The life of a touring musician has never been easy. In Medieval times, they travelled from town to town, relying on the generosity of everyday people for their survival, and , if they were fortunate and sufficiently adept at their craft, they weren’t stoned to death or beheaded by some bad tempered despot, or possibly eaten by a dragon, if the tapestries of the era are at all accurate.
Thankfully, life is a little less dangerous for musicians today, despite the ever present threat of drugs, alcohol, ruthless promoters and sex starved adoring fans (so I hear), being a touring troubadour is much safer now. Some might say it is good work if you can get it….but it is not easy as a career choice. Only a dedicated few make it sustainable.
One such heroic figure is singer -songwriter and all round likeable gent, Mr Kim Churchill.
Kim, left home at the age of eighteen , bought a van and hit the road, taking any gig he could get to build his repertoire and reputation,as, to use his words, a ‘Farmer’s market folk/blues performer’.
“I’m originally from a little town on the far south coast of New South Wales. Its’s a little town called Merimbula, and it’s best known for whale watching and oysters. I left when I was 18, in a camper van, hoping to make a career out of music, and I’m 34 now, and I think I have done it.
“ As long as you can make a buck and have purpose, that’s what matters. Its about the deeper meaning of making the most of what time we have down here”
“ I have been playing guitar since I was about 5, so I didn’t immediately think about being creative. I started writing a little when I was about 13 or 14, and it happened around the time I started finding my own identity , apart from classical guitar, which is where I started playing. I loved Bob Dylan, and I wanted to be like him. I decided that I was going to spend my life getting good at writing songs, and that it would take me my whole life to get as good as I wanted to be. That felt like a pretty good thing to jump into. Because I started out busking, people didn’t have the same expectations that a pub gig might have. Nobody minded what I was playing. ‘My Northern Star’ will always be the great song.””
Many people have the desire to live such a life, but the fear of failure, or even sometimes the fear of success holds them back from fully committing to such a venture.
“The beautiful part of committing to being a musician is that you don’t die wondering. You explore that avenue and you test your creativity and your ability to perform , and to endure.”
“My music is high energy farmer’s market blues folk. I came up with that title from busking at farmer’s markets. To me, playing for spare change and the like is what the blues is kind of all about. Being able to play for people and put some joy into their day is so satisfying. It allows you to operate on a very minimalist level, and that makes it very honest and uncorrupted. The realness is what I really connected with playing in those settings. As much is it is fun playing to bigger audiences and putting on a big show, the intimacy of smaller audiences is so rewarding.”
One of the bigger audiences Kim has entertained is at Byron bay Blues festival, which is an important part of his journey to success.
“In 2009, I went up to Byron Bay, and entered myself into the busking competition in the days leading up to the festival, and I won it. That kind of launched my career. I played Bluesfest, and I got some interest from other festivals, and that led to work internationally, so it was the first step that got me on the right path. From there, I just kept building on that, and recorded some albums, got a record deal, and just grabbed every opportunity I could find with the intent of being a name that people would go and buy a ticket to see.”
“Blues fest is like coming home now. I just played there recently, Its just such an incredible festival to play. It was such an exciting time this year. It was advertised as the final year, and everyone fully expected that it would be,due to some difficult years previously, but it was amazing to be there. Fortunately, it looks like it will go ahead again next year, which is great. Ticket sales were up, and government stepped up, so it looks like its been saved”
So many people who are seen as overnight success stories have tales of years , sometimes decades of blood , sweat and tears that came before, but one recurring theme is having a hunger to perform. Kim’s willingness to play anywhere has led to a passion for smaller festivals and venues.
“Other than Bluesfest (Byron Bay) and Woodford, I love the small festivals the most. They’re the most unique.Yungaburra (folk festival) is like that. Because Merimbula is like that, I am a small town oriented guy. I love small towns. I love coming to all the little places. The little festivals are a dream. It’s a fun life. Keep it minimal, keep it simple. I would like to figure out how to fit a family into that equation one day, but for now, it’s just me.”
It is not surprising given Kim’s appreciation for the traditions and fundamentals of performing , that he has a love for the traditional L.P. or Vinyl format.
“The second I could afford to have it printed, I had to release an L.P. When I write now, I’m not thinking about streaming, or whatever. I’m just thinking about how it will sound when somebody puts the record on the turntable. I just love the cardboard sleeve, and how it sounds when yo drop the stylus onto it. It’s a whole other experience than how we consume music in this day and age. O try to stay away from all the tricks that we have at our disposal now with computers. I pay attention to instrumentation, and just getting it to sound great . I mould everything I do to fit that.”
As is my habit, I enquired as to Kim’s upcoming gig at The Tanks
“The tanks is just a dream venue. I’m honoured to be coming into town and playing at a venue like that. It serves as an intimate space, but if you put 500 people in there, it feels like you’re at a much bigger show.
“It’s just me, my voice, a guitar, a kick drum, a harmonica and a tambourine. I take pride in making it a big, full experience. I make it sound as big and as high energy as I can.”
Kim Churchill will be performing at The Tanks art centre on Friday, May 2. The doors open at 6:30pm and the show starts at 7pm. He will be supported by J.C. and The Tree and Anias Campbell. Tickets are available at TicketLink.
Noel Keid
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