now, we have done it

home at last.

2 weeks is

too long to

not have you around ...

i am

sublimely happy to be with my family again

after an intense, very full, very memorable time.

there was much planning and work to get to the coach house.

then suddenly we were there.

with brian back on live sound

and guy(pax romana producer)

recording the evening with yossi and shai.

we even had a few cameras rolling.

and leels and james were there from arizona

making sure everything ran smoothly behind the scenes ...

we had a wonderful audience.

very touched that so many people came from so far.

some across the country ...

i hadn't heard my brother play live in many years.

he sounded great.

keeping it in the family,

jack had dalbo on drums and guy playing bass.

dare i say an arse kicking band?

dare

dare ...

we'd decided to be more rehearsed than usual.

more than we've ever been?

after listening to some of the recorded music of the night

with the fellas the next day,

i am very glad we did.

it is certainly the peak of a steady evolution

over the last 2 and a half years.

the plan is still to have a live recording available sometime ...

so, how did it feel,

playing onstage again with my brother?

heart warming. surreal.
and the reaction of everyone there

made it all the more poignant.

jack joined us for the end of the set

for a few of the old favourites.

making music is a blessed thing,

especially with a brother.

jack had suggested the idea earlier in the year

when he and family met my son.

now, we have done it.

and we shall do it again ...

(photos by lisa callamaro)

a happy giving of thanks to you all.

angus

a horse called rob roy

back in LA with dalbo and drewski,

and coach house rehearsals are underway.

we haven't rehearsed this much in years.

i am enjoying the tweaking ...

after tuscon celtic last weekend

- and a bloody wonderful reception it was -

we got together with brother jack.

it had been so many years since we sang together.

but i suppose it's kind of like riding a bike.

or a horse.

mine was called rob roy, but that's another tale ...

today we're back in the alley, our rehearsal room since '94.

it's good to feel at home when making music.

i miss my lady and my bold little lad ...

angus

i can see the mountains

from our new home we can see the mountains.

covered in golden grasses, just like where i grew up in oz.

we left the catskills a blaze of autumn colour,

arrived to find our new home town equally as stunning in the peak of fall.

nice one luther burbank.

we were 6 days in the truck, keeping one day ahead of the weather.

asa, now a seasoned road warrior, did us proud.

and his share of the driving.

asa was a small lion for his first halloween.

i, a lion tamer ...

this morning i find myself on the road again.

in arizona with the fellas.

rehearsal today for the weekend.

our first festival in these here parts in many a long year.

we'll be catching up with brother jack here too

to plan the coach house further.

a busy couple of weeks ahead.

put on the kettle and let's get the day rolling ...

angus

half a world away

today we leave the mountains.

we arrived at the tail end of winter a year and a half ago.

and as i loaded the truck yesterday a light snow fell,

heralding another that we won't see here.

i will remember incredible tasting water.

the smell of fresh cut wood.

lighting fires in the big old wood stove.

gardening. chopping wood. snow shovelling.

being very physical. feeling it in so many muscles.

like being back on the farm.

like being camping.

i feel muscles again now, from lifting and loading.

thanks to t and big john for helping move the backbreakers.

thanks to lichey's mom for helping pack up the house,
for looking after asa, and being friend to steve the magical blind cat ...

satisfaction in getting the pack as good as possible.

years of loading a van on the road have made me a pack master.

i astound myself at how our whole lives can fit into such a small space ...

it has been a time of extremes.

a grey world. a green world. a red gold world. a white world.

bears in the backyard.

fresh native herbs from the forest in lichen's incredible cooking.

sun warmed berries straight out of the garden.

lichen's home made cobbler.

local maple syrup.

playing music with brother t again ...

thanks to bess, t, sar and their families for being our community.

for giving us a place to have a baby ...

our beautiful son is 6 and a half months old and always ready for the new.

he has been mobile a while now.

always pulling himself up to stand on ever steadier little legs.

always looking for a better view. coasting. crawling.

he is robust and precocious. (2 delightful words)

2 teeth have emerged. and an increasingly voracious appetite.

the little fella eats a good 3 meals a day.

and always ready to be happy, to be one of us.

the obvious recognition the last time i came home from a few days away

brought tears to my eyes. he is a simple profound blessing.

i thank my wife for all she gives him ...

and now, the last of the packing,

a fond farewell, then we hit the road to begin a new life.

half a world away.

see you on the other side.

angus

my brother

you may remember him as fergus.

or as bur, the name we called him growing up.

he is jack avalon.

he is my brother.

it has been 11 years

since we shared a stage,

my brother jack and i.

i am excited to finish the year

with a double bill at the coach house with him.

to hear his music live.

to play together again.

makes me feel good ...

and now i head out the door for the airport

and northern california.

see you there?

angus

i'm listening

i haven't felt compelled to write in a while.

so i haven't written in a while.

off the road for a few days.

and, among other things, getting ready for another cross country trek.

it seems we came to this marvellous mountain hideout

to have ourselves a baby. and that we have done.

the circumstances were ideal. and now,

it is time to raise a baby with family and community nearby.

and so, soon, we say our goodbyes.

to good people, good times, good places.

and the best water i've ever tasted.

in the vision we find ourselves refining together

it is the north west that calls ...

in the meantime, a few more shows with dalbo and drew.

on both coasts.

i find myself enjoying what we do more and more.

i am still sometimes astounded

at how this thing called BROTHER

has once again been re invented.

i never imagined it would evolve this way.

we knew we could make it work.

we just weren't quite sure how.

and so we began. we see now. nice one fellas.

i make asa smile and laugh.

he does the same for me.

there is no better feeling.

simple.

so many firsts with him, sometimes every day.

he changes so quickly. and so must we.

keeping up keeps me young.

thank you little matey ...

hey little matey

hey little matey

i know you

i know you

charm all the ladies

charm all the ladies

that's what you do

that's what you do

baby i'm blown away

whatever it is you're trying to say

whatever you're thinking

i'm listening

angus

a worthy ponder

this path i'm on seems to involve a constant stripping away
of those things that aren't really me anymore,
or never really were.
often the question is, how much to reveal?
in a song
in an interview
in conversation
in a journal entry
in a photo, a video ...
a worthy ponder.
i think so long as the revelation, however large or small,
doesn't adversely affect another's life.
and most importantly when that other is family.
what and where are the boundaries?
always on ongoing evaluation.
more so than ever now
with one who will one day be big but is still tiny today and in my care ...

angus