Sharing & Caring

From originally being a solo act, country/folk singer-songwriter Nigel Wearne has moved into full-band mode for his latest album, Black Crow. Interestingly, this record manages to maintain a delicious tension between moving and relaxed storytelling and the more bombastic nature of a 'band' album. Wearne wears his influences on his sleeve, too. There's echoes of Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, Townes Van Zandt and Woody Guthrie here, but never cloyingly so. Despite its familiarity, Black Crow also presents as decidedly fresh.

When it came to the choice of continuing with his intimate solo approach or going for the full band, Wearne indicates that it was something of a no-brainer. “It wasn't a tough decision. It was sort of equal parts incidental and equal parts a choice. I've had the intention of putting a band together for some years, but I wanted to think about it while I was playing these songs and getting to know them a little bit. I put the band together for Port Fairy, essentially, which seemed like a good time to get it up and running. I just needed to make some decisions on the kinds of players I wanted and the type of sound I wanted.”

Talking of getting the sounds he wants, Wearne plays with handcrafted guitars he makes himself. “It's something I've been doing for a while. I built my first one about 12 years ago. I've been building stuff all my life. I grew up on a farm and did a lot of woodwork, so when I became a musician, I decided instruments [were] something I wanted to do. I love it, it's great. It really shapes the way I play at the moment: a lot more finger picking. Everyone has a connection with their instrument. Mine's that I spent 200 hours making the thing, there were times when I tore my hair out, there were times full of wonder and satisfaction. At the end of the day, I don't want to sell them or anything. I just want to have some control over the way they sound and the way they work. I'm quite protective of them, actually. I suppose they're kind of like my children in that sense.”

Wearne and his band, The Cast Iron Promises, are undertaking a reasonably large tour to promote the release of Black Crow, and this scribe is interested in the dichotomy between hitting the road solo as opposed to with a bunch of other people. “It can be scary, but I really believe in it. I really believe in music. I'm just so happy that there's so many people having a crack and making great music. I just hope that I can be part of that. At the same time, I don't think we're biting off more than we can chew. I've spent some time in Adelaide, some time in Canberra, doing quite a few gigs. Sydney's kind of the next step, I guess.

“From there, the intention is just to see how things go. And I'm just loving the band I've got at the moment. I don't take those kinds of things for granted, you know: the fact that we're all in the same place at the same time, all able to play the same kind of music. They're phenomenal musicians, and really tasteful musicians. I couldn't be more happy, really.”

It's telling that Wearne should mention caring, because this is something that seeps from the pores of every note in the music he makes. Given this, did he think much about how the record would translate to a live setting? “It's actually something I spent time thinking about before I recorded the record. I really wanted it to capture the essence of what we do live. I wanted to know the songs well before we went into the studio, but not so well that they didn't breathe, and I think we found that balance.”