Love this Land   https://youtu.be/k0N2AcWDLRc
Bothering that thing  https://youtu.be/Os82Z9Y-V-k
Salt River Town  https://youtu.be/2bh5B0MGWfg
Good Lovin' Man   https://youtu.be/cj5cM-MtKwM
The Lamp of Welcome   https://youtu.be/fY1RSBKL6LM
Whiskey, Blues & Coffee   https://youtu.be/p_WSEnJzbyc
Troubles in the Kitchen   https://youtu.be/s0m29cXC56M
Little Kelp Waltz   https://youtu.be/JGFRDPmo7Sk
The Salley Garden   https://youtu.be/Kzodqzwbjr4
Ein kleiner moondance   https://youtu.be/cwkF6MZ8E4k
Fire Burning   https://youtu.be/Yioq18GlzZ8
Get me out of Memphis   https://youtu.be/tkpuUDGlxO4

Songs & Tunes with "home movies" ~ Chris O (see video links in description)

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

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

A new song, written in the old style - (c) 2015 Chris O
Love happy endings ;-)

Recorded in my lounge room, and thanks to Eliot from Songcave Studios for the audio engineering on the mixes.

That beautiful photo is of Muddy Waters and I believe that is  his wife, Geneva Morganfield.


A Good Lovin Man

I had me a real flash dresser, with a pearly smile,
And a gold chain against his chest. 
He stood way out from the rank and file,
A daddy all the women loved best.

But it just ain't fair, I do declare,
'Cos he didn't have what I need.
Its just not fair and he didn't care,
Couldn't give me what I need.

Then I found me a Sugarman with lots of dough,
A chauffeur and a Chevrolet.
He didn't thrill my soul, and I told him so,
And sent him on his way.

But it just ain't fair, I do declare,
He couldn't give me what I need,
Oh it's just not fair, ain't had my share
'Cos he couldn't give me what I need.

Then I found me a man to love me true,
He rocks me all night long.
Don't need no heater when I go to sleep,
'Cos baby keeps my damper up strong.

Well life got fair, Lordy heard my prayer,
That man knows just what I need.
Life's divine and I'm feelin fine,
'Cos my man gives me what I need.

Now life's divine and I'm feelin fine,
'Cos baby gives me what I need.

Hmm hmm
Talkin about that good lovin man!

Good Lovin Man ~ Chris O

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.

*This track is a fundraiser to support refugees & asylum seekers, see the BUY button*
Video link: https://youtu.be/fY1RSBKL6LM

One World, One Humanity, One Love...I wrote this song about two years ago, the sadness of witnessing refugees fleeing persecution ~  at the borders, sleeping in the the cold and mud,  watching on my TV, in my safe and comfortable lounge room. Some people around were so frightened by the "otherness" of these refugees, they forgot their common kindness and humanity, fearful that their comfortable lives in a democratic wealthy society were under threat. 
More recently we have seen a very different approach taken in New Zealand...togetherness, unity, forgiveness. The quote from Rumi many centuries ago references pathways to godliness and humanity.

The Lamp of Welcome ~ Chris O ~ March 2019
A dreamless night, under fields of stars,
the blankets bind our bodies warm and tight.
A sleep of peace, of innocence, for all the family.
Certain of the way it was, and is, and will forever be.

We all love to lead a gentle life.
We all long for the simple life.

A cold restless night under an absent moon,
When hunger strikes and water's gone too soon.
Cities turn to dust, and children play no more,
The last threads of hope are thrown out,
thrown out, to this foreign shore.

They all want to live a gentle life.
They all try so hard for the simple life.

"From a distance you can only see my light, but move in a little closer.
Come close and you will see that I, I am you" (Rumi)

See it with your mind, it could be you or me.
Hear it with your heart, the song of exile.
Just hold out the lamp of welcome, to the refugee.

The Lamp of Welcome

The Lamp of Welcome ~ by Chris O

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)

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

You're going along...life is hum drum...then Maxwell's Silver Hammer comes down on your head. Better make sure you take time out to crunch thru the leaves before it whacks you!!

                                             Youtube   http://youtu.be/xGuYjrJ6qC8

I'm very privileged to work closely with the Traditional Custodians of the Blue Mountains, the Gundungurra and Darug people, as well as those from other Aboriginal groups living here. Through their teachings and practices I'm developing a deeper understanding of my place in the natural world, and the here and now. Land of the Wedge-tailed Eagle.

Featuring Charlie McMahon on didgeridoo.

Copyright 2012


Love this Land ~ Chris O (video https://youtu.be/k0N2AcWDLRc)

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

Songs & Tunes with "home movies" ~ Chris O (see video links in description)

Chris O (2)