This Little Town was written and recorded during the season of Covid 19 for Nambucca Fables. In fact, it was recorded during lockdowns at home, with the band trading audio files online, and was mixed by our resident guitarist Jamie Hutchings from his flat on the North Shore.
I’d been tracking my Mum’s history
whilst stuck inside our home
by digitising old photos
and putting them into
chronological order
loads of pics of Mum
growing up at
Nambucca Heads
I’d also been watching
the mini-series
Chernobyl
and somehow
in my mind
it became a metaphor
for my mother’s passing
the unstoppable
destructive force
of the nuclear reactor
somehow reminded me
of the definitive nature of
my mother’s cancer
there was no slowing it down
as the nuclear accident
seeped its way into
Chernobyl’s
forests
trees n streams
the ground
the wildlife
….so my mother’s cancer
was a
sudden
insidious
unstoppable force
that spread throughout her body
without respite
this song is lyrically
the melding in my mind of
Chernobyl
my Mum’s cancer
and her little (home)town
Nambucca Heads
Recently I stumbled across a few old, public domain, anonymous home movies online and was captivated by the bygone family life. It seemed like the perfect visualiser for this song.
Live At Mixtape w/special guest Jo Meares
Two of NSW’s finest musical wordsmiths join forces on Friday Feb 20 for a FREE ENTRY double header show at Mixtape Brewing & Bar, Marrickville that’s not be missed. Both Mark and Jo will be playing with their full band line ups.
MARK MOLDRE BAND
Mark Moldre’s band is made up of an unlikely bunch of misfits and marauders who’ve travelled together from Canberra to France. Gin and green tea drinkers. A group of musical pillager’s who sound like the un-oiled wheels on a lurching gypsy caravan. If you listen very closely you’ll experience tender romance and dark corners, death and redemption, human struggle versus biblical consequences, dreams/nightmares and bad weather. They can be as gritty as a 1920’s speakeasy or as smooth as Sinatra at The Sands.
“If Tom Waits, Elvis Costello and Jeff Tweedy were pushed out to sea in a rickety old boat they’d come up with something like this” Timber & Steel
JO MEARES BAND
Jo is a Sydney based singer/songwriter who has produced multiple albums over 25 years of playing. The Jo Meares Band combine Jo’s songwriting, his Cohen-esque weathered tone, halfway between a whisper and a growl, amongst textured sonic terrains with soundtrack-like emotionality. The band has an extraordinary level of musicianship. Expect lush backing vocals, sublime violin and saw, lovely electronic sounds and piano, gorgeous guitar and percussion and brilliant songs.
“Jo Meares has a dark whisper of a voice. He is like an introverted, quiet Paul Kelly.” Simon Sweetman, Radio NZ
Mark Moldre 