Coogee Beach Twilight Wednesday Feb 12.
I arrived in plenty of time, and Jodi the lady in charge pointed to the 3×3 Oztrail gazebo she had set up for me to play under facing west towards the beach and ocean. It’s a good gazebo that keeps the sun off my head. The breeze was cool, so jeans and a jacket were needed. It’s always cooler on the coast. The equipment I had was my Bose L1 paired with my Roland Street Cube. It was a beautiful setting with the green grass and sheltered BBQ stations situated around the park. Children played and danced, and adults sat and ate their takeaway foods. I myself enjoyed a Thai beef dish whilst chatting with Tony, who is Jodi’s dad. I learned an interesting thing about Tony: he is the man who designed a tyre monitoring system that saved mining companies literally billions of dollars on tyres. He is a very clever and interesting person who now makes a living in the mobile food van industry. I couldn’t eat all of the food, so I stashed it in my van’s fridge for a snack when I got home. Shirley arrived in time to see me strum up a storm.
I had a surprise visit from my dear friend Peter Oats an hour into the set. He lives close by in Hamilton Hill. Peter is a sound engineer and was instrumental in producing my album “Hear the Sound”. He is always positive and just happened to be riding his bike, getting some exercise, when he heard my voice and guitar drifting through the trees as he passed. Peter is a dear friend, and we worked on 16 tracks together in his studio for over a year while I worked FIFO as a bus driver on various mine sites to pay for the production of the album. It was great seeing Peter, and we stopped to chat for a while. I continued playing until 8:30 pm. Apparently, it was quieter than previous times. I packed up and headed for home and had an early night before texting a friend and then falling asleep.
The next evening, Thursday, Feb 13, was the veranda jam at the Jarrahdale Tavern at 6 pm. I was looking forward to going along and enjoying the jam, ordering a pizza, and having my three pints of Guinness. I chose not to bring an instrument along and sit back, watch, and listen before heading home to practice and do a set list for Friday.
Friday morning, Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2025. I lay in bed scrolling through my phone. I’d been looking at a caravan to purchase on Gumtree for a few years and been waiting for the right time and had organized a viewing of this particular van. I contacted the owner and scheduled a time to view the caravan in the afternoon.
I jumped out of bed and was down at the Gianatti Hall for my weekly 9 am yoga class. We worked on our inner core today and stretched and breathed our way through an hour of yoga.
I had a show that night at 6 pm at The Vault in Kalamunda, so I planned an early departure to check it out the caravan on the way. It was a 6-meter Franklin single axle pop-top caravan made in 1980. It looked good in the ad with a good solar powered setup and two awnings. The person told me the address, and off I went on a road trip that took me to Henley Brook. I arrived at 2 pm and inspected the van, happy to learn it hadn’t been sitting for long in the driveway, which was a good sign that it would be easy to move. The floor was intact and looked good. The tryes had plenty of tread and the interior was clean and tidy. I made an offer, and the person accepted it, I planned to pay and pick up Monday. Then off I went to Kalamunda for my show at the Vault which commenced at 6 pm. I arrived to see the venue was open for the evening trade, and I loaded in through the lift and was set up in time to commence playing. Andrew (Croc) and Libby Carruthers were there, along with Shirley. Croc and Libby are owners of Carmel Cider Handcrafted. Croc gave me a 4-pack sample of cider that he wanted me to pass on to the owner of the Jarrahdale Tavern. He wanted me to give them to Steve so he could sell his quality locally made product at new venues. I’ve known Croc since I left school in ‘92 and played Aussie rules football back in Lake Grace with him. I do shows for him at Carmel Cider three times a year, with a show coming up Saturday, April 3, and Sunday, April 4, for the Harvest Festival. The night went well with a single rose gifted to me by Shirley and singing some songs appropriately suited for the evening like “Always On My Mind”, “Cupid”, “Can’t Help Falling In Love With You”, and “Love Is In The Air” to name just a few. I had a request from a proud aunt in the audience to ask if her niece could sing a song. I said yes and asked what song she would like to sing. She asked if I knew “Something in the Orange” by Zach Bryan. I replied yes, and with a quick key match, she was singing the words like an angel, but had the boys screaming out the words from the tables. So loud, in fact, she was drowned out by the boisterousness of the drunken youths. She finished and with an enthusiastic applause that was deafening, she exited the stage, and I continued with my next song.
Angelo, the owner, asked me to play on for an extra half hour, and with a slick greenback palmed into my hand, I couldn’t refuse. I had the crowd dancing and singing along to my music and even sold a couple of albums. With my business cards running low and my merch needs topping up, I set a reminder to restock the next day. I arrived home around 11 pm and went straight to sleep after a quick text to a friend.
Next morning, Saturday, Feb 14, 2025. Early 5:30 am wake-up found my stomach muscles sore from the previous day’s morning yoga session. It was a reminder of what benefits yoga does for the body. No pain, no gain, they say. Today’s mission was firstly a morning gig at the Yangebup markets. A quick breakfast and coffee, I set off and arrived to see the park was abuzz with other food vendors. The smells of the morning markets bring on the nostalgia of fun holidays, beach living, and peppermint trees. The breeze was gentle, and the morning was shaping up to be beautiful. I set up my Bose L1 and ran the power from my van setting up near the playground and began strummed into the morning. I made sure I drank enough water to keep myself hydrated.
With a fair earn and I packed my things and was on the road by 12:20 pm for a second show at 2 pm the same day at “The Old Courthouse” in Fremantle. I arrived to find my usual loading zone was under construction, so I parked around the other side at the back of the kitchen and trolleyed my equipment to the stage under the tree in the beer garden. The breeze was gentle, and I set up in plenty of time to revise a set list and order lunch. Blue swimmer crab and black ink spaghetti, it’s my favorite, and I got to take some home for another feed from Shirley’s leftovers, who thought hers was too spicy. The show was quiet, and I was relieved to finish my last song and head for home. My feet were sore from standing. Another early night, a goodnight text to a friend, and a couple of hemp gummies before my head buried into the pillow. I slept until my alarm woke me again at 5:30 am.
Sunday, February 16, 2025 I arrived in plenty of time at McLennan Park Madora Bay markets. This time, I faced north instead of west under my own personal Coleman 3×3 gazebo. This was handy due to the intensifying sun as it crept high in the sky. I carry it with me permanently and have used it regularly for shade and protection from the elements. I commenced at around 8:15 am. This time, my tips were better than the time before, and I drove away with generous gifts of fresh fruit, vegetables, and pantry condiments from various stall holders. I met a few new people and spoke to an artist who was booked to play at a later date, introducing them to Meagan, the markets manager.
I packed up and hit the road to play a second gig for the day with an afternoon show at the Exchange Hotel Pinjarra. I get regular work here with more than two shows a month, sometimes more. It backs into the Serpentine River, and my view as I strum away is breathtaking; however, this time, a temporary fence had been erected for a show the night before, blocking my view. Another tribute act for the heavy metal fans had been a huge success for the punters who showed for the event the previous evening. Nevertheless, I arrived with just over an hour to set up. Di, the manager, informed me I wasn’t scheduled to play today, and I had missed the booking from the week before. I thought to myself, “Ah, oh. What’s going on here?” A quick phone call to my manager to check on the booking found there was no mistake from our end, and after a talk with the venue manager, we decided for me to go ahead and let me play. I had set up and was about to strum my first chord when, coincidentally, Jenice from “Little Song” showed up, running late. There had been a double booking. We chatted and thought it cool if we could share the gig, both doing 2 hours each. Just then, the phone rang, and it was my manager, Leslie Hinton, again with news of a cancellation at the National Hotel Fremantle. I had already set my gear up, so I introduced Leslie over the phone to Jenice. He asked if she could take on the booking at the National as there had been a cancellation. As a favor, she agreed, and off she went on a mission to honor the booking on behalf of Leslie Hinton Entertainment. The outcome was splendid as Leslie had gained a new client, and I got to do the booking at the Exchange and complete my contract as planned. The summer day was stunning with the afternoon shade creeping further over as the days shorten ever so slightly as we approach Autumn in Australia. Lunch was a Caesar salad with added chicken; Shirley had the Caesar with prawns. It was too much for us to eat, so I asked the staff to refrigerate the food to take home later. I finished the gig at around 6 pm, packed up, and was home by 8 pm. I called into my neighbor’s place on the way home to find Colin and Shah entertaining guests on the back patio. “Do you want some apple pie and ice cream, Hayden?” I said, “yes please,” and with that, Shah dished up a huge serving, and I gobbled down the delicious treat with a cold Bush Chook. I asked if Colin could help me in the morning to retrieve the caravan I had committed to in Henley Brook. He enthusiastically replied, “No worries,” so a few more beers and a BBQ sausage, we chatted and laughed into the late evening. I had a nice phone call from a friend and found myself at home talking for a while before going to bed, exhausted from the weekend. Six gigs in the space of seven days was fun and exciting but also very taxing on the body. I chewed on two hemp gummies and sank into a deep slumber.
Monday, Feb 17, 2025, was time to wake up and make the hour-long trip to pick up the caravan. Colin was eager and ready to go. We headed up the South West Highway onto Tonkin, arriving bang on 10 am. I met the owner who was waiting for us and handed over a bag of cash. With the formalities out of the way, next was a mission to turn the caravan around as it was facing up the driveway the wrong way. With the help of my car jack and a bit of bush ingenuity, we turned the van around and hooked up, checking the lights and securing it to the Ford. We were on the road again by 11 am, towing my newly acquired holiday accommodation along the highway. We arrived back in Jarrahdale, parking up on the front lawn and making a minor adjustment to the jockey wheel. I said goodbye to Colin and began to potter around the van, pleasantly surprised to discover a 270° awning on the door side and a shower awning on the other side. I look forward to using it for some cheeky getaways to the coast in the near future.
This concludes my blog, ending Wednesday, February 19, 2025. Have a great day, and I will be back soon.
Regards,
Hayden.