The Wilson Pickers

Bob Sizzlefingers, www.hardcorebluegrass.com.au

Dear Mr Sizzlefingers,

Thank you so much for your note. We are humbled that a man as evidently erudite as yourself would grant our music such earnest consideration.

It might interest you to know that we have never considered ourselves traditionalists nor revivalists. We're not even really a bluegrass band (though the boys sure love Flatt and Scruggs - you should hear us let fly on 'Salty Dog Blues')

There might be some truth in the hearsay that our first show was played immediately following a 16-hour all-night recording session, which was the first time the five of us had all played together. And, sure, attempting to record our debut album in just two days was a little ambitious in hindsight, particularly with one band member missing and another critically ill.

See, The Wilson Pickers was formed as a fun side-project – we're all songwriters and all have solo careers or play in other bands and the Pickers was always intended as an enjoyable break from our 'main' careers. Just acoustic instruments (no guitar amps or drumkit to lug in!) and five mates all throwing in songs and ideas and, man, five-part harmonies! To be able to sing those harmonies on stage is just addictive.

Without appearing conceited, we'd like to point out that our audiences seem to be enjoying themselves as much as we are. You should see them smiling and dancing, Bob, er, Mr Sizzlefingers. Our very first album was nominated for an ARIA Award, and got played all over the radio, we got to play festivals like Bluesfest and Port Fairy and Woodford. Even those Tamworth folk love us, and they know their country music!

Anyway, the heartening response to our music has prompted us to take things a little more seriously. We think you'll be impressed, Mr Sizzlefingers, by the diligence with which we approached our new record, Shake It Down. We were able to write songs specifically for the band this time. All five of us contributed to the writing and we were so pleased with the results, we booked a real studio, Junkship Records, and a real engineer, Jamie Trevaskis, who had some beautiful vintage ribbon microphones. Yes, we admit, we still tracked the whole thing live in the one room… but we spent more than two days doing it this time!

We even had it mastered by a fella named Hank Williams! In Nashville!!

Surely even a man of your refinement will be impressed by the banjo (Ben Salter) and fiddle (John Bedggood) licks in opening number "Return To The Land Of The Powerful Owl'! And we may not be purists, but come on, 'Shake It Down' is a great bluegrass song (and what about Sime Nugent's harmonica!?) Oh and how can you resist the sweet slow swing of Bedgey's fiddle in 'Bedgey's Lament'? Or the old Memphis rockabilly riffs on 'Beholden'? That Danny Widdicombe is quite a guitarist, huh? And who needs a rhythm section when you have Andrew Morris's six-string-strumming holding everything together?

There's more banjo, more fiddle, more harmonies, better songs – what's not to like?

So please, Mr Sizzlefingers, we beg you to place Shake It Down into your vintage audiophile hi-fi equipment and give it a chance. We sincerely hope that you will at least enjoy the song craftsmanship and spirit with which it was produced.

Yours truly, The Wilson Pickers.

REVIEWS

"One couldn't help feeling the urge to take your partner by the hand and do some kind of a thigh-slappin', hip-swingin' country-inspired boot-scooting dance. Yessir, those tales of love lost and dusty country roads could be mighty intoxicating." Susan Munro, Fasterlouder.

"Land Of The Powerful Owl is a superb debut, full of the rich soul that each of these musicians bring to every performance. It's a great Sunday afternoon album for sitting out on the deck and knocking back a few beers with friends. It's the kind of album you'd only expect to work from an artist from the depths of Nashville, and it's great to see the Australian alt-country bluegrass flag being flown so freely," Gumboy, Fasterlouder.

"Likeable 'boozegrass' combo The Wilson Pickers treated us to the sort of impeccable vocal harmonies and and authentic camaraderie that most bands would kill for. After witnessing their mind-blowing performance on Friday night [at Port Fairy Folk Festival] I returned to see them on three further occasions during the weekend and they were consistently impressive" Beat (of Port Fairy show).

"'Land of the Powerful Owl' deserves to be sought out and kept somewhere special, to be played on the lazy, sun-beaten Sunday afternoons of the upcoming summer" Time Off, 4 stars.

"It's the kind of music where you can imagine the players sitting around a table on the back porch swapping lines, and when it's time for the solo, well, you better move in a little closer to the microphone." Noel Mengel, The Courier Mail

“They do it with grace, they do it with zest, and they do it with twang”. – SYDNEY MORNING HERALD – 3.5 Stars

“This is quirky bluegrass in the style of Old Crowe Medicine Show but with tight five-part harmonies and a distinct country edge” – THE AGE, 3 stars

“It’s an example of what modern country music ought to sound like” - XPRESS

“Shake It Down makes for a big musical jigsaw puzzle of colour and form as vibrant and varied as the Australian bush they so often point to” – TIME OFF, 4Stars

Proving there is plenty of water left in the well, the band have come up with the goods again on Shake it Down. – Blues Magazine