Folks, I’m a little bit chuffed.
The album we produced earlier this year is still kicking goals and the song ‘One Horse Town’ has reached #2 on the Traditional Country Music Charts and #5 on the Australian Country Chart.
Honestly, I was over the moon when it cracked the Top 20.
Not bad for an old-ish fart who thought he was making a folk/rock/reggae/country rock/swing 50’s/punk album.
If you’ve got half an hour to kill, you can listen to it here: Greg Bray - Music
Also, if you’re around my age, you’ll know how hard it was for me to write those few lines.
Shameless self-promotion does not come easy for me, or most Gen X’ers, as we were bought up under the shadow of a social hammer.
‘Don’t get too big for your boots!’ ‘Who do you think you are?!’ ‘Is that the best you can do?’ etc.
Character building stuff.
Praise is not something I’m good at receiving. I’m getting better at handing it out though. It’s still an alien concept.
I spent most of my working life in places where praise was rarer than bunyip eggs and, basically, if nobody was yelling at you, or rubbing your face in your latest stuff up, then you could assume you were doing alright, at best.
But, you could always do better and tomorrow everything may change so stay on your toes.
Which is why, instead of telling you how wonderful my album is, I’m going to tell you a little bit about the bloke on the album cover and how much fun he had getting that shot.
The Money Shot
Took place on Agnes Waters’ Main Beach. It’s one of my favourite places on the planet, got a real good vibe.
I was on my own, the weather almost perfect and I thought, ‘YES! Do this thing my son!’
What should have been a five-minute job (a song on the album… plug, plug, plug!) quickly turned into a farce as several things went wrong all at once.
As I set up the camera by wedging my stand into the sand, my hair band broke. Not usually a big deal, but the wind kicked up to 30 knots at the same time, so it was a bit hard to see through the whipping follicles.
Then my phone stand fell over breaking one of the little legs. So, I had to stomp off into the dunes and find a log to rest it against. This done, I went to take the photo when a gust of wind hit from a different direction and my phone fell into the sand.
I made the little sighing noise I reserve for such occasions, cleaned it up, found a second bit of driftwood and wedged the stand into the gap between the two.
Then my Bluetooth camera clicker died. Of course it did.
Happily, repeatedly punching the thing got it working again.
Then a lady appeared behind me, put down her beach bag and towel and started taking off her bikini top. I pondered if including her in the photo would help album sales but decided against it.
Eventually.
Carrying my guitar, guitar bag, phone, two bits of driftwood and a busted stand, I staggered further down the beach to a slightly less crowded location.
But the wind speed had kicked up another gear and by now, the last thing I wanted to do was smile.
Just as I was thinking, ‘Screw it, write today off and go home’, I decided, to take one more photo, and no matter how bad it was, it would have to do.
Using the head of my guitar to hold back the hair on one side of my head, I began clicking the Bluetooth button and nothing was happening.
Terrific.
Then, my guitar bag got caught by a gust of wind and began rolling/sailing down the beach.
Honestly, it was so surreal I started laughing. Really laughing. Just as the clicker decided to start working again.
And, that’s how I got the photo and the memory of it still makes me smile.
More Fun, Less Stress
In a week where a lot of stuff has gone ‘not quite to plan’ (I think would be the nicest way to explain it, without a lot of swearing) we’ve had moments of gold which have made everything worthwhile.
Look, I’m not ashamed to admit, I have been a bit guilty of taking myself far too seriously lately, especially when I’m tired and stressed and a deadline is looming like the Kraken over the horizon.
And sometimes life has to get a bit farcical to remind you to laugh at the silliness of it all then carry on.
The Tour!
As you read this, we’ll be heading south on our 2026 musical odyssey, aka: ‘Playing for Petrol’ tour.
After watching fuel prices round the country leap, then soar, I’ve re-re-hacked the travel budget and come up with a rough petrol estimate I haven’t had the courage to share with Doll just yet.
But I have a plan! Admittedly, it’s not very cunning or original:
Cheers,
Gb