of the songs “Billy Ringer” (I’ve included a photo of him taken during the studio session).

The master audio is at the manufacturer and we hope have copies in our hand ready for distribution and sale in a couple of weeks. From there we’ll be out promoting it so stay in touch with our website for the actual release date and you’ll also be able to hear samples of the tracks on the web then as well.

Thanks, everyone, for your support and comments - Stay happy & we could be in your area soon so see ya down the track.

Cheers
Tony

Studio Progress

G’day,

This is a brief update FYI while we have a short break from the studio – back in tomorrow to begin finalizing the support vocals.

Last week was hectic but lots of fun and very rewarding – it’s great working with top sound engineers and accomplished musicians – check out the photos on our website. John Bell from Photo ID has been with us in the studio every minute to capture the action and is editing a video that will be posted soon so you can “walk through” the studio with us, get a brief insight into how it all works and meet the people involved.

We’ve been busy over the last few days working on the CD cover design, choosing appropriate images and deciding on a title for the album ... phew, exhausting – we’re close to a decision though and will let you know as soon as all the boxes are ticked.

Thanks for all your comments and support – stay with us, it’s great to have you involved and ... stay happy.

Cheers
Tony

G’day,

Welcome to McKenna Country.

We’ve been flat out over the past weeks with all efforts focused on our new album. I’ve spent long hours with Ian Simpson, fine-tuning arrangements, working out the backings required for each song (what a buzz hearing the basic originals come to life with Ian’s guitar and banjo genius) and finalizing musicians and backing vocalists for the session. Once all the artists are confirmed we’ll let you know who is involved but at this stage, in addition to Ian, John Reed (ex Cowpersons and now with The Yahoos) and Jane Germain (Jane’s just been nominated, with The Yahoos, for 2010 WAMI Best Country Music Act) have both put their hands up to be involved. We’re also thrilled to have James T Webb joining us to add his incredible didgeridoo talent to a couple of tracks. James heads up the Wadumbah Aboriginal Dance Group showcasing traditional dance, music and storytelling. Check out his Website: www.wadumbah@bigpond.com.

We hit the studio on the 17th of this month and looking forward to working again with Lee Buddle who has, as usual, gone out of his way in assisting the project and sourcing some of WA’s most talented musicians for the album. Can’t wait to work in Lee’s new studio in West Perth – have a look at it on www.crankrecording.com.

As the time gets closer to the studio I’m not sure if these butterflies are nerves or excitement - doesn’t hurt to have a bit of both I reckon!! Anyhow we believe we have a great mix of songs written from the heart to give you another album that will take you on a journey through our great country and introduce you to more places and people.

Will have another update prior to going to the studio – thanks for following our progress and stay happy.

Cya down the track
Tony

New album on the way

G’day, welcome to McKenna Country

Well, I’m pretty excited about the new album in the pipeline – We’re heading into Lee Buddle’s SoundMine studio on May 17^th to start recording I can’t wait to hear Lee’s considerable engineering and mastering expertise again develop the same quality album as ‘One Tree Plain”. It’ll also be great fun working with Ian Simpson again and having his outstanding musical talent contribute to the album – I’m fortunate too to have Ian producing it and we’re currently in the process of developing and arranging the songs.

The songs, all original and penned from experience, characters met and places visited around Australia are a mix of traditional and contemporary Australian country music with ballads, a touch of bluegrass and some good ol’ foot-tapping country.

I don’t want to give too much away at this stage except to say that titles will include Spirit of the Land, written during time recently spent in Arnhem Land up in the Territory. Bricks and Tiles, what lack of rain can mean to people who love the land. Billy Ringer, country boy makes it big at Tamworth. Yabbies in the Dam, will take you back to when life was simple, free and uncomplicated. We Got It All, you’ll want to stand up and shout how proud it is to be Australian with this one, and FIFO Life, a contemporary song expressing the emotional and social impact that families face when one member works way from home on a Fly In/Fly Out roster.

There’s lots of other songs too and I’ll keep you up to date through this page as the album progresses. In the meantime, stay happy.

Cya down the track.

Tony