Can I tell you a story?

My grandad passed away back in 1992. He had told my Mum, before he died, that he wanted me to have his old acoustic guitar – a yellow 1940’s Tex Morton signature model (affectionately called by many a “butter box” guitar). My grandad was a Tex fan and he used to yodel and sing to his 10 kids, including my Mum, on their small homestead at Nambucca Heads. But strangely, after we lost him, the guitar disappeared.

We were told by members of my Mother’s family that it had likely been burned by his second wife who destroyed a lot of family history in a vengeful bonfire. Mum and I tried to track it down for a couple of years – calling my uncles and aunts, but we had no luck and gave up. I kept my eyes peeled over the years on eBay and Gumtree for something similar but to no avail.

Fast forward to 2021, a little over a year after my Mum has passed away. A cousin of mine finds an old, battered guitar case in her basement. Inside was a small, yellow steel string with a cowboy on a horse painted on the face. It was a little worse for wear…it certainly needed some TLC but it was without a doubt my grandfathers Tex Morton. After a conversation with my sister, she arranged for it to be sent to my house, while I’m struggling to write songs about Mums history and deal with our loss.

That guitar opened the floodgates. Songs and instrumentals came fast. I wrote a whole swathe of songs on it. Songs about Mum, written on the guitar that her Dad used to sit and strum whilst singing songs to her over 60 years earlier. The guitar we searched for together and thought was destroyed. The timing still takes my breath away.

I wrote a song about the experience…and now here’s a lyric clip for Ghost Guitar, the video is full of pics from my parents photo albums from the Nambucca days. Here’s hoping you like it.

PS Come and see me and my band play songs from Nambucca Fables at the Union Hotel on 20th June with my old mate Bryan Estepa – he’ll be celebrating the one year anniversary of his album I See It Now.