Sometimes you've just got to put the umbrella up, face the cold and rain, and head to the pub for some whiskey and blues, then a coffee to see you home. Feeling good with the blues!

Download the wave file on Bandcamp:
https://chriso1.bandcamp.com/track/whiskey-blues-coffee

Chris O - composition, vocals, National Resonator, Aiersi Resonator, harp, beats, audio engineering. www.chrisokunbor.net

Artwork by Justin James - a rainy night in Hobart www.justinjamesimages.com

Final mix: www.kagenstudios.com

Whiskey, Blues & Coffee

Whiskey, Blues, & Coffee ~ Chris O

A zany celebration of jaw harp, steel guitar and Aussie wildlife, travelling from Berlin to Tasmania.

Rick on jaw harp, chanting, and video-making
Chris on steel guitar, vocals, eye-rolls & audio
c  2021 Ellis & Okunbor
Here's the video: https://youtu.be/cwkF6MZ8E4k

and here's the lyrics:

Possums in the pumpkin patch,
Possums up the tree.
Clogging in boots on the ole tin roof,
Rattling through my sleep,
Rattling through my sleep.

Wombat digging in the underground,
Soft paw shuffle at night.
Hide inside a hollow log,
Lord those Devils can bite,
Lord, those Devils can bite, whoo, they can bite.

Cane toads hanging at the riverside,
Cane toads at my door.
Nobody loves ‘em, everybody hates ‘em,
Ain't gonna sing no more.
Ain’t gonna sing no more, 
Ain’t gonna sing no more!

Nobody loves me, everybody hates me,
Ain't gonna sing no more.
Whoo!

Ein kleiner moondance - Rick Ellis & Chris O

This is my cover of a song by Amber Fults, as part of the #mysongisyoursong project of Make Music Day 2021. https://youtu.be/Yioq18GlzZ8
Singer-Songwriters around the world swap songs, re-interpreting them.


Here's Amber's version of my song "The Lamp of Welcome" https://youtu.be/RoKaS86Flw8

And here's her original version of "Fire Burning"
https://open.spotify.com/track/30jVabsbADXhiiGzXrVap0?si=4a176915f7054954

Fire Burning

Fire Burning #MySongIsYourSong

Chris: Lyrics & melody arrangement/vocals/Brauchli lapslide/audio engineering
Martin: Bass, rhythm, main guitars, shruti, instrumental arrangement & recording.
Another collaboration re-imagining the tradition, with Martin Kirwan…we’ve made this one a free download if you enjoy it. Martin has composed and played the instrumental on layered guitar tracks and shruti, and I've re-arranged the lyrics and vocal melody. As always, I'm blown away by his beautiful playing and imaginative blending of cultural sounds. https://soundcloud.com/tradladsaughrim

This gem can be found in Buntings Ancient Music of Ireland, and the "literal  translation from the original Irish" was undertaken by a Miss Mary Balfour, (there is a slightly different  translation in my 1897 book The Minstrelsy of Ireland). 
The original Irish song was believed to have been collected by an agent of Bunting's associates the McCrackens - a man called Patrick Lynch...who collected over 200 songs from singers around the Mayo area in the early 1800's but this man was never acknowledged in the publication. 
The original tune was believed to have been first published as "Ye Trugh" by Neal in 1724, but Bunting got it from Charles Byrne at a harpist's gathering around the 1790's.

"Arise from thy slumbers, oh fairest of maids!
With me wilt thou wander to Truigha's green shades,
Where sorrel and bright rowan berries abound,
And nuts in rich clusters the branches have crowned.

A bed of fresh ivy to rest thee I'll bring,
The blackbirds and thrushes around us shall sing,
And there with unceasing attachment I'll prove,
How soothing the cares of affection and love.

In my contemporary arrangement I've made the English lyrics flow a bit better. 

Photo by Chris Okunbor

An Seann Triuca

An Seann Triuća (The Old Truigha) Trad. arr. Okunbor & Kirwan. Free download if you like it

Video link:   https://youtu.be/Os82Z9Y-V-k
An old country blues written by Kansas Joe & Minnie McCoy way back in 1930.
My friend Keith Nicholson makes cigar box guitars...so here's a fun lo-fi track with  both the cigar box picking (via piezo & Krivo pickups) and  Canjo rhythm.

Botherin' that thing (video link in description)

video here:   https://youtu.be/Kzodqzwbjr4

A popular Irish song about unrequited love. Brendan and I get the chance to play this live together sometimes.

Brendan Wakely on guitar:  https://soundcloud.com/brendan-wakely
Chris O on vocals and 8 string uke
Home recording

The Salley Garden

The Salley Garden (W.B. Yeats) ~ Chris O & Brendan Wakely *video link in description

https://youtu.be/3fHo4B1x_BY

Seems to be an endless repeated theme for me ~ running away to the countryside, and in recent years this has been the Australian wilderness, from the deep south to the far north.

Dedicated to, and featuring Gary Reeves (aka Mountain Songs) on drums and cymbals (remixed) at the start. Banjo, lap slide guitar (acting as bass), beats and vox by myself. This song is for Gary, who has been a wonderful musical compadre for many of us around the world, via this  Soundcloud Village.

Respect and acknowledgement to the Traditional Owners of the lands, waters and skies in this video, both in Australia and New Zealand. Particular thanks to the Yolgnu people of Gapuwiyak who made me feel so welcome during my short visit to Arnhem Land last year.

Looking Up & Down      Song, recording, audio & video July 2023 - Chris Okunbor (APRA)
I was chained to the city, thinking I could fly,
I gazed at the heavens as the clouds rolled high.
Long, long days working to the plan,
I changed my way of living and I left that town.

Now I'm higher than the mountains, looking down below,
rolling miles above cotton candy snow.
Way beyond the city, just going with the flow.
running to freedom to a place unknown.

Got a window seat, got a beer in hand.
Feeling in my heart for this ancient land.
Well, wild rivers snake,  jeweled seas shine.
Djerimanga Songlines are spinning out my mind.

Higher than the mountains, and the madding crowd,
cruising miles above cotton fields of cloud.
Way beyond the city, going with the flow,
running to freedom, to a place unknown.
To a place unknown.

Looking Up & Down

Looking Up & Down  ~ a song for Gary (video link in notes)

Version two......adding some Sgt Pepper to the Biscuits.

Bet Couch King is sagging under the weight of all this dough by now ;-)
 Here's the original:

https://soundcloud.com/couch-king-presents/the-couch-king-buttermilk


Chris O Crispin Up the Biscuits ~ open collab with Couch King

Man on a Grill puts the squeeze on the Queen of Soprano.
A song we wrote a while ago - stripped back emotions and stripped back version ;-)

MOAG here - https://soundcloud.com/man-on-a-grill
Plugged version here - https://soundcloud.com/man-on-a-grill/dontpushbabe


Don't Push Babe  ~ Man on a Grill & Chris O  2014
[MOAG]
I’m on my own again 
Tired of pretending it’s ok, that 
you’re most likely on your way

[CHRIS]
Babe you know I love you true 
It’s been one helluva a long day so
won’t you just say you love me too

You buy me bangles, diamond rings but
I just want the simple things under the moon 
like there’s no tomorrow

[MOAG]
Get off that blue trail to the stars 
I don’t like your friends nor their lalalalas 
You moving further makes me hollow

You know I have waited 
Wasted time that you never updated 
Falling apart for the Queen of my heart

[CHRIS]
I don’t want no crown, don’t string me down 
Don’t need no fancy blings
Just gotta get out and do my thing

This ain’t no tale about fame and glory
Much more like my whole life’s story
Oh how can you want me to let go ?

[MOAG]
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve known 
all along that I could never tame you
But who’s that guy in your latest song ?

Those tender words of love, they burn 
right through my soul, they grip tight to that guy 
won’t bring me anything but sorrow

[CHRIS]
The guys in my songs are always you
No matter what I try 
So get a grip and quit this wallow

CHRIS & [MOAG] 
Don’t push Babe 
Don’t do me wrong 
[I don’t intend to do you wrong]
Don’t push Babe 
Are you that strong ?
[and I‘m as strong as the day is long]
Though I may not like you much today 
I keep crawlin’ back here anyway 
[I will be waiting for you here anyway]
Don’t ever say you know what’s true 
[one thing I know is true]
when you don’t even know that I love you 
[is that I love you]

Dont Push Babe - RootMix ~ MOAG & Chris O

Bringing up a young fella whose batteries never run out! 
Chris O ~ copyright 2002
Uke, beats, guitar, vox and audio from the Scruffy Loungeroom Studio

....still needs a bit of brightening for inclusion on the new CD release "Moanin an Wailin the Blues".

Longlife Battery Boy ~ new version (Chris O)

Foss and I love Mississippi Fred McDowell to bits! Here's our version of one of his classics.
Foss's brilliant slide guitar captured on my H4N Digital Zoom last June. Other recording and mixing done at the Scruffy Lounge Room Recording Studio in Katoomba ;-)
https://soundcloud.com/fossil60

Photo by Julie Williams 2014




Write Me a Few of Your Lines (McDowell) ~ Fossil60 & Chris O

A new song written with a jazzy feel. I'm so thrilled to hear the song come alive with the great trumpet improvisation from Ocean of Tunes weaving throughout the piece.

Lyrics and instrumental composition, guitars & beats: Chris O  (C) March 2016
Audio mix: Chris
Trumpet instrumental & composition: https://soundcloud.com/ocean-of-tunes-presents

Photo: from my family collection

Now that chance has gone ~ Chris O

Blowin' horns moan out into the night
Now that chance has gone.
Sighs on fingers kill the light
Now our chance has gone.
Hmmm our chance has gone.

Stumblin' past an open door
Glimpsed the chance to come.
Threads of blues, a woven curtain
Now that chance has gone.

Dissonant keys fly around the track
We're fearing loss of place.
The melody soars to bring it back
And harmony fills the space.

A slappin' bass with timings tight
Tells of moments gone.
A change of beat, a song re-write
Another chance to come.

Ah, maybe, if we try
We'll have another chance to come.

Now that chance has gone ~ Chris Okunbor  (ft. Little Jimmy Aquanaut on trumpet)

John Delk is a songwriter from Tennessee who I greatly admire, and I was very happy when he asked me to considering covering this smashing blues he composed with Jonas Hornfeldt from Norway, before I went to Memphis in January. Sadly I didn't have the time to record it before leaving, but here it is a few months later!
https://soundcloud.com/john_delk
https://soundcloud.com/surprise-youre-dead

The original with Jonas singing his great deep blues is here: 
https://soundcloud.com/surprise-youre-dead/get-out-of-memphis-tonight.

Composers: John Delk and Jonas Hornfeldt
Guitars, beats, vocals and audio engineering: Chris O
Photo: taken at The Shack Inn just outside Clarksdale, Mississippi by my friend Deb Mann.

I'm playing my "motorbike" 4 string Biscuit Tin Guitar on the rhythm, lead and slide tracks. It was made for me by Richard Keegan from Maplegrove Musical Instruments in Katoomba,  He's also on Soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/rick_k

Get Me Out of Memphis Tonight ~ my arrangement of a song by John Delk & Surprise You're Dead.

The train's nearly at the station....needs a bit more maintenance, but I can't hold her back!

 Chris O ~ Copyright 2016

LOCO HOWL ~ Chris O

I love good Country Music....and when Tennessee songwriter McTown gave me a call-out a few years ago, we decided to write one together.
Thanks David, this was fun :-)
https://soundcloud.com/mctown

Lyrics:     McTown (David L. Graham) 2016
Instrumental & vocal composition:   Chris Okunbor
Guitars, banjo, vox and beats: Chris O
Mix:   Blame me ;-)

You Mine ~ Chris O & McTown

Buy on Bandcamp: "Twisted Roots & Twisted Highways"
https://chriso1.bandcamp.com/track/the-north-country
https://chriso1.bandcamp.com/album/twisted-roots-twisted-highways

Old Irish lyrics from the 1800's or before, set to a contemporary instrumental. (My love she comes from the North Countrie. Martin Kirwan composed and played the instrumental (guitar, shruti, sitar) https://soundcloud.com/martkirwan

Chris O re-arranged & re-wrote the lyrics and vocal melody & added some  bits and bobs to the instrumental (slide guitar, vocals, whistle). Original Lyrics collected in the early 1800's - Southern Ireland (but this sounds like an English song, Shakespeare was writing about this stuff in his sonnets).

Here's Martin's original instrumental that inspired this song to be born:
https://soundcloud.com/martkirwan/last-of-the-leaves

My love she comes from the North Countrie (original version ~ pre 1860)

My love she was born in the north countrie
Where hills and lofty mountains rise up from the sea;
She's the fairest young maiden that e'er I did see,
She exceeds all the maids in the north countrie.

My love is as sweet as the cinnamon tree;
She clings to me close as the bark to the tree;
But the leaves they will wither, the roots will decay,
And fair maidens' beauty will soon fade away.

Twisted Roots & Twisted Highways

The North Country ~ Chris O & Martin Kirwan (Trad. Arr. Okunbor & Kirwan)

It was a real joy to be able to sing this traditional folk song with Josh. It is a very old folk song originating in Britain, but this version was collected in North Carolina. It was inspired by a field recording of Lee Monroe Presnell, in 1951, who was born in 1876.... a variation of the traditional song "William and Nancy" with William being a soldier in this version. I arranged the last verse based on a number of different versions found in England and America.

Vocals and Upright Bass ~ Josh McAlexander
 https://soundcloud.com/josh-mcalexander
Vocals, dulcimers, dobro and beat ~ Chris O

I Went to See My Molly (Trad.) Josh McAlexander & Chris O

I really enjoyed Enlimila's happy guitar piece, and he kindly let me noodle along with bodhran and voice :-)

Enlimila: composer and guitar   Chris: bodhran and vocals
Go listen to the original version - it's beautiful:
https://soundcloud.com/enlimila-plus/happy-daves

Happy Dave's ~ by Enlimila, with Chris O

A little testament to human hope and endurance - many try to resist, but keep coming back for more! John and I (secretly) hope this cross-continent-country-blues-collaboration might just hop along and bring us luck ;-)

Lyrics: John Delk and Chris O   June 2017 https://soundcloud.com/john_delk
Music (Vocals, Harp, Taylor GS Mini & Steel Resonator Slide): Chris O

The Jackpot Blues ~  Chris O & John Delk

Yutaka wrote and played the instrumental, I wrote and sang the lyrics. Sometimes a big night out is all part of the job!!
https://soundcloud.com/yutaka-hirai

Sunrising Sake Blues.  Hirai & Okunbor 2017. 
Early in the morning
Moon is hanging low.
It's 6 o clock in the morning
City's lost its neon glow.

Running the sidewalk
Stumble in midnight shoes
Got them....I feel them
I'm down with the Sunrise Sake Blues.

I was holed-up half the night
In some ole Habushu bar.
Drinkin until the daylight
Snakey voodoo jars.

Now I'm dizzy on the sidewalk
Sparkling Sake Flu.
Feel them....I got them
I'm down with the Sunrising Sake Blues.

Well the crowd got kinda tricky
When I raised my glass in toast
Cryin "Ikki Ikki! Down it!
Let's see who can drink the most."

"Kanpai!"

Lord it's early in the morning.
City's lost that magic glow.

Trippin' the sidewalk,
Broken midnight shoes
I got them....I feel them,
I'm cut down by the
Sunrise and the Sake Blues.

Sunrising Sake Blues

Sunrising Sake Blues ~ Yutaka Hirai & Chris O

Here's the final version of this song, with old timey fiddle added. A traditional song from the USA and Britain, arranged by Chris & Josh.

Josh McAlexander on vocals and upright bass.
https://soundcloud.com/josh-mcalexander
Chris O on dulcimer, resonator and vocals (and mix)
Simon Watts on fiddle.

I Went To See My Molly ~ with fiddle. Chris O, Josh McAlexander, ft. Simon Watts on fiddle

A breakout from city to country living isn’t always the ultimate cure for life stresses, but usually comes with benefits.

Chris on vocals, playing a Martin D15 & a Recording King Steel Resonator.

Audio Engineering: Chris O

Dirty Boots      copyright Okunbor, C. (APRA)

The grass grows greener on a distant shore,
But then the rain’s gotta pour down a whole lot more.
You can run away from trouble and hide from strife,
Find more rainbows in a distant life.

When you leave my boots outside the door,
Your worries at the back porch floor 
You leave your dirty, muddy boots outside the door.

Never been to heaven but some folks say,
We’re living in a land of milk and honey.
Get some animals. Plant some trees,
And I’ll sing to all the stones in a mountain stream.

When I leave my boots outside the door,
My worries at the back porch floor 
I’ll leave my dirty, muddy boots outside the door.

Sorrows may come and fears get sown,
Troubles start rattlin’ the old home’s bones.
Well the rain may patter and the rain may pour,
But the sun’s gonna’ shine down a whole lot more.

I’ll leave my boots outside the door,
Worries at the back porch floor 
I leave my dirty, muddy boots outside.

Never been to heaven but some folks say,
We’re living in a land of milk and honey.

Dirty Boots

Dirty Boots ~ Chris O

An old Sleepy John Estes song I've been messing about with on my Beltona resonator uke. Think the jug might need a bit more whiskey in it!

Diving Duck Blues ~ Chris O arr.

A jazzy blues celebration of the end of the 9-5 working week, unwinding to music in  a bar. Co-written with my friend Steve from South Africa. We sometimes played the little bars together in the mid 70's, and reunited for a song a few decades later via cyberspace! The guitar track is a phone capture. Steve was a tapper before tapping began: listen here to the guitar wizard in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQIUkbvMNnE

Guitar & instrumental composition ~ Steve Newman
Vocals and lyrical composition ~ Chris Okunbor

Unwinding      2019 Okunbor & Newman

Heading down a street called Main, just one thing on my mind
Shake off the troubles of the work day, I'm needin' to unwind
Goin' to a place where the sweet jive rules
Down at the house of blues.

Resonator steels are beaming spotlights
Harps bend and fire the fuse
Wails pierce the stillness of the winter night
Outside the house of blues
Mmm they're heating up that cold night air

Cruisin' down where the music rules
I know that you're gonna be there too
Swayin' to the rhythms of the old skool
I think I'm gonna join you at the bar of jazz & blues

When the jazz gets Friday night a-jumpin'
And the beer is bitter sweet.
Crowd is a hummin', bass is a-thumpin'
Carving up the heat.
Mmm we love to move 
with that old skool bluesin' beat.



Image of the rainy pavement from freeimages.com

Unwinding ~ Chris O & Steve Newman

A celebration of seaweed, & waltzing seagulls on Bass Strait, accompanied by a clunking Seagull Merlin Dulcimer.
https://youtu.be/JGFRDPmo7Sk

Little Kelp Waltz

Little Kelp Waltz ~ Chris Okunbor (VIDEO LINK IN NOTES)

Sometimes the blues gets very blue....
(Painting - "Waiting" by Toulouse Lautrec 1887) wikicommons

Instrumental composition, lead guitar, backing - Tom Adams (Aka Tytlblues)
https://soundcloud.com/user-342548892
Lyrics, vocal melody, vocals, harp, slide guitar -  Chris Okunbor 

Come back soon 
Darlin' come back, oh don't you see?
The place is empty, oh empty without you.
They say that heart is where the home is.
Come back soon

Come on home, ah, just show me 'sorry',
Won't ever say those things, all those bad things no more.
I'm tired of tough love, so please think it over!
Yeh, come back soon.

I want you home darlin', ‘cos life's no fun, no fun any more.
Our place feels empty now that you’ve gone.
The grey needs lifting, the shadows shifting.
Come home soon.

Come Back Soon ~ a slow blues by Tom Adams and Chris O

Cooking up the heat and boogie woogie with John. I had two things on my mind writing these lyrics ~ memories of working in a hotel in London when the chef set up a wooden chopping board at the far end of the kitchen, and expertly threw knives at it from the other end when he got pissed off with somebody ~ and seeing all my SoundCloud friends who also regularly burn their dinners when "just nipping back" to adjust a track they are recording :-D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmr7HfkkvcI

John Laurence: piano & instrumental composition https://soundcloud.com/john-poletti
Chris Okunbor: vocals, harp, lyrics, vocal composition

Available on all streaming services.

Troubles in the Kitchen

Troubles In The Kitchen ~ Chris O & John Laurence (Video link in notes)

https://youtu.be/2bh5B0MGWfg

Such a lovely little town, it deserves its own love song.

Banjo, lapslide & vocals Chris O
Audio Chris O

Salt River Town        (c)Chris Okunbor, October 2020

Springing rains are here again, ground is soaking down.
Rolling clouds come darkening, chasing folks from town.

Front porch singing, banjo ringing.
Front porch ringing, banjo singing.

Gonna get me a line, get me a pole, go fishing in a crayfish hole.

Rollin rains are here again.
Springing clouds come a-darkening,
Around, Salt River Town.

Rollin rains are here again,
springing clouds come a-sparkling,
the waters round Salt River Town.

Sister's Creek's got a crayfish creep, but they're running like the devil from me.
Flathead hiding at the Bend in the River, now its hurry on home for tea.

Front porch ringing, banjo singing.
The front porch ringing, banjo singing,
wise-up, about what’s enough.

Darkening clouds are here again.
And the rolling rain comes a-blowing in,
Whoa, Salt River Town.

Hear the ringing, hear the singing.
Front porch ringing, banjo singing,
learning, the meaning of enough.

Oh you know we love, 
the waters around Salt River Town.

Salt River Town

Salt River Town  (a love song for my little town) ~  Chris Okunbor

January 16th B.C(Covid) Getting ready for a Sydney gig - a song to play with Mark N' the Blues. 
A song by Little Mack Simmons "Never leave my homework undone".

IPhone voice recorder - trying out SC Mastering. Slightly clearer.

How a lazy woman rehearses with Interstate musicians ~ before a gig :-D

A fun collaboration of a song by Willie Dixon, made when my friend Tanya was in her last days of the 14 day quarantine in a hotel in Tasmania. She recorded some drums and finger cymbals on her phone and we stitched this blues classic together. 

A few additions are still needed when we get together in the home studio in person.

SPOONFUL  ft Tanya Catelli on drums & Chris O banjo

Chris, hailing  from North West  Tasmania in Australia, is a singer-songwriter who pens originals, and  plays vintage music the way it used to be.  Her mashup of  Folk, Blues,  &  Americana  draws on a lifetime of  encounters with places, people, and the magic of nature;  echoing  a multitude of  global grassroots traditions. 
Traveling around carrying her “band” like a pack pony ~ lap-slide, banjo, uke, as well as a few plain ole guitars, she  regularly performs in Australia and Europe.
Growing up in Merseyside, England, Chris was exposed to the vibrant music scene of the late 60’s and 70’s,  and her music is has been influenced by  traditional folk, country blues, and  world music .
In 2016 she represented her State at the International Blues Challenge & National Women in Blues Showcase in Memphis,  and her second album,  “Wailin’ & Raggin’ the Blues” was  a   finalist for “Best Self-produced CD with the Blues Foundation , USA.  Her third album, “Twisted Roots & Twisted Highways” was  a finalist for Blues & Roots Radio Album of the Year in 2018.
www.chrisokunbor.net

Chris O (2)

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