Country Rock ‘n’ Roll is #1
Workstation, Bolivia, NSW - 5th June 2026
Country rock ‘n’ roll is still Number One! »»»»»» It’s refreshing that after almost 25 years, with 1200 gigs worth of water under the bridge, a turnstile line-up circus, endless mishaps and “haranguements”, near death experiences and a truly insane stacking of road miles, we, The Re-mains, appear quite willing to return to the scene of earlier crimes and “steel” ourselves for the next quarter century. As we have been referring to them, these “Country Rock ‘n’ Roll Holidays” are serving to brew up a new show and what we anticipate will be three new albums, to be released in a sequence of sorts. But most interestingly for us perhaps, was a long overdue return to Bolivia, NSW, to carry out some of this important mission. In the earliest days of the band, circa 2002, I clearly recall playing a show at Tenterfield’s Royal Hotel, tearing the tips off my fingers on the cheese grater-like strings of my very first pedal steel, then afterwards meeting Steve Merta, a local musician and man on the land, who had a big PA system, a nice secluded home among the granite hills, and what’s more, a reason to keep us around for a another couple of days - that being a party at his place, that we were to feature at, for which we would be duly renumerated - not to mention, wined, dined and gifted with lodging. Upstairs afterwards, I recall cash being counted on a bunk bed and Mick showing us the nascent version of our setlist favourite, Bye Bye Byron Bay. The alliteration was particularly amusing. And still is. »»»» We went on to honour that request from Steve and then only saw him perhaps twice in the 24 years since. He told us a few days ago that the money squandered on our fee was a point of contention with his then partner and was certainly instrumental in the scuttling of their union. We have a habit of triggering these earth-rending events, be they partnership deal breakers, deaths, floods, feet full of catheads, caravans full of redbacks and various other brands of carnage and grisly delight. But the Re-mains have also shepherded the forces for good - playing the songs that shone hope on broken minds and hearts, caused many thousands to dance all over their problems, broken droughts and forced dry river beds to explode into life. »»»» Bolivia is a splendid location - granite monoliths abound along with a certain quiet starkness that I in particular feel at home with. Steve’s loungeroom is a stage at one end that could easily accommodate a band twice our size and have them perform to about 150 people. There’s a fully provisioned PA system, lighting, a slow combustion fire, lounges, bedrooms…. all the accoutrements for the likes of us. There’s also a donkey that brayed in the wee hours and ate many carrots. I setup a basic recording system/PA, utilising a Tascam Model 24 console and the full micing up of our whole setup. Over three days we recorded 38 separate cuts, much of it new material. It was indeed like going back to the early days of the Re-mains, where we would camp out at somebody’s country location and spend days working over the material before heading out for tours and other hijinx. For me, it felt very much like doing that all over again, but having the benefit of hindsight to run with and make better choices. There’s a lot deliberation going on. You could call it care. But it’s also obvious that we 25 years on from those early days and that there’s little point in repeating past glories and patterns. The new songs are terrific. I feel the same way about these songs as I did about the older stuff - they were/are places that I know how to occupy in the right way and nothing has changed in that regard. 25 years ago, I was nascent in my steel guitar excursions and forging a style that I still use today, many aspects basically unchanged. But now, and with greater nuance and intention, I’m adding the Universal 12-string Pedal Steel, 12 string electric guitar and have committed to continuing with more repertoire in the open G tuning that was brought into the band around 2011 on the Canadian tour. For me the instrument count has gone up, and really, it’s time to have a tech. Grant has started to experiment with tempo delays on his drums, bringing elements of trance and trip-hop to the band’s sound. New boy Paul Owen is digging into longer and more notes on his Fender bass, studying hard the chord progressions that throw curve balls to all of us, not just him. Mick is continuing his journey into electrical guitar and the various boxes of joy at his feel, finding paths through the myriad of sonic options, colours and textures. They make his feet move. »»»» The choice was made to return to Bolivia as it was felt it would be the right place and the right time for us to make ready for what’s coming next. Quite so. »»»» I’d like to thank Steve Merta for his generous spirit, the use of his wonderful home and facilities and his excellent company and long term friendship. Also thanks to his many interesting friends and people who dropped by to be perplexed by our songs taking shape - the toing and froing of banter that comes directly from our special lexicon. It’s a code that allows us to view the world though a reasonably well prised open portal that’s known as “Country Rock ‘n’ Roll”. »»»» Tchuss!
Where Eagles Dare - Myself and Mick Daley - Bolivia, NSW, 7th June 2026