Chris Matthews: Stomp n' strum

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Covering so much rugged remote country, the tour had its low points as well as its highlights. "We got the bus bogged in a dry river bed - but on the other hand, I made $137.20 in Darwin in half an hour's busking, and I met Merv Hughes in Tennant Creek!" says Chris. "We consistently got really good turnouts on this tour."

In Townsville, Chris got the kind of solid residency that most of today's working musicians only dream about. "I was playing four hours a night, three nights a week.," says Matthews.

But the lure of Melbourne proved too strong, and he arrived here early this year. "My first gig here was outstanding," says Chris. "I got off the bus, went straight to the Espy and played that night to a packed house and a great reception - that was my welcome to Melbourne!"

Chris Matthews loves paying live. "Getting on stage and showcasing people your stuff, you wear your heart on your sleeve to total strangers and tell them things you wouldn't tell your best mate," he confesses.

Matthews doesn't regret the move to Melbourne. "In Perth there are six original music venues - here there are so many," he says. "There's a very healthy and supportive vibe as well."

And the money? "Playing music is light on the pocket but good on the soul," claims Matthews. "I've survived for 3 years - it's difficult financially but it's what I want to do."

Catch Chris Matthews at on any Friday at The Laundry, Johnston St Fitzroy, between 7pm and 9 pm.

Listen to a sample of Chris Matthews.

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Ted Egan: singer runs the Northern Territory

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Aged 16, Ted moved to Darwin. "In those days, as now, there was lots of sport and lots of parties," Ted recalled. "At the parties I'd sing, and other people would bring instruments; banjos, mandolins, ukeleles. There were lots of different musical influences - Malay, Chinese, Indonesian, British, Polynesian. We sang Westerns like Mule Train, High Noon and Ghost Riders In The Sky."

Gradually, surrounded by the larger-than-life characters who inhabit the Top End, Ted began to make up songs about them. Later, working in the bush with the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, he made up numerous songs about the blackfellas and whitefellas he worked with.

Then, in the late 60s, someone taped Ted's singing, and sent the tape to RCA Records in Sydney. "I got a letter from RCA saying "Next time you come to town, come and see us." So I did," said Ted. "RCA set up a recording session, and hired four or five crash hot musos to record with me, including well-known jazz guitarist George Golla. When they asked me what key my songs were in, I didn't know what they meant! They managed somehow. George said afterwards, "You need a blacktracker to follow you!" but he also told me to stick to what I was doing and not learn how to do it "properly."

That album, recorded and mixed in one day, went gold. "I reckon it was because I sold it to all my bush mates!" said Ted. He recorded a further 10 albums with RCA. After the fifth or sixth album, Ted left the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, and moved to Alice Springs, singing songs for a living. "I did three, four, sometimes seven nights a week, playing to the tourist groups that came through," said Ted. "Other artists had to go on tour, but the tourists came to me! I went on the road once with the Bushwackers. That's no way to live. I pitied the poor roadies humping all that gear, but even they were getting paid more than the musos!" Even on tour, Ted doesn't need much gear. To accompany his singing, he just taps away on an empty beer carton. "Over the years, friends started to call it a Fosterphone or a Victaphone," said Ted.

Ted had originally planned to write ten albums and songbooks concerning the men and women of the Outback. He had completed five of these when Colin Chapman, an Australian now living in England, heard these theme albums and decided to publish a book. "We ended up with a double album of 28 songs, the words of which are in the book and inspire each chapter." The book, entitled "The Land Down Under" is aimed at all those, whether overseas tourists or urban Australians, who would like to know something of the real outback Australia. "The book and CDs work as a kit and should be used together," said Ted.

Ted is typically modest when it comes to his appointment as Administrator for the Territory. "I'm told I'm well-regarded as someone who is even-handed," he said. "In my writings, I've criticised some aboriginal activists, but I'm also crooked on politicians and government representatives when they deserve it."

Above all, Ted is deeply interested in country Australia, both past and future. "I always remember the words of Thomas Moore, the Irish patriot," says Ted. "He said Let me write the songs of a nation, and I care not who makes the laws."

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