Dear Orphans

Rise Up Like A River: Out now

Fri, 09 Sep 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Rise Up Like A River is out now. Head over to www.nickpayne.com to grab it.

One, two, you know what to do.

Head on over to www.nickpayne.com for the album on CD, or the album plus a cap, t-shirt, etc,.

Buy now

Rise Up Like A River: Pre-order Nick's debut album

Wed, 03 Aug 2016 00:00:00 +0000

I’ve finished my album! It officially is available September 1, but you can get your hands on it early.

It's official – the title for my album is "Rise Up Like A River." Pre-order link in bio. #americanamusic #countrymusic #willowtree #truckstop #sunrise 📷 @zoelovepuppys

A photo posted by Nick Payne (@orphan_nick) on Aug 3, 2016 at 7:26pm PDT

Recorded over a two year period Rise Up Like A River has been a labour of love and I’m really proud of what I’ve created.

The album was features twelve songs across two “sides” recorded with two bands, plus a few others. Side A features five songs played with current and former members of The Wildes, and recorded in a friend’s art studio in Melbourne. Side B features the Dear Orphans band.

Side A is named “Salvation Jane” and all it’s songs are set in the present. Side B is named “Paterson’s Curse” and these songs are set in the past. The instrumentation of each side matches the time the songs are set – hence the two bands. Each song on a side pairs up with the same numbered song on the other side and has a matching theme, being – hardship, revenge, death, happiness, loss, and salvation.

Pre-order now

To pre-order the album visit my page on the Pozible website — pozible.com/project/pre-order-nick-paynes-new-album — where you can choose to pre-order just the album, or the album plus other stuff. Pre-orders are open until midnight on Monday August 22. The album will be dispatched the next day so you’ll have it that week.

Pozible is a crowdfunding platform that is “all or nothing”. That means, that I need enough pre-orders to reach a target of $2,500. If I don’t receive enough pre-orders then I don’t receive any money.

So please go ahead and grab a copy now.

Pre-order Nick's album

Many thanks. Nick.

P.S. If you know others who enjoy good music then please share this link with them – pozible.com/project/pre-order-nick-paynes-new-album.

Rise Up Like A River: Tracklist

Side A: Salvation Jane

White Line Fever – a trucker’s song
Enemy – revenge in the suburbs
The Last Bend – car crash regret
Queensland – road trip
My Darling Kate (Feat. Katie Brianna) – break up song
Salvation Jane – driving through the Snowy Mountains

Side B: Paterson’s Curse

Old Sydney Town – convict life
Rising River – spaghetti western
Never Had a Sweetheart – sea shanty
Home Town – visiting the place you grew up
A Shipwrecked’s Lament – drowning at sea
Peace Tonight (Feat. Megan Cooper) – an old-timer buries his missus

The Bands

Side A band

Lachlan Bryan: Yamaha CP70 electric piano
Andrew Wrigglesworth: twangy Telecaster electric guitar
Shaun Ryan: electric bass
Damian Cafarella: drums

Plus appearances from:

Jy-Perry Banks: pedal steel on White Line Fever
Lyn Taylor: backing vocals on White Line Fever, Queensland, and Salvation Jane
Jolyon Gray: backing vocals on White Line Fever, The Last Bend, Queensland, and Salvation Jane
Michael Carpenter: hammond organ on The Last Bend
Aaron Langman: pedal steel on The Last Bend
Kath Morrison: trumpet on Queensland
Martin Taylor: trombone on Queensland
Katie Brianna: vocals on My Darling Kate
Kelly Elia & Jackie McCaughan: violins on Salvation Jane
Ella Jamieson: cello on Salvation Jane

Side B band

Carlyn Chen: fiddle
Jolyon Gray: backing vocals, mandolin, wurlitzer
Lyn Taylor: backing vocals
Paul Sun: double bass

Plus appearances from:

Jenny Shimmin: banjo on Old Sydney Town
Katie Barker: backing vocals on Old Sydney Town
Michael Roberts (AKA Mickey Blue Eyes): Poorly tuned upright piano on Rising River, piano accordion on Never Had A Sweetheart
Oscar Henfrey: snare on Rising River, drums on A Shipwrecked’s Lament
Richard Galluzzi: clawhammer banjo on Never Had A Sweetheart
Katie Brianna: backing vocals on Never Had A Sweetheart
Anna McInerney: fiddle on A Shipwrecked’s Lament
Ben Hurley: uilleann pipes on A Shipwrecked’s Lament
Ben Thomas: clawhammer banjo on Peace Tonight
Megan Cooper: vocals on Peace Tonight

Production

Produced by: Nick Payne, Lyn Taylor
Mixed and masetered by: Glenn Santry – Heartbeat Studios

Rising River – A Cautionary Tale

Sat, 14 May 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Guest blogger Kristin Moore reviews Nick’s next single off his forthcoming album — Rising River – a cautionary tale set in the hills of the Snowy Mountains and Victorian High Country.

Next week the next single off my upcoming album goes to radio. Stay tuned for a free download link. #countrymusic #americana #bluegrass #honkytonk #newmusic #australiana #snowymountains #vichighcountry #martinguitar #fiddle #mandolin #doublebass #piano #snare

A photo posted by Nick Payne (@orphan_nick) on May 13, 2016 at 8:53pm PDT

Australian bluegrass/alt country troubadour Nick Payne of Dear Orphans fame is set to release the follow up single off his forthcoming album; the first - ‘Old Sydney Town’, hit the country music charts in 2015. The second, ‘Rising River’, was Recorded live in dobro player Jolyon Gray’s lounge room with only piano, snare, and backing vocals added later and minimal production, there’s an immediacy and ‘live’ feel to the track which really suits the alt/bluegrass tradition.

‘Rising River’ is a song steeped in the murder ballad tradition — it’s all there — the desperate man seeking vengeance, a bloody reckoning, a pursuit and the eventual suicide to avoid capture. The lilting melody, delicate harmonies and fiddle highlights serve as counterpoint to the violence of the story, we find ourselves singing along as we register what is actually happening to the characters. It’s a delicious counterpoint that is as old as bluegrass itself delivered in a thoroughly contemporary Australian voice.

Storytelling and a sense of place is as important to Nick as the music, and the genesis of this song came to him in a hut in the Snowy Mountains of NSW. The wild high country was home to many a man on the run, and many who came seeking a future and were driven to an early death by the harsh terrain and climate and the loneliness and isolation. Their ghosts can certainly be felt out there on a chilly moonlit night, and the echoes of our wild colonial past, which in turn contain the memories of our brutal history, are palpable in ‘Rising River’. Payne himself prefers to call the song a ‘cautionary tale’ rather than a murder ballad – after all, it is 2016 and hunting down a lover has contemporary resonance which he had very much in mind as he wrote the song.

It is this mixture of modern sensibility with a traditional musical and storytelling form that makes ‘Rising River’ so captivating and listenable. Another beautiful glimpse into what is shaping up to be one of the album releases of the year.

Kristin Moore 2016

Listen to “Rising River”

Download “Rising River”

Download Rising River for free now – click the button.

Download Rising River

Download my previous song Old Sydney Town for free now – click the button.

Download Old Sydney Town

Credits

Production

Production: Nick Payne, Lyn Taylor
Mixing: Glenn Santry – Heartbeat Studios

Musicians

Nick Payne: Vocals and acoustic guitar
Carlyn Chen: Fiddle
Jolyon Gray: Backing vocals, mandolin
Lyn Taylor: Backing vocals
Michael Roberts (AKA Mickey Blue Eyes): Poorly tuned upright piano
Paul Sun: Double bass
Oscar Henfrey: Snare that annoyed the downstairs neighbour

Merry Christmas: Top 7 musical moments from 2015

Thu, 24 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I’m sitting at home listening to a Christmas record on the turntable, enjoying the company of extended family, and taking a moment to reflect on 2015 and some of the amazing musical moments that I’ve experienced. My top 7 moments — I couldn’t narrow it down to 5 — are as follows.

Here they are…

1. First gig where we had to fly the band in to meet us – Cygnet Folk Festival

Cygnet Folk Festival. #cygnet #Tasmania #australia #doublebass #dearorphans #seeaustralia

A photo posted by Nick Payne (@orphan_nick) on Jan 9, 2015 at 5:29pm PST

We kicked off the year playing at Cygnet Folk Festival. Lyn and I had spent the Boxing Day to New Years break camping in the Snowy Mountains after which we made our way down to Melbourne and caught the ferry over to Tassie. Carlyn happened to be down there already, and Jo and Paul flew in the day before the festival. Jo hung round for another week exploring and we took some extra days down there too.

Cygnet is a great festival and Tasmania is beautiful. It was great to spend the time down there, but equally great to know that the guys in the band enjoy playing so much that they’re prepared to travel. Thanks Jo, Paul and Carlyn!

2. Hanging out with Megan Cooper, The Rain, Jen Mize, and Andrew Swift at Late Night Alt in Tamworth

The only photo I took in Tamworth this year. A selfie with Megan Cooper at Late Night Alt. #tcmf #latenightalt #Tamworth #americana #countrymusic

A photo posted by Nick Payne (@orphan_nick) on Jan 28, 2015 at 3:39am PST

Because we’d been down in Tasmania I decided it was too much to try and get everyone to take more time off to get up to Tamworth. I only had one solo gig on so decided to keep it short and sharp, and head up by myself. Instead of spending a whole week up there I drove up for a 24 hour blitz – midday Friday to just after lunch Saturday.

Despite being alone and not there for long I felt more welcome at the Tamworth Country Music Festival than I ever have. After playing a couple of songs with our banjo player Ben Thomas at Karl Broadie’s gig I bumped into Jen Mize and Andrew Swift. They dragged me out for sushi and introduced me to Harmony James. I then ran into Kel, Greg and Ian from The Rain and sat and chatted with them over a cup of coffee. As I walked down Peel Street Megan Cooper yelled out across the crowd and we went up to Late Night Alt and soaked up the atmosphere. I took my only photo of the festival – a selfie!

Thanks guys. I had a great time and I value your openness and friendship.

3. Releasing Old Sydney Town to radio and making it to number 33 on the Country Track Charts

Three weeks ago "Old Sydney Town" entered the Country Track Charts at #37. Two weeks ago it left the charts and I gratefully accepted my 7 days of fame. Last week --- to my surprise --- it re-entered the charts at #33. I'm curious as to what it will do tomorrow. #countrymusic #bluegrass #oldtimey #americana #dearorphans

A photo posted by Nick Payne (@orphan_nick) on May 25, 2015 at 2:41pm PDT

In April I stuck my neck out and asked Kris Katsanis from KrisKat Publicity to service my song Old Sydney Town to country music radio. This is the first song from the solo album I’m working on and I wasn’t sure how people would take it – it’s not mainstream, but it’s certainly Australian, and old-timey, and country. Much to my surprise it spent two weeks in the Country Track Charts and number 37 and then number 33. I also did nine radio interviews, and Paul and I drove to Gosford to play some songs on Saturday Night Country with Felicity Urquhart, which is broadcast nationally. I received many kind words about the song.

Thanks Kris. More new music is on it’s way!

4. Recording 5 songs in Melbourne with Lachlan Bryan and the Wildes

Ready to hit record on "Salvation Jane". #dearorphans #recording #cp70 #melbourne

A photo posted by Nick Payne (@orphan_nick) on Aug 15, 2015 at 6:45pm PDT

In August I headed down to Melbourne and spent two days in the upstairs room of a friend’s house, that we converted into a recording studio, and recorded five songs with members of The Wildes as my backing band. Helping out was Lachlan Bryan on electric piano (my Yamaha CP70 that I’d carted down from Sydney), Shaun Ryan on the P-bass, Damien Cafarella on drums and Andrew Wrigglesworth from The Weeping Willows on electric guitar.

I knew most of these gents beforehand, but hadn’t actually played with them. The experience was scary, and awesome. It pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I needed it to. It’s so exciting to create something new and special with people you haven’t worked with before and I can’t wait to release these tracks sometime in the new year – thanks guys!

5. Playing my first festival as me – Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival

In 2015 I made my first festival appearance as “Nick Payne”. Whilst I was somewhat nervous, I was fortunate that it was at Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival which is one of our all time favourite festivals in the country.

I played my first set with Ben Thomas on banjo and Paul Sun on double bass. It was a super-intimate affair and it was great to play the sadder stuff and the audience was super-responsive. The next day Jolyon Gray joined us on dobro and mandolin, along with Lyn on guitar and backing vocals. We cranked it up a notch and I got Lyn to sing a song as well.

I was worried that I couldn’t pull this off by myself, but I did. I’m so glad I tried this and I look forward to more solo shows next year when the album comes out.

6. Discovering a new festival – Majors Creek Festival

Had a great time with these crazies at Majors Creek Festival. Thanks Carlyn, Ben and Paul. #dearorphans #majorscreekfestival #majorscreek #americana #countrymusic #bluegrass #livemusic

A photo posted by Nick Payne (@orphan_nick) on Nov 21, 2015 at 2:30am PST

This little festival called Majors Creek Festival opened up for applications for 2015 and I put one in. Much to my surprise we were accepted first time and as a result myself, Paul Sun, Ben Thomas and Carlyn Chen headed down to play a couple of sets.

Majors Creek exceeded all expectations and was a really well run festival, with a dynamic and contemporary line-up. We especially enjoyed jamming until 2am with Den Hanrahan and the Rum Runners. I also got to spend 45 minutes in the local church listening to April Maze play completely acoustically and reverberate around that beautiful space.

7. Old Sydney Town appearing on two “Best tracks of 2015” lists

Finally, I was humbled to have Old Sydney Town appear on two “Best tracks of 2015” lists. The first was on Timber and Steel and the next day on Unpaved.

I was especially blown away by Gareth Evans words on Timber and Steel.

I’ve had the pleasure of watching Nick Payne workshopping his convict folk song at jam sessions and festivals over the past 18 months and what he’s managed to capture on tape is pretty bang on what you’ll get live. I love the old time feel of this track and the fine group of musicians he’s managed to amass to accompany him (including many members of his band Dear Orphans) elevate the song to another level. I love the “behind the music” style of the video as well – very nice.

Thanks Gareth and also Les Thomas for thinking of me.

Thanks so much to my band and everyone who has listened and provided support throughout the year. Have a great Christmas and New Years and hold tight for more new music next year.

Nick

On The Road: Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival 2015

Sun, 01 Nov 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival is one of our favourite festivals in the country. We haven’t been for a few years so I was stoked when they offered me a chance to showcase my solo stuff this year. Here’s some photos from my tour diary from the weekend.

Kick off was at 9am Friday October 23rd. Paul Sun and I loaded six instruments into the Land Rover and hit the road. On board was:

2 acoustic guitars (my Martin and Lyn’s Gibson)
Jo’s dobro
Jo’s mandolin
My new open-back banjo (just in case)
And Paul’s double bass

Past Newcastle and crossing the Karuah River I decided to try my hand at selfies.

Attempt #1.

We met Ben Thomas in Dorrigo and he joined us on stage Friday night for a trio perfomance. It was great kicking off the weekend with a stripped down line-up and letting the songs breath – especially the mournful ones. Unfortunately we didn’t get any photos of this set.

Saturday morning I careered down the mountain to pick Lyn and Jo up from Coffs Harbour airport. We hightailed it back up the mountain and found Paul looking like this.

Having clearly settled in for a day of jamming I left Paul playing with some of the best players in the country (and some from out of the country!) and I roamed the festival with a Polaroid camera I borrowed off our youngest daughter, Zoe, for the weekend.

Here’s Linda Peterson from Burnt Creek Deviation Bluegrass Band enjoying the atmosphere.

And here’s another attempt at a selfie. I think having Lyn in it rescues it somewhat.

Our Saturday afternoon set was fast approaching so it was time to get the folks together for a quick run-through of the songs. When in Dorrigo, if your’e looking for a place to rehearse then you just do it out on the grass. It normally doesn’t take long for a crowd to gather and we were lucky enough to have a few outstanding photographers grab some snaps of us. Due credit to them for these great photos – do click through and look at the rest they took.

Here’s Paul and I.

And a great black and white shot of Ben and Paul. Note: that’s me on the banjo!

Whilst it might look in this one that someone has stood on my foot that is not the case. In actual fact I’m just giving it my all. If you can’t give it your all in rehearsal you can’t expect to do the same in front of an audience.

At 4pm we hit the stage with the whole crew: Paul on double bass, Ben on banjo, Jo on dobro and mandolin and Lyn on vocals and guitar.

Proud of myself for saying something funny whilst Jo just hangs out looking cool.

And here’s another one of me giving it my all.

Once again thanks to Gareth Evans from Timber and Steel, Kell Stoner from Little Story and Debra Littler for the grand photos.

And big shout out to all the folks that run Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival each year – we’re looking forward to coming back soon.

Nick

Nick’s solo album blog #10: Mixing Rising River

Sat, 02 May 2015 00:00:00 +0000

There’s a lot that goes into a great sounding recording – good songs, great performances, good recording gear, etc,. But what happens in mixing that brings that all together to create an unforgettable sound?

Glenn Santry at work on "Never Had A Sweetheart". #recording #americana #countrymusic #bluegrass #dearorphans

A photo posted by Nick Payne (@orphan_nick) on Feb 3, 2015 at 3:00am PST

In order to make sure that all the work so far combines together into sonic excellence I have a secret weapon – Glenn Santry.

Glenn runs Heartbeat Studio in Sydney’s south and was first introduced to me by Karl Broadie when we were recording Dear Orphans debut album. Since then I’ve worked with Glenn on everything we’ve done including this solo album. Here’s a little bit about what happened last Tuesday night when we mixed Rising River and how he gets the sound.

The Brain

Mixing Rising River. The brain. A very smart multitrack tape machine. #recording #risingriver #dearorphans #protools

A photo posted by Nick Payne (@orphan_nick) on May 1, 2015 at 11:09pm PDT

In the old days the centre of any recording system was the tape player – you’d record all your instruments down to individual tracks on the tape and then play those tracks back through your mixing console to mix them down to two tracks (stereo). The digital revolution has replaced the tape machine with the hard drive and — if it suits you — the computer can replace every single other bit of gear that you used to find in a studio (you can sit on a plane with a laptop and a set of headphones and mix an album these days!).

In this circumstance Glenn and I have opted for a “hybrid” set up — that is, a combination of digital and old world analogue — in order to get the best sound we can possibly create.

So for Rising River the computer and hard drive operated as the tape machine playing the multiple tracks back and out into the mixing console. Glenn dropped a small number of tasty “plugins” onto some of the tracks — mainly very light compression — mainly for the particular sound those plugins added to that instrument. We also automated the volume of some tracks inside the computer – that is, when a fiddle solo came round we made it a little louder and then made it a little quieter again at the end of the solo, etc,.

The Heart

Mixing Rising River. The heart. 1970s mix console. #recording #risingriver #dearorphans

A photo posted by Nick Payne (@orphan_nick) on May 1, 2015 at 11:12pm PDT

Whilst the computer — acting as the tape machine — is the brain of the operation, this bit of gear here is the heart.

Glenn’s 1970s Sound Workshop Series 40 mixing console takes all the tracks from the brain and is used to combine them together into the final mix. Importantly this is where all the EQing happens – that is, the tone of the individual tracks are equalised so each sound sits in it’s own space without muddying up the song and hiding the other instruments. This is also the place that the relative volume between each instrument and the voices are set so that you can hear everything clearly.

The reason for not doing all this EQing and volume-setting — mixing — inside the computer is that we want all the analogue randomness of capacitors and resistors and electricity running through them to impart it’s own “sound” to the mix in a way that 1s and 0s don’t.

The Soul

Mixing Rising River. The soul. Various outboard compressors, reverbs, etc. #recording #risingriver #dearorphans

A photo posted by Nick Payne (@orphan_nick) on May 1, 2015 at 11:15pm PDT

To further sweeten up the sound certain instruments are routed out of the mix desk, through specific sound processors and then back into the mix desk. These “outboard” processors are housed in rack and mainly consist of two types of processing: compressors and reverbs.

Compressors take a signal and they squash it. That is, they make the loudest part of the signal quieter and the quietest part of the signal louder. This evens out the volume of that instrument throughout the song and helps it sit better. One of Glenn’s favourite tricks is to run a sound through several compressors whereby each compresses it just a little bit. This is quite effective in “squashing” sound, but does it much more smoothly than a single compressor that squashes it a lot.

Reverbs are the echo or ambience that make an instrument sound like its in a real room or hall. With this record we’ve been recording the songs in real rooms with “room” microphones set up to capture the sound of the room itself. Because of this we haven’t needed to add much additional reverb, but a little bit here and there in the right places makes a big difference.

Heiroglennics

Glenn likes to use symbols to know what instrument is which channel on the mix desk. I call them "heiroglennics". #recording #risingriver #dearorphans #heiroglennics

A photo posted by Nick Payne (@orphan_nick) on May 1, 2015 at 11:21pm PDT

On a side note, Glenn labels each channel on the mixing console with symbols so he knows which instrument is on which channel. I’m yet to fully learn these “heiroglennics”, but I do know in the photo that channels 13 and 14 are the piano. I think channel 15 is snare and I have no idea what’s on channel 12.

The Sound

Here’s a sneak speak of how Rising River sounded on the night we mixed it.

Rising River... Sneak peak. #dearorphans #recording #americana #murderballad

A video posted by Nick Payne (@orphan_nick) on Apr 28, 2015 at 6:40am PDT

Progress so far

Finally, here’s a summary of progress on the album.

As of next Tuesday night four songs from side B will finished. Next step is to record the remaining two songs from side B and then I’ll immediately release that side as a free download. After that I’ll be organising a band in Melbourne to work with me on all the tracks on Side A. I can’t say who they are at this stage, but reassured these boys are pretty wild!

Old Sydney Town has also been sent out to radio during April so keep your ears open for it.

Side B progress:

Old Sydney Town – done!
Rising River – done!
Never Had a Sweetheart – done!
Hometown – next
A Shipwrecked’s Lament – next
Peace Tonight – being mixed next Tuesday night

Thanks for your interest and please download and enjoy Old Sydney Town.

Download Old Sydney Town

And you can watch the video here:

Nick

Nick's solo album blog #9: Progress, keeping things moving and the first video clip

Mon, 16 Mar 2015 00:00:00 +0000

Recording an album of twelve tracks is a big deal. Whilst it can be frustrating trying to coordinate so many people, the rewards are gratifying.

Ben Thomas recording what might become a ghost track on my upcoming album. #recording #clawhammer #banjo #americana #countrymusic #dearorphans

A photo posted by Nick Payne (@orphan_nick) on Feb 20, 2015 at 11:13pm PST

Here's an update on what I've achieved so far, some of the techniques I'm using to keep things moving and the debut of the official video clip for Old Sydney Town.

It’s been a long road so far, but it’s starting to feel like I’m getting somewhere. The album has twelve tracks and divides into two sides with six tracks each (the songs are in thematic pairs – see Blog Post #3: Songs and co-writing). I’ve been concentrating on side B and of these six songs, two are mixed and mastered (i.e. completely done), two are in the final stages of recording (we recorded the songs live and are now adding extra parts — backing vocals, flugelhorn, etc — we call this overdubbing) and two are ready to start recording.

Specifically, these two are done:

Old Sydney Town: a convict song
Never Had a Sweetheart: a sea shanty about a shipwreck

These are almost ready to be mixed:

Rising River: a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of murdering your ex-girlfriend for revenge
Peace Tonight: a song I wrote with Megan Cooper about a man who buries his wife after she dies of consumption (it’s actually a song about salvation and gratitude)

These two songs will be recorded next:

A Shipwrecked’s Lament: an Irish folk song based on the sinking of the Loch Ard in 1878 (a song about goodbyes)
Hometown: an instrumental about whatever place you feel at home in

Once all six side B songs are done I’ll release them as a free download. In the meantime the first song Old Sydney Town is available for free download now. Click the link below and an MP3 will start downloading.

Download Old Sydney Town

After that, it'll be on to side A. More on that later...

Keeping things moving

Keeping things moving has been much harder than I thought it would be. Whilst coordinating lots of people is tricky, a large part of keeping things going is about me maintaining focus and keeping my enthusiasm and energy high. In order to do this I've chosen to follow two simple rules.

Rule #1: One song at a time

The first rule is to only work on one song at a time.

By doing so I aim to achieve two things. Firstly, the song gets my whole attention so I can make the song and the recording of it as great as is humanly possible. Secondly, by not allowing myself to start the next song until I've finished the current one I create an urgency within myself to keep working hard and not slack off.

A side effect of this rule is that it creates the opportunity to release the songs as I go rather than waiting til the very end until folk can hear them.

Rule #2: Form a team to keep you accountable

The second rule is to share what I'm doing widely with people whose input I trust.

By sharing my progress with as many people as possible I'm aiming to get feedback that will make the album better, as well as gaining further energy from that feedback (whether good or bad!). I'm also hoping to foster a sense of embarrasment if things are not moving along fast enough!

Sharing widely for me has meant things like:

Immediately distributing copies of takes and mixes of tracks to the musicians who've played on a song (they'll often pick up little mistakes they've made in a take before I do!).
Appreciating when people ask me how the recording is going and giving them a detailed and meaningful answer to the question (thank you by the way to those who are asking - please continue to do so).
Blogging and posting progress on Facebook (I assume someone is reading this! And writing this forces me to take stock of things).
Forming a small team of "straight-shooters" who's specific job is to keep me accountable and provide constructive input into the work. Specifically this team is Karl Broadie, Katie Brianna and Lyn Taylor. Thank you guys - your input is valuable. We're using a private Facebook group where I share takes, ask questions and receive feedback.

The official music video for Old Sydney Town

Finally, I'm pleased to announce that the first single of the album, Old Sydney Town, will be serviced to radio in April. As part of that, here is the debut of the official video clip.

We tracked this song at our dobro players house (Jolyon Gray) and he set up a camera and shot all the footage you see here. He also edited it and I got to colour grade it.

So here it is... Old Sydney Town. Please enjoy, share widely and I hope this gives you more of an insight into the recording process.

Enjoy, Nick

Nick's solo album blog #8: Introducing... Old Sydney Town

Sun, 14 Dec 2014 00:00:00 +0000

The first single off my upcoming debut solo album is done! And you can download it now.

When I started on this journey earlier in the year I had no idea how long it would take to get where I’ve arrived today. The first of twelve songs is recorded, mixed and mastered and I’m sending it out into the world.

The first recording session we did was on Saturday June 21. I’d plan to record three songs, but we only got two done. However, they both sounded fantastic. Old Sydney Town was the second song we did on the day and aswell as the normal Dear Orphans band members, we also had Jenny Shimmin join us on bluegrass banjo for the song. Katie Jane from Golden Whistler came in later to sing some backing vocals.

After lots and lots of listening to what we had I was ready to get it mixed. I took it to Glenn Santry of Heartbeat Studios and we mixed it in one night. Glenn was able to get it sounding great pretty quickly, which is a testament to the skill and performances of the muso’s who played on it. It was also a strong justification for taking the approach of tracking as much of the song as possible ‘live’.

As per my last blog I am giving this song away for immediate download for anyone who wants it. Just click the button below and it will start downloading immediately as an MP3.

Download Old Sydney Town

(It’s also available on iTunes and other digital download sites if you prefer, however, it ain’t free over there).

How I wrote this song

I was inspired to write this song by our old clawhammer banjo player Richard Galluzzi (he’s now the other half of Golden Whistler). I’ve always loved the sound of old-time fiddle tunes and wanted to try something similar using their modal scales. (Without getting too technical – the scale often used in old-time music skips the third note. This is the note that makes a chord major or minor; i.e. happy or sad. Instead the scale kinds of hints at both without settling on one or the other).

Essentially what I did was to try and copy what the banjo would have done, but play it on the guitar. Once I had that lick down it was all about writing lyrics that chanelled the historic feel of the music.

Australia is a great country and I’m pretty passionate about music that captures our own identity and doesn’t just re-use imagery from other countries.

I ended up writing the lyrics and finishing the songs sitting in Old Geehi Hut on the Swampy Plains Creek in the Snowy Mountains. Old Geehi is one of my favourite places in the world and as well as providing the peace and quiet necessary to allow creativity to occur, it also brings it’s own inspiration through it’s sheer beauty and abundant history. Having written the music in an older style, it seemed consistent to write the lyrics about something from the past that captured the endurance through suffering that characterises the lives of the original authors of old-time music.

Australia is a great country and I’m pretty passionate about music that captures our own identity and doesn’t just re-use imagery from other countries. Our history is unique and it shapes our values (both positively and negatively). Too many Australian acts just echo the places and images that come from overseas and when they do try to create something Australian it ends up being jingoistic (hence why ‘Americana’ is cool, but ‘Australiana’ is daggy).

I hope in this song I’ve not only painted an accurate picture of a time and place in our history (arriving as a convict in the colony of Sydney in 1789). I also hope I’ve captured the spirit of endurance that Australians have growing out of the circumstance of hardship from our recent history.

Please download and enjoy. And please pass this song on to others who may enjoy it also.

Many Thanks. Nick

The official credits

Featuring on the song are:

Nick Payne - lead vocals and Martin HD28V
Paul Sun - double bass
Jolyon Gray - dobro
Carlyn Chen - fiddle
And special guest Jenny Shimmin - bluegrass banjo

Recorded by Nick Payne and Lyn Taylor
Mixed and mastered by Glenn Santry at Heartbeat Studios

Hell's Half Acre: An interview with Gretta Ziller

Sun, 26 Oct 2014 00:00:00 +0000

In a few weeks we return to one of our musical homes at Mars Hill Cafe in Parramatta for a one-off Orphanage Session. In anticipation I asked our feature guest Gretta Ziller some questions.

NP: How does the songwriting process work for you - where do you find your inspiration and what steps does a song go through in order to be written?

GZ: I’m a bit of a bowerbird when it comes to writing, I’ll collect ideas, titles & lyrics from here there and everywhere, it comes from conversations or books I read or movies or music, I do have a few tv shows that I watch often for inspiration! Then when I have the time i’ll sit down and sift through my little bundles and see what happens!

NP: Tell us about Hell’s Half Acre - where is it and what is it about it that inspired you to write a song?

GZ: Hell’s Half Acre was inspired by a trip to Canada, we went to a bad lands (Drumheller) it was an amazing place, a big desert like hole in the ground! I wanted to put the idea of the place into a song but Drumheller just didn’t work as a title!!! The power of google and I found Hell’s Half Acre in Wyoming! It’s a pretty cool place, they’ve used it for films and photography!

NP: What was your journey to becoming a songwriter - what happened that made you want to try your hand at it and what was it that made you commit yourself to it and work at it?

GZ: Songwriting was something that I had dabbled at for a few years, I didn’t have the confidence to share my songs for quite a while. I had done a few songwriting workshops and even classes though Berklee College Online. It wasn’t until I attended the CMAA College of Country Music that things kind of clicked, I got some great feedback from the songwriters in residence and met other musos in my position, it was a really defining and liberating experience for me!

NP: Tell us about a time you heard some music for the first time that changed you in some way.

GZ: I grew up surrounded by music, my mother was a great music appreciator, we listened to everything from Pavarotti to Edith Piaf to Aretha Franklin and Sarah Vaughn and top 40 music. The one genre that wasn’t in our playlist was country music. I was in my final year of University studying a Bachelor of Music, training to be a classical singer, when I “borrowed” Garth Brooks Double Live from my sister, unless you’ve experienced a moment like I had it’s really hard to explain it, something clicked within me and I just new what I wanted to sing. My tastes have evolved since then, but I still have those kind of moments when I here amazing songs, and I think that’s what music is all about, creating something that touches people.

NP: If you could share the stage with anyone (alive or passed on) and sing a duet who would it be and what song would you sing?

GZ: This question is easy, Jim Lauderdale, every time I listen to him sing I learn something, the way he phrases his lyric, how he places the words in the melody it’s awesome…. Jim Lauderdale is awesome!! In saying that if he was busy that week, I wouldn’t complain about singing with Steve Earle!!

The Orphanage Sessions

The Orphange Sessions return to Mars Hill Cafe on Saturday November 8 with Gretta Ziller and Katie Brianna as our guests.

Full details are as follows...

The Orphanage Sessions: Gretta Ziller + Dear Orphans + Katie Brianna
7:30PM Saturday November 8, 2014
Mars Hill Cafe
331 Church St
Parramatta NSW

Tickets can be purchased here...
events.ticketbooth.com.au/event/gretta-ziller-and-dear-orphans

Download Rain for free

We're giving away Rain - the first song we ever recorded - as a gift. Click the button below to download it.

Download Rain

Happy music listening!

Nick

Nick's solo album blog #7: Releasing new music at the speed of the internet

Sun, 28 Sep 2014 00:00:00 +0000

At the end of March I announced I was recording a solo album this year - so where the hell is it?

Banjo Maestro: Recording at home with @resg76

A photo posted by @skipdipper on Jun 22, 2014 at 2:49am PDT

Richard Galluzzi playing clawhammer banjo on the recording of Never Had A Sweetheart - Photo courtesy Jolyon Gray (our dobro/mandolin player)

The traditional model of releasing an album has always been write it, record it, mix it, master it, release it. In the past the first time fans heard of a new album was when a single was released to radio and then shortly after that the whole album would be available for sale. The internet has created opportunities to change that model and do things differently.

It would be dishonest of me to pretend this album is taking longer than I hoped for. The challenge of co-ordinating different people to be in the same room at the same time, co-writing songs with folks in different parts of the country, holding down a day job and looking after a family causes things to stretch out and take a long time. There's been progress, but not as much as I'd like.

On the positive side we have tracked two songs with the band that sound great - Never Had A Sweetheart and Old Sydney Town. Next weekend I'll record some backup vocals on those songs with Katie Jane from Golden Whistler and Lyn. The following weekend the band is recording Rising River and I have three traditional Irish musos who are going to help out with A Shipwrecked's Lament - once we find a time everyone is available. After that I'll track Peace Tonight with just me on guitar and Carlyn Chen on fiddle and then I've got one more song to go complete Side B of the album. That last song may be an instrumental Lyn and I wrote a few years ago called Hometown.

Of the songs that will go on Side A, four are written and ready to record, one I've started writing with Karl Broadie and the last one Lachlan Bryan has agreed to co-write with me.

Iterative album release in the internet age

Given things are taking longer than I'd like, how could I leverage the speed of the internet to find alternative ways to bring this album into the world? How does this sound?

As soon as the overdubs on Old Sydney Town are done I will get it mixed and mastered by Glenn Santry at Heartbeat Studios and make it available as a free download from the Dear Orphans website. I will also release this to radio.

As soon as the remaining tracks for Side B are recorded I will mix and master them and release them as an EP that you can download for free from the Dear Orphans website. I will release this before Christmas.

Early in the new year I will record Side A of the album. I will record White Line Fever first, mix it and make it available as free download. I will release this to radio.

Once the rest of Side A is recorded and mixed I will release this as a second EP available as a free download.

I will then manufacture the complete album (Sides A and B) on CD (maybe vinyl too if there's interest?). The physical album will be available for purchase and I will formally promote the album for the rest of the year.

There's a time to focus on getting something finished fast and there's other times where you want to slow down and do something properly. Whilst things could have moved faster I don't apologise for making decisions on some things in the interest of quality. Stuff liking hanging out for the right musicians, insisting on tracking live with everyone in the same room, as well as angsting over the songwriting process and re-working songs until they're right.

I've certainly learned some stuff along the way about getting stuff done and I've also had focus, lost focus and regained it. I'm pleased I chose to record songs as they were ready rather than saving them up and doing them all at once. I'm also pleased that the internet provides new ways to distribute music at no cost so that I can make music available as soon as it's created.

Right now I need to get back to making calls to organise the next recording session.

Download Rain for free

Rain is the first track we ever recorded.

This track appeared on a compilation called Home Grown Roots 3 and hasn't been released elsewhere since.

Playing on this track was Lyn Taylor on guitar and vocals, me on guitar, backup vocals and tambourine foot stomping, Mike Kirkley on dobro, Richard Galluzzi on clawhammer banjo and Lindsay Mar on double bass. It was recorded by Russell Pilling at Damien Gerard Studios.

Given you can't get this track elsewhere, I'm pleased to be giving it away as a free download. Just click the download button and enjoy!

Download Rain

Nick