Tell us about your tour vehicle. Any notable breakdown stories?
I have mostly toured solo or duo so I have not needed a big touring vehicle and my dad is a Honda car dealer in NZ so I always stuck to Hondas and actually Honda Civic has been my car. They are economical to run. I have had two Honda Civics in my 15 years in the US. My first Honda was a ‘98 2 door and it took me everywhere – from Austin to Northern California and back several times and all over Texas; from California and Tennessee and Arizona and in between. It was an amazing touring vehicle, but sadly in the last few years it started to break down a lot.
On a couple of trips from Los Angeles up to San Francisco on the 5 I blew a tire. On this one particular piping hot day I was traveling solo and with no idea how to change a tire. A very lovely police officer pulled and actually changed the tire for me. It was so sweet of him and then I was able to make my show in San Fran that evening. Once this sweet old car was retired I bought a new Honda Civic and have had no trouble at all with it so far.
How do you eat cheaply and/or healthy while on tour?
This can sometimes be a challenge but I try to avoid gluten and dairy. I travel with my own coconut milk for my tea. I also travel with tins of sardines so if I get to a town or a venue and can’t find something healthy to eat I always have a back up. It’s also good to travel with some nuts. I have a super sensitive stomach so I have to be careful what I eat so I can give my best performance.
How many strings do you break in a typical year? How much does it cost to replace them?
I play a lot of open tunings so I try to keep my strings relatively new so I change them every few gigs. I’m honestly not good at keeping track of receipts so I’m not sure. But strings are not to expensive in the US so I haven’t given it much thought. In NZ it’s another story. It’s $30 for one set of strings, which is just crazy.
Where do you rehearse?
I mostly just rehearse at home. I actually hate big rehearsal studios as normally the vibe is cold and the sound is bad. I guess this is the luxury of mostly performing solo or duo. I am able to avoid rehearsal studios.
What was the title and a sample lyric from the first song that you wrote?
I started writing songs when I was a teenager. Keeping them a secret from the world as they relieved my deepest feelings and I was way to shy to share at that stage in my life. Being a love struck teenager, I wrote songs about my teenage sweetheart Bob Herron. I wrote songs on the piano and guitar. It took me several years to build up the confidence to perform my own songs and this was when I moved to Australia from New Zealand. I was featured in a documentary and when they said ‘do you write songs’ I eagerly said YES. I went home and wrote my first ever recorded song called ‘Blue Guitar’ It was in that first recording session that I met my long time music partner Mark Punch, Mark was the first person to encourage my songwriting and is still my number one fan. Mark tours with me and produced my ‘Outsider’ album.
Describe your first gig.
I started gigging and performing very young. I grew up singing in church and learning hymns as I went to a Catholic school where I learnt to play guitar and accompany myself. My first performance on stage with a microphone was when I was 11 years old. In my hometown Gore, the capitol of country music, they have a country music festival called ‘The Gold Guitar Awards’. Encouraged by my Nana, I entered in the intermediate section and sang ‘How Great thou Art’. This was my first performance and then I spent a decade traveling around the South Island of NZ performing with my sister Katrina as ‘The Bristow Sisters”. Our Nana, Molly Scully, made our outfits and Mum bought us these very cute country music boots that lasted for about 6 years because it was cost effective to buy several sizes to big when we first got them.
Singing and touring with my family was a huge part of our lives. I think it is really why I became a professional musician as I never made a big decision to do it, I was just doing it and I have never stopped.
What was your last day job? What was your favorite day job?
I have never really had a day job. I have very short burst of working behind the bar in Sydney when I first moved over there but I have always played shows to survive. I wasn’t always playing my own music, I did the cover scene in Sydney for a few years before I built up catalogue of my own songs to perform.
Most recently with the pandemic and not being able to perform and tours being cancelled, it has been challenging and life changing. While I am sorting my visa to go back to the US I have been developing a songwriting program called ‘SongCatcher’ which is for kids from 7 – 11 years old. It has been keeping me pretty busy and I really do love it, its like my first real day job.. sort of.. it’s so much fun inspiring young children to tap into their own creative space.
How has your music-related income changed over the past 5-10 years? What do you expect it to look like 5-10 years from now?
Music is a labor of love, you don’t do it for the money but it’s a full time job and we all need money to survive. In recent years it has honestly been very hard to make a decent living. It costs a lot to make and promote music and it seems to be getting harder to make it back.
The pandemic really has been tough, with so many live shows cancelled, but I try to stay positive. My music career has given me an incredible life with lots of travel and so many wonderful people out there who want to support the arts and support people in music. I feel very fulfilled that I have had a life of playing in music and 5 albums of original music released. I am scared to futurise too much as I’m still hoping for a miracle.
What one thing do you know now that you had wished you knew when you started your career in music?
I was extremely trusting and thought everyone was nice. I wish that I was a bit more guarded. I was a bit naive about the music business and what is takes to stay in the music world. But sometimes that blind faith is what gives you the courage to dream and go for it. You have to take chances and be courageous and believe in yourself. And so much is timing – the world is changing all the time and so is the music world.