THIS COUNTRY Podcast Development Essay

Short essay by Bradley McCaw

It’s September 2024, and I’m in Tamworth NSW, again.

I’ve jumped in my car and headed accords the border just as I did in 2022. At the time I was searching for a simple podcast about the history of Australian Country Music to listen to and found nothing. But my google search uncovered something startling… It was the 50th Anniversary for the Tamworth Music Festival and I knew nothing about it! How had such an iconic moment in the history of the music community have arrived without me, a passionate music podcaster, hearing about it. This is when I started first recording THIS COUNTRY. Before I even knew what the show would be. This wasn’t the first time I’d started recording audio without knowing where it was going. I’ve since developed a podcast series about my debut album called MAKING WORRIED MINDS but the history of a musical genre was different. IS different.

With the support of the Moreton Bay Regional Arts Fund I have been able to explain this little idea into a fully fledged concept. What beyond as an unlikely solo project is picking up steam and becoming a revolution.

Being back in Tamworth everything seems different. I’ve since been researching and writing drafts for the podcast and all of the landmarks come with new information. The kind of stories and moments that make history come to life.

I drive into 2TM the radio station that was pivotal in the formation of both the festival and Tamworth as the ‘home of Australian country music’ in the 1970s. I park and walk into the lobby unannounced. I’d decided to take drastic measures.

Over the past two years I’d started to understand what this story could be. How it could capture the essence of a community and preserve, entertain and inspire all at once.

I had tried emailing and calling artists and experts over the past few weeks but nothing was working. So that’s why I’d arrived here to start introducing myself to the town and the key figures of this story.

I introduce myself to the receptionists and ask to speak to some of the staff that can go on the record about the history of the station. I get a phone number and am told to come back later. I leave and cross the highway to the Tamworth Information centre, and stand outside looking up at the giant Golden Guitar. The town mascot featured in many a social media photo and press engagement.

Inside the information centre I’d told to contact the council for permission to record or interview anyone and I let them know ‘that’s exactly why I’m here’ to meet the people I need to contact with to get this ball rolling.

They take my number and I turn a corner inside the building where a cafe waits for my break fast order.

As I wait I quiz the owners and barista about the town and start to fill in some of the blanks in my research. I ask about the town between festival time and how locals feels about being the home of country. I interview some people on the record and the information centre manager tells me some more people to call.

I head to the car and start to call some artists, letting them know I’m here for the day. I call council and secure some interviews from the music festival team. Within 30 minutes my entire day is filled with interviews that would not have happened had I not just arrived.

By the end of the day I have recorded some 4 hours of content all over the city and my draft episode written for a successful grant is coming alive inside my mind. I had been lucky to have had the time to write an outline for four episodes and I was starting to expand the stories scope. ‘It needs to be six episodes’ I think. And these interviews were almost exactly what I’d needed for the feature on Tamworth in episode one.

If there was one thing I’d learnt from this development process it was preparation is key. Structure, order, flow. Understand and then take the leap. By carefully plotting the history into seperate episodes I was able to drive into town and work in the moment, on the fly, moving as a reporter might, asking questions and letting the day unfold. This could not have happened without the grant assistance I received and the development road map I created as a structure of focus during a ten week period.

I’d spent a week writing episodes, then another week getting feedback from clever people. I would then return to the episodes and work through an arch or series shape, much like a tv series would do. This was the first time I’d worked on something historical and after 2,3 years I was finally getting my footing in this story. I was starting to understand the tale from the inside. I knew how it could be told.

As I drive out of town the sun is setting. I know my work on this project isn’t done and yet the day has been so productive I feel a real sense of accomplishment. While I haven’t finished the interviews required to tell this part of the story, I know that I have what I need to finish that next stage. I have done the work needed to actually finish this series. This trip and experiment has just proved it.

I arrive back in Brisbane pondering the other cities and festivals I would soon visit. Collecting new interviews and ideas one day at a time. I remind myself that patience and focus are required here over many years. This was not a simple project. I would take further partnerships and networking. With people and organisations I hadn’t even met yet.

And with the work I’ve done, I am finally able to begin.

Bradley McCaw

September, 2024.

With thanks to the Moreton Bay Regional Arts Fund for supporting this project, and my development as an artist.