Hello and welcome. Now hear this…

Bredbo bush balladeer, Steve Carter, is proud to be an Australian. He plays an Australian made guitar (Maton CW80) sings songs about Australia and travels around yarning to the locals for inspiration to write his songs about this great country and it’s people. A quick look through his play list reveals titles such as “Year of the Outback”, “Trekking the Great Divide,” “A Farmer’s Prayer,” and my favourite, “Bredbo Boy,” which he co-wrote with John Williamson.

Bredbo Boy
(Music by John William/Words by Steve Carter) © Blue Gum Music 2002
 
Well I still go swimming where
the Murrumbidgee flows

Sunbake on the river
underneath an old willow

Where the air is sweet
and the skies are still blue

Where you can go for a walk
on an old dirt road
Smell of Lucerne paddocks
blows up your nose

Where the sheep graze round
and the cows all moan

And I don’t mind at all
if you call me a Bredbo boy

In fact Steve has a healthy respect for country artists who have gone before such as John Williamson, Slim Dusty, Paul Kelly and Lee Kernaghan. Many of their songs too are included in his live performances. Steve is a balladeer in the true sense of the word, telling stories of the land through his music and song. A self-contained solo performer with guitar and foot box, he is very easy on the ear and has a relaxed congenial style.

I can hear the reader wondering, “What on earth is a foot box?” Resourceful inventiveness is a great Australian trait stemming from early settler days when one had to make do with whatever was at hand to solve a problem. Sir Donald Bradman, the great Australian cricketer learnt to bat with a stick, for example and let’s not forget about the corked hat. While listening to Steve on the verandah of the Buckley Crossing Hotel on the afternoon of the Snowy River Festival at Dalgety I became aware of a subtle and rhythmic underpinning accompaniment to the guitar. Steve explained to me that he had experimented with two pickups mounted on a box made of five ply. “I have a shelf underneath the top board to capture the echo. It is angled to suit a comfortable playing position and produces a nice bass accompaniment.” So there he was sitting with guitar in hand, feet resting on the foot box and tapping rhythms with his feet to go with the songs. The secret of course is to have rhythm in your feet. My grandfather, himself a master trumpeter, used to say that band musicians should keep time by moving a big toe inside their shoe so that you wouldn’t tap away out of time and put other musicians off! It’s surprising how many good musicians can’t tap a foot in time. Not Steve though. I look forward to hearing more of Steve Carter soon.

Bredbo Balladeer Steve

Keep swinging, grooving or whatever you do and be happy.

Paul Dion