KEN ‘CHAINSAW’ LINDSAY
From Cross Cut to Chainsaw
Grandfather Quandong – A Word To Texas Jack – From Crosscut to Chainsaw – Kangabloodyroos – Nowhere Else – Diamantina Drover – Sweeney – Shopping On A Saturday – Everything Except – Home In Dirranbandi – Heaven’s Party – Loosin‘ My Blues Tonight
I really enjoyed Ken ‘Chainsaw’ Lindsay when he made the long trek from Australia to the rural country of Iowa to be part of our festival in LeMars. Ken is not only what we would call a ‘super-star’ in Australia, he’s a great songwriter, and that seems to be the key to anyone who is doing authentic country music today. Ken records for the Kross–Kut Recording Company, and they are asking for high quality studio production. That’s exactly what happens when Ken goes into the studio. This particular project has three of his original songs, and Ken Lindsay is a living example of the benefits of writing and singing about what you know about. That’s really what ‘real’ country music is all about, it’s unfortunate we have to go to such a far away place as Australia to hear it in it’s 21st century versions. He is so authentic he sings in his Australian accent, not even ‘pretending’ to sound American, or at the least country-American. That’s what ‘real’ country music is all about isn’t it?….authenticity. Music from the heart, like Ken writes, and sings in an honest voice, not prostituting everything you do just to ‘get a deal in Nashville.’ Lindsay Waddington was the studio producer, and he not only has a good ear, he knows exactly the sound he is looking for in each and every song he recorded here. This isn’t just a ‘bought and paid for’ session. It’s a session that requires the ‘best’ in everything. I really liked the harmonica in “A Word To Texas Jack” that is definitely a musical instrument that takes me immediately back to authentic country music. Don’t expect to find the harmonica in today’s Nashville music. We just had Charley McCoy at our festival in LeMars, Iowa (the same one that Ken attended), and he’s of similar opinion…. Nashville is getting too rock and roll to be country. Alas alack, so be it. In the meantime we can still tune Charley in, and definitely hear Chainsaw Lindsay do some ‘real’ country, even some of those incredibly interesting Australian bush ballads that keeps legends and myths alive, all a very real part of who we are as a people…..any people. That’s why my ‘stake’ is in country people. I just can’t get past the incredible ‘giving up the soul’ to be successful in the music business today. It sure wasn’t that way growing up. Who would even permit Stringbean or Jimmy Driftwood to perform on a major so-called ‘country’ festival today? Well we would, that’s a certainty. Visit the LeMars, Iowa, festival and see exactly what happens. More information go to www.ntcma.net and see why Ken Chainsaw Lindsay did so well there. His three songs on this project are all great: “”From Cross Cut to Chainsaw,” “Everything Except,” and “Heaven’s Party.” This whole project is a winner. I don’t often give ‘stars’ but this is a fiver. I wish I lived in Australia, or at least knew someone at Kross Kut Records. My wife Sheila and I have some very nice acoustic original country that we won’t prostitute to Nashville, but we might certainly give Kross Kut a try at it. Hey, Chainsaw can you hear us???
Bob Everhart