T

Tequila Amnesia is Allan Caswell’s 20th album in a recording career that started in 1979. This year he won his 8th Golden Guitar … 40 years after his first one in 1980. Caswell is Australia’s most recorded songwriter in any genre and the hallmark of his albums has always been the quality of the songs.

“If you ask any artist, what their best album is, they’ll nearly always tell you it’s their latest one … all I know is, this is the best bunch of songs I have ever put on one album.”

Tequila Amnesia is a real collaboration with producer Damian Cafarella, who also produced the very successful Mexico album

“Caf not only produced the album but also recorded a duet with me, played all the instruments and cowrote 3 of the songs … in fact the only person on the album apart from Caf and I is the lovely Donna Fisk who sings “I Do” with me … Donna and I have been friends for years and really enjoyed the chance to finally record together”

Caswell wrote I Do with The Viper Creek Band’s Damien Baguely. Other songwriters Caswell wrote with on Tequila Amnesia include 8 Ball Aitken on the quirky hit lead-off single “Hard Times and Struggle” and long-time favourite cowriters Drew McAlister, Michael Carpenter, Michael Waugh and Doug Ashdown.

Tequila Amnesia is uncompromisingly country and pushes every emotional button. The 12 finely crafted tracks show why Caswell has been so relevant for so long in Australian Country Music.

At this year’s Australian Country Music Awards in Tamworth, legendary singer/songwriter Allan Caswell was awarded his 8th Golden Guitar (for Bush Ballad of the Year with Manfred Vijars). Having won his first Golden Guitar in1980, it is 40 years between his first and latest award … a record that is unlikely to be beaten for some time.

Although mainly known as a songwriter, Caswell’s 8 Golden Guitars have included 3 for singing, 3 for writing and 2 for both. Caswell is now Australia’s most recorded songwriter with over 750 of his songs released worldwide.

“I have written 44 acceptance speeches and only used 8 of them but it is a thrill to still be relevant after all these years”

Caswell is showing no signs of slowing down. His new album Tequila Amnesia will be out mid-year and there are a number of his songs due for release this year on singles and albums by a number of artists

These days, Caswell is based on the Gold Coast and divides his time between co writing songs with other artists, touring and running songwriting workshops. Caswell’s autobiography My Version Of The Truth was released in Mid 2019 and has proved very popular with fans and his fellow artists.






 


Allan Caswell is Australian Country Music’s most recorded songwriter with a 50-year career as a songwriter, performer, producer and writer.

His iconic song, On The Inside, which was the theme for the internationally successful television series Prisoner, brought him chart success around the world and started the career that has enabled him to work full time as a songwriter since 1979.

As a country singer/songwriter he has been awarded 8 Golden Guitars (from 44 final nominations) , 14 Tamworth Songwriters’ Association awards, 9 Southern Star Awards (Independent Country Music Awards including Album of the Year 3 times).

Among his numerous music industry awards are an APRA Award, an ARIA, 2 Gold Singles, 3 Gold and 2 Platinum Albums for his writing and production work.

Caswell has also had a huge career writing and producing children’s music, notably co-writing and co-producing the hugely successful Don Spencer albums.

A half-century on stage has taken him to almost every town in NSW, every state of Australia, New Zealand, LA, Nashville, New York, East Timor, Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Caswell’s life is all about his songs and his songs are all about his life. He lives in the Blue Mountains with his wife Marian, when he’s not touring, doing concerts, running songwriting workshops or co-writing with some of Australia’s finest artists.

My Version Of The Truthtraces Allan’s life from growing up in the Mountains of North Wales, through the migrant experience in Australia and the early days of what was to become a very successful music career on a delightful roller coaster ride of a life. It rolls through marriages and divorces, children and grandchildren, hard times and good times, awards and rejection, causes and politics. His songs have taken all around the world from the warzones of the Middle East to the clubs and studios of Nashville and have brought him elation, respect and disappointment in equal portions

My Version Of The Truth is warm, real, honest and often funny with a total absence of punch pulling. Caswell’s “adventures” in an often heartless and uncompromising music business is set against an interesting life full of battles, wins and occasional losses

 A proud Australian by choice, he has spent 50 years making his mark on Australia’s music … it’s time to hear his … Version Of The Truth

To order the book contact: allan@allancaswell.com

Mexico

D Caf and I have been talking about doing this album for a couple of years … an album recorded in Melbourne and working with my very talented Melbourne friends. What started as a joke rapidly became the name of the album. Marian felt there should be a song called Mexico … so we wrote one.

A lot of the album is Damian and I with Carlos … the nylon string guitar that Marian bought me from the Salvation Army Shop in Yass for $25. D Caf loves that guitar and insisted that we used it on every track. Beyond that we just kept adding our Mexican friends.

The Weeping Willows (Andy and Laura) came in to work with me on The Roses Fall and Andy stuck around to add to some other songs. Jen was in Melbourne for a few days and recorded That’s Why Lonely People Drink with me. It’s a song I wrote with Luke Robinson that had sat around for years waiting for the right album … and the right singer. She also added killer vocals to a song I had written with Damian called Powerful Thing. I had met Pete Fiddler at the Americana Festival in Nashville in 2015 and was dying to work with him … so I did. Lachlan came to play piano and organ on our song It’s Not Nearly Time and stayed to add sparkle to some others. The legendary James Gillard kindly added some killer backing vocals and stand-up bass.

The other songs came from all over. Taken By The Wind and If Life Gives You Lemons were written with Keith Potger. Keith and I won a Golden Guitar together in 1983 for Song Of The Year. We thought 35 years was long enough to wait to write some more. Andy and I had written Losing Hand In A Dying Town and loved the idea but felt something was missing. The first rule of recording is never write a song while you’re recording in the studio … yeah right … we completely rewrote the song with Damian … that worked.

I wrote Drunks Like Charlie and Sucking My Darling Dry with Manfred Vijars and Life Imitating Art with Jen Mize in Canada (sorry Queensland). I wrote Why Everything’s So Pink with Charley Stefl in Nashville (the real one).

No Longer My Best Friend is, in my opinion, the best ever Caswell song. Damian and I completely wrote and recorded it in a single day. The rest of the album fell together around it. The song is fiercely autobiographical and is really a song about my life with Marian.

The day before I left for Mexico to record the final tracks for the album, I ran a master class on my back deck in the Mountains … we wrote Knowing That You’re There in a couple of hours. Thanks to Renee, Elizabeth, Jim, Richard, Glenn, Catherine, Cliff and Mark. The 10-track album that had blown out to 13 had now become 14.

So that’s the album. Mexico is as much D Caf’s record as it is mine. He ploughed all his skill, creativity and hard work into something he really believed in. A big thank you to Damian, Marian, Lachlan, Jen, Andy and Laura, Pete, James, Bill and Nia McMartin, all the other writers … (Marian, Damian, Lachlan, Charley, Manfred, Luke, Keith and the back deck team Renee, Elizabeth, Jim, Richard, Glen, Catherine, Cliff and Mark), Carlos and Big Kev, Aleyce Simmonds, Michael Carpenter, Allan Tomkins (Tomkins Guitars and Basses) my Mum Jean McGrath, David, Kim, Zoe, Georgia, Shannon, Dan, Ash, Georgia, Sam, Em, Dale, Tyler, Tom, Brian and Marlene, Steve and Sue … and our grandkids … Parker, Ivy, Reef, Jed and Laney … and to my 2 fathers Harry Caswell and Mick McGrath

… They do it for the music down in Mexico.

Allan Caswell has, for a number of years, been considered one of Australia’s most successful and most recorded songwriters. He is the go to co writer for many of Australia’s top Country Artists. He brings a wealth of experience, skill and craft to every writing session and in recent years he has been drawn more and more to passing on the knowledge, principles and tricks of the trade to new and established writers around the country in his songwriting workshops.

“I can teach you things in 5 minutes that took me 35 years of trial and error to learn and I can also teach you things that I learned in 5 minutes from someone else who had put in the 35 years … it’s about sharing and passing things on … and I’m passionate about it.”

 Allan Caswell’s performing, songwriting and recording will, in no way be compromised by the workshops. His album Carpenter Caswell with Michael Carpenter has been very successful and has already garnered them 4 Top 10 singles and his 50 YEARS IN OZ album, which has already produced the hits Golden Days (featuring The Weeping Willows) and the Number 1 single Nothing Left For Them and Hero Just The Same. He still has a huge writing and co writing schedule, which in 2016 achieved 64 recordings and in 2017 55 recordings of his songs in a single year.

His songwriting workshops have changed the balance of his touring schedule though. On a recent tour of Queensland, instead of the usual 5 shows and a workshop he did 4 workshops and 2 concerts.

“No two workshops are the same … my workshops are very question driven and always involve lots of ‘hands on’ songwriting. His Old Piano, which is one of the favorites from 50 YEARS IN OZ, was written as an exercise with 7 students at a songwriting workshop I ran in Theebine, Queensland.” A workshop in the Blue Mountains produced the song “Knowing That You’re There”, which will feature on his soon to be released album “Mexico”

 

Caswell loves the time he spends writing with the students at the Senior and Junior Academies of Country Music and the more formal songwriting workshops but the model that has evolved recently of  (the almost House Concert style) of find 10 enthusiastic songwriters … of any age, a comfortable room and do it … works really well. Caswell has already taken his workshops to a number of towns in Queensland, NSW and Melbourne and hopes to build on this in 2018.

TESTIMONIALS 

Great workshop on Saturday, I took a lot away from it, I can start on getting a few songs finished now. Jeff Hill

Thank you Allan for your great hospitality and your willingness to share your talents. It was a fantastic and enjoyable day with great people. Friendships were made but best of all everyone had so much fun. You are truly gifted. Mark Peagam

Had a great day. Well worthwhile and a lot of fun. Paul Crowder

UPCOMING WORKSHOPS

 WIDGEE (Q) …                                      MARCH 17TH 2018

BLUE MOUNTAINS    …                       APRIL 7TH 2018

 TAMWORTH …                                     APRIL 14TH 2018

 CRANBOURNE WEST (VIC)               APRIL 21ST 2018

ALL ENQUIRIES: allan@allancaswell.com 0419218988