Looking Forward to Looking Back

12.15pm Thursday afternoon passenger side front door closed with Dad (Les) parked next to me in the seat. Reverse out into the street, place the gear shift in drive and head south by south west for a 45 minute drive to Huonville in the lush Huon Valley to session four of recording Dad’s new album.

Today I drive via Hobart back roads to connect to the Southern Outlet avoiding lower Davey St jam near town (something unheard of when last living in Hobart 28 years ago). Up the rather large Mt Nelson climb and over the other side down towards Kingston and onto the Huon Highway climbing up through mountain range foothills bypassing country hamlets of Longley and Sandfly up over Vinces Hill down the other side past Grove with its fields of stone fruit trees, vineyards and random happy cows grazing in the plush pasture towards the destination inside an unassuming residential house in Huonville township.

“It is certainly a lovely dusting of snow on the mountain isn’t it”, Dad states with the experience of 96 years Mt Wellington snow ‘dusting’ observations. “That it is”, as I focus on the driving task at hand in full knowledge that I shouldn’t have had that cup of coffee just before leaving with number one priority to gain access to the toilet at journey’s end.

Journey ends, with car pulled up handily directly outside the studio side door, boot latch flicked and boot opened with guitar and music briefcase removed, taken inside and I disappear to alleviate coffee issues while Dad and Mike start their conversation about almost completed song polishing from last time. I come back in, park in the visitor seat and listen to these two seriously musically inclined people deep in discussion about putting a vocal harmony over the top of the draft track they are working on, to Dad mentioning he wants to re-do the end vocals on an almost complete track and go down rather than up.

They go about their business of harmony overlays and end vocal arrangements while I listen, dad sings and Mike does his desk work. So it goes for the allotted two hour time with three tracks now officially finished while rhythm guitar and vocal bones is laid down – “Don’t let the Old Man In” for future development. Mike finishes off the session playing some melodic lead for consideration next time.

Guitar and briefcase packed up and loaded into the car and the reverse trip home starts. Heading through Grove the back of the mountain presents on the left with Dad remarking “Wow Sleeping Beauty is wrapped up in her blanket, the facial features really stand out”, referring to a ridge line that has the appearance of a woman in repose and we muse about how this name originated without any real answer.

I remark “Hey Dad what about the Gorilla at Lake Pedder, gee that really looks like a Gorilla face”. We reflect upon the fact that it was Dad and his best mate Jim who christened that particular rockface while on one of their many trout fishing trips some years before and wonder if somehow the naming has seeped out into modern day descriptive vernacular.

Back over Vinces Hill we descend down the big hill to Longley and Sandfly. Dad remarking about a diversion we travelled the previous week up Pelverata road to his roots country of Sandfly, “You know, I have been thinking a lot about how the old place looked and I am saddened that it all looked uncared for, you know the fields, no crops and not even livestock grazing. No good”.

I think back to this recent adventure as had never been to the valley with Dad and it was certainly educational while he pointed out his grandparents house, friends and cousins houses and talked the history going back to the 1930’s where Raspberry Canes dominated the now derelict valley side paddocks and everyone was doing something to earn a quid or two.

Dad talking about the recurring sounds of rifle and shotgun blasts especially on weekends as the locals hunted possum, rabbits and wallaby mainly for selling in the skin trade. Unfortunately there were more than a few Platypus taken for their exceptionally prized skins as well. Looking back from now it would be easy to condemn those of then doing their skins trade but it was in those terrible times during and immediately after the Great Depression of the 1930’s, something that we cannot really imagine as to the hardship experienced. We did for our families what we needed to survive.

We looked at old Pickers huts dating back to those days, very humble small wooden slatted structures that matched the one that Dad spent his initial years growing up in. That particular one was no longer, destined for the dust many years ago.

I found it most difficult to reconcile this incredibly humble beginning to the man I know and love so much. On the other hand I reflected that our family has an inherent toughness especially when it comes to work of any sort and dealing with daily life challenges. Some of that is borne from the loins of those humble existence days. I wouldn’t have life any other way.

A five minute trip into the valley has turned into thirty minutes and head home we must. A three point turn on the skinny gravel road and we head out of Sandfly Valley towards home with Dad still astonished about how tiny Sandfly Creek looks. We laugh about childhood perception of how big everything is, only to be seriously disappointed as an adult upon looking back to those childhood sites of fun, mystery and excitement.

Dad reminds me that on the way back from the next studio visit we need to track down the old family graveyard nestled somewhere near Longley on the winding and steep sides of Huon Road heading up the mountain. That will certainly be another adventure as it may be extremely overgrown.

I am really looking forward to continuing to look back with now 96 year old Dad in our ongoing life journey.

A little teaser from the upcoming Album which if all goes to plan will be out in about two to three months. A synopsis of over 80 years of musical pleasure.

The aptly named track – “Looking Forward Looking Back”, written by Don Walker of “Cold Chisel” band fame for Slim Dusty, Australian country music icon circa 2000.

ENJOY!