Phyl Lobl – Alcyone Bronzewing PO Box 90, South Hurstville, NSW 2221 email: bronzewing@hotkey.net.au TRACK LIST | REVIEW

REVIEWER: David Mulhallen

In the early days of the Folk Revival, all sorts of performers played any number of types of venues as part of their itinerary, appealing to as broad a cross section of audiences as possible. Folk clubs were part of the circuit and for some, especially the singer/songwriter, a very successful part, both in terms of an appreciative audience and a support base. All the same, neither the singer/songwriters nor the audiences would have been keen to describe their music style as folk, even though there have always been those in the folk scene who write and perform their own songs. Indeed, many singer/songwriters who played the folk clubs drew on the blues rather than folk, for their inspiration. To get around this, the scene created various labels, such as folk/rock and contemporary folk. But even then, there are many who never dreamed that they might become known as folk performers. There are some interesting examples, especially in the British and American music scenes, and I have met several people here in Australia, who have told me that they didn't start out as folk.

Of course, some of this is patently obvious. Often one can tell the source of a song in terms of its influences as one can its market, simply by listening to the lyrics, the way they are constructed and the musical arrangements. It is for this reason that I have always rejected the notion that there should only be one style of Australian song, embracing both Country and Folk. Though the two may overlap occasionally, they are world's apart.

I write this by way of an introduction to the latest album by Phyl Lobl, who I would commend to you as one of Australia's true folk singer/songwriters in the traditional idiom. The album is titled “Alcyone” and is released on Phyl's own label, Bronzewing (details below).

Phyl has always written in the tradition. That is, in the style of what we might accept as folk. I doubt if she claims much in the way of musical influences from Jazz or the Blues or even from rural Sussex in England or the bothy ballads of Scotland. Phyl writes in her own plain-speak Australian style and says what she wants to say clearly and directly, in a way that is both individual, yet all embracing. In other words, she writes her songs in an unaffected manner for you and me. And it is this, which I find most appealing, as well as the fact that Phyl has a wonderful sense of music, which I find draws me into her songs like few other writers can.

She has a delicate sensitivity that captures the ear, long before the lyrics. So that in a very short time, you are of the belief that you have heard the song several times before and have come to know it as part of her repertoire, even though it may well be the first time you have actually heard her sing the song. Well, that is what it seems like for me, anyway.

Recently, I reviewed Phyl Lobl's compilation album “Bronzewing”, which she released earlier this year and which looks back over her early record releases and some of her finest songs from the 60s and 70s, including 'Dark Eyed Daughter', 'Jimmy Blacktown', 'Seasons of War' and 'Broadmeadow Thistle'. It's a fine album and a good documentary to Phyl Lobl's early career and testament to her talent as a songwriter and performer. “Alcyone” follows on from where “Bronzewing” leaves off and brings us up to date with Phyl's work. Combined, they are an excellent insight into how an artist has matured over the decades to become a truly fine songwriter and singer. Yes, the songs remain direct and essentially simple, but the time and care that has gone into crafting these songs, polishing them until they shine like pearls is so very evident, especially when one puts the two albums together, side by side.

All that sounds very glib doesn't it? But, there are two reasons for writing such glowing praise. Firstly, I have known Phyl Lobl on and off these past twenty-five years. Secondly, in the days of “Sunday Folk”, someone once asked me why I always praised the albums I reviewed. Well, first of all “Sunday Folk” was only two hours a week and air-time was precious. Second, with so many good records released worldwide, let alone in Australia, why waste time playing and bagging records that aren't of good quality, be it in content, production and/or performance?! I continue to apply the same principles today, and thus, in being asked to review Phyl Lobl's two albums I had to ask myself “do I like the albums? Do I like the songs and do I like Phyl's performances? In each case, the answer is “yes”. And when I wonder why, I come back to the fact that I have been able to enjoy Phyl Lobl's career from a distance for all these years and thus have known her as much as a recording artist, as I have as a performer and individual person. With such criteria, I am really pleased to be able to say that “Alcyone” is a very fine album and I commend it to you.

In the late 70s/ early 80s, Phyl Lobl was singing about the Nareen Cocky. Her political satire was witty and clever and seemingly the hallmark of her work, if not on record, then definitely on stage. I recall a number of concerts where Phyl used her distinctive singing style to shoot barbs at the government of the day. When she wasn't making such comments, Phyl was singing “The Songs Of Henry Lawson” and joining with Graham Seal and Warren Fahey on various recording and stage productions about Ned Kelly (Game As Ned Kelly), Coal Mining (Man of The Earth), Sydney Town (Lags and Lasses) and (Curios Of Sydney) and the 1930s Depression (on The Steps Of The Dole Office Door). During that time, Phyl Lobl came to be known as much for singing traditional Australian folk songs as for her own material and it may well be that such work gave Phyl a breadth in her repertoire that had previously not been there. I recall the first time I heard Phyl Lobl sing “Man Of The Earth”. Warren Fahey had collected the poem from NSW miner and unionist Jock Graham, who wrote it and I believe had a tune for it as well. Phyl put a new tune to it and quickly made the song her own, to the point that it is probably more identifiable with her these days than with Jock. For the 2002 National Folk Festival, Phyl presented a workshop titled “Singing The Poets Of Oz” in which she included “Man Of The Earth” along with Henry Lawson's “The Fight At Eureka Stockade” and Henry Kendall's “Bell-Birds”. Lawson's poem was put to music by Royston Nicholas and adapted by Phyl, and she put the traditional tune “Spinning Wheel” to “Bell-Birds”. All three are on “Alcyone” and sit pretty much in the centre of the album giving it a marvellous focus of the traditional expression of Australia's folk heritage. Built around them are Phyl's own songs.

“Alcyone” starts with the title song dedicated to Geri Lobl. Phyl describes it as a song for those who grieve. It is much more too. But, I am not going to go into any detail. For that you will have to buy the album, listen to the song and the read the notes. It's worth it. Besides paying tribute to her true partner Geri, in “Pride Of the Land” Phyl bids adieu to Shirley Andrews, the great lady of Australian dance, who studied it and encouraged so many to enjoy it. Shirley was an inspiration to many and Phyl says thank you in a song that is full of the spirit of dance and also reflects Shirley's incredible enthusiasm.

As I have indicated before, in some ways “Alcyone” is the second part of a journey of Phyl Lobl's career, taking in the past twenty years or so. Accompanying her on this journey is musician and producer Michael Roberts. His work in encouraging and assisting Phyl Lobl is a joy to hear. His arrangements are sensitive to Phyl's style whilst bringing her up to date even when she is reaching back through the years for some of her songs. In the late 80s, Phyl took on a song-writing project with the Tasmanian Arts Council titled “Then And Now” which was created to highlight the lives of the women of Tasmania. In many ways, the project became focused around the people of Queenstown, known for its logging and mining industries as well as for the battle, which raged for so many years, between those who proposed to conserve and hopefully create new industry, versus “Industry” and the old ways of doing things. In the middle were the workers and their families. Once again, Phyl Lobl took up the pen of political and social comment and the songs that came out of the time she was in Tasmania are, for me, some of Phyl's finest work. I still have the tape recording I made of Phyl's workshop at Sutherland for the 1988 National Folk Festival and I am delighted to find some of the songs re-recorded for “Alcyone”.

Amongst them “West Coast Litany” with harmonies by Kate Delaney, brings images of the beautiful rainbows mirrored by the coloured rock formations laid bare by mining and quarrying on Mount Owen. “Shannon Rise” is Phyl's stark and moving statement about the flooding of Lake Pedder and its environs. As with so many of Phyl's songs it's not just about the flooding of Lake Pedder but about the way that “man” makes decisions about changing nature often with an incredible disregard for any diversity of opinions. Similarly, “Behind the Blockade” is yet another comment, though a very special one, about the Franklin River, which has been the subject of a multitude of songs and innumerable words, written about the politics and the rights and wrongs of whether the river should have been dammed and the industry it may or may not have brought to Tasmania had it been. In classic folk style, Phyl Lobl talks about the two sides to the argument, the disruption that was brought upon the people of Tasmania and the distrust that remains, even now, and balances them against the fact that the Franklin survives as a fine and mighty river. Her lyrics tell the story in such a thought - provoking yet simple way as in the lines

      Jobs for now or Future's right we argued through long sleepless nights
      Our bloodless war, with bitter spite fought on our innerspring
      There's many felt the same as me who shut their mouths so they could be
      At peace with all their family oh how I needed them

And

      But will the Nation pay the debt, we've waited long, we're waiting yet
      For millions owed for West Coast sweat that lines the metal mines
      There is one thought still comforts me, my children's children they will see
      Your tumbling waters running free and learn to be like you

And are summed up in the chorus with its wonderful round that I can picture folk audiences singing with her at a concert

Tumblin' tanin, joy in motion, rolling to the Southern Ocean, Wild River, still free.

Another song to capture the imagination is Paddock Woman's Song, which is a work song and has a real feel and rhythm about it as the chorus catches the moment of “flickin' and puttin' all day”.

“Right to Life” could have easily been written by Pete Seeger, Don Henderson or someone similar. Well the “someone similar” is Phyl Lobl and she sings this with all the zest of the folk songs of the 60s without the song sounding hackneyed. This is a song for the 2000s and it is simple and direct and a classic singalong!

      Land rights, it needs them
      Land rights, it needs them
      Land rights, it needs them
      Land has a right to survive

How true!

One of the last songs on “Alcyone” is titled 'Derby Hall' and though it harks back to when Phyl was in Tasmania, its writing and its thoughts are more recent and are to do with any number of places in Australia. Here, we listen to Phyl Lobl the composer, with producer Michael Roberts' sensitive piano playing. It is a song about memories and its lyrics and music are hauntingly nostalgic. I would imagine that Phyl had many other memories in her mind when she wrote it. It is a beautiful work, great words, cleverly put together and for me somewhat reminiscent in style of her other classic original 'Broadmeadow Thistle'. 'Derby Hall' is a very genuine contemporary folk song in the truest sense but instead of hearing the audience singalong I would guess that one could hear a pin drop!

Finally, Phyl writes about her love and her grief at the loss of her husband and partner. In 'Love Lie By Me' and 'Seal Upon My Heart' Phyl Lobl bares her soul with an honesty that is both tragic yet beautiful. The music to 'Love Lie By Me' reminds me of something Elizabethan, perhaps a nursery rhyme, which I suspect is deliberate. But it is also clever in that it makes me think I have heard the song before. But then, that is the art of the songster as Phyl leads us into 'Seal Upon My Heart' sung unaccompanied and which takes as its theme the words from “The Song Of Solomon”. To end, Phyl sings an incredibly sad, but uplifting rendition of 'Go to sleep, you weary hobo' as her reprise to what is a superb collection of folk songs. I don't know where this recording came from, other than out of her archives, but the harmonica playing is by Geri! We are left saddened but inspired and motivated to hit the button and play the album all over again. Well, I am and I hope you will be too.

The album is titled “Alcyone”, songs written and performed by Phyl Lobl and produced by Michael Roberts. The CD is released on Phyl's own record label – Bronzewing, PO Box 90, South Hurstville, NSW 2221 (bronzewing@hotkey.net.au)