The Wilson Pickers’ website features a letter written by the colourfully named ‘Bob Sizzlefingers’.
The Wilson Pickers’ website features a letter written by the colourfully named ‘Bob Sizzlefingers’. Mr Sizzlefingers’ letter is less a missive than a rant against The Wilson Pickers, and any pretension the band has toward the bluegrass genre. “You wouldn’t know a hot flat-picked double-stop lick if it bit you on the behind. You young kids think that just because you can sing a bit, you can pick up a banjo and a fiddle and call it bluegrass. Real bluegrass is about tradition and technical perfection,” the letter rallies. “Do us all a favour and go listen to some Flatt and Scruggs!”
Andrew Morris, one-fifth of the collective that makes up The Wilson Pickers, concedes the letter is contrived, although it does mirror a missive sent to the band at some time in the past. “The first letter was made up, but there is something out there like that, but we’re not sure exactly where it is,” Wilson says. The Wilson Pickers’ lengthy response to the Sizzlefingers diatribe is polite, but demonstrative. “We’re just pointing out that we’re not ‘real’ bluegrass, whatever that’s supposed to mean,” Morris says.
The Wilson Pickers formed a few years ago after Morris returned from a sojourn to Nashville where he was exposed to some quality American bluegrass. With no comparable country-bluegrass scene in Australia to speak of – outside of the obligatory core country music community – Morris saw the opportunity for a new musical direction. “It was just an idea that I had after seeing some really good bluegrass while I was in Nashville,” he says. “It had some good energy – there was no drumkits, and no amps.”
Upon his return he contacted a number of his musical friends who he envisaged would be interested in forming a country-bluegrass band. “I emailed the other guys, though no-one really knew each other,” he says. The ‘other guys’ – Sime Nugent, Ben Salter (Texas Tea, Vegas Kings), Danny Widdicomb, Sime Nugent and John Bedgood – responded positively to the idea, and the Wilson Pickers concept took form.
The initial idea was informal and ad hoc; this was simply an occasional project with fun and enjoyment as its raison d’être. “We just wanted to have a bit of fun, and play a few shows here and there,” he says. “We weren’t interested in doing the touring slog like other bands. The real joy of the band is just hanging out together.”
Eventually, however, The Wilson Pickers took on a greater degree of maturity and permanency. In 2009 they released their debut album, Land of the Powerful Owl, which was nominated for an ARIA award in the ‘Best Blues and Roots’ category. In 2010 the band released a critically acclaimed follow-up record, Shake It Down. “The record came out, and then we got offered shows at a few festivals, and then club shows, and then we go the ARIA nomination, which was nice,” Morris says.
Thankfully the heightened touring regime, and the subtle pressure to create another well-received record hasn’t diminished the Wilson Pickers’ original sense of enjoyment. “It’s still fun, but we take it a bit more seriously now,” reflects Morris. “We all have other careers, so we can’t afford to spend all our time with the Wilson Pickers. But people do seem enjoy seeing us around – although we have to stress the point that we’re not really a bluegrass band,” he says.
In days of yore, American bluegrass legend Bill Monroe would unilaterally deem a particular band to be ‘bluegrass’, depending on the cantankerous old man’s personal whim. Morris suspects Monroe would’ve given The Wilson Pickers short thrift – possibly akin to Bob Sizzlefingers. “I don’t think he’d like us, no,” Morris laughs. “We’re just bastardising, I suppose. Everyone in the band can play, but we’re not trying to kid anyone,” he says. Morris himself is a fan of country music, though without pretensions to being a ‘hard core’ fan. “I definitely like country music, especially Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle and Hank Williams,” he says.
While Morris admits to being the administrative leader – along with Danny Biddicomb – of The Wilson Pickers, he sees the band as more of a musical collective than operating under the direction of any particular member. “Danny and I manage the band, but everyone has a say in what we do and play,” Morris says. “It’s nice to have that demographic element – everyone has a role. And not having to sing every song is a blessing!” Morris laughs.
The Wilson Pickers have done their time at recent Tamworth Festivals, generating a high level of critical and popular acclaim. “We’ve been there twice,” Morris says. “You get the whole spectrum of artists up there, from the big names through to underground acts.” In the short-term The Wilson Pickers are playing a couple of local shows – at the Northcote Social Club on Friday 8 April and Lot 19 in Castlemaine (as part of an event organised by Sime Nugent) – before heading overseas to Europe. “The reason we’re going to Europe is because three of us received the Grant McLennan songwriting scholarship to go to Berlin,” Morris says. “So we decided to get the other two members over there. We just want to check it out over there and see how we go,” he says.
The Grant McLennan scholarship is organised through Arts Queensland, and provides a cash grant to allow the winning entrant to study and practice songwriting in New York, London or Berlin – cities in which the late Go Betweens guitarist, singer and songwriter spent significant amounts of time. “We’re over there to write songs, then we’ll come back and we’ve got a fairly hefty tour planned in September, so we’ll do it all again” Morris says. As for heading to the spiritual home of bluegrass – the United States – Morris isn’t so sure. “We’re not quite as keen to get over there,” he says. “It feels like there’s a lot of bands over there, and it might be like preaching to the converted.”
THE WILSON PICKERS will be playing one of their last shows before their European sojourn at the Northcote Social Club this Friday April 8. See northcotesocialclub.com for tickets.
