“Rarely does an act manage to improve its own classic. The Whitlams Black Stump has done it here.” Jeff Jenkins (Rhythms Magazine)
The Whitlams Black Stump delivers a deliciously discordant Spaghetti Western version of Tim Freedman’s “You Sound Like Louis Burdett”. The boneyard Tex-Mex palette perfectly underpins the craziness of this tale of wide-eyed twenty-somethings in a share house under the flight path in Sydney.
“All my friends are fuck ups, but they’re fun to have around” is a well-known lyric in Australian indie music, quoted in history books and novels (eg Melina Marchetta), and remembered by adults as the first time they as kids were allowed to swear in front of their parents, when the song played in the car on road trips in the late 90s.
On its first two national tours over the last 18 months, Tim Freedman’s alt-country line up started closing the show with this reboot of the song, and it never failed to get country halls and city theatres jumping. So, the band decided to record it in the final sessions for the debut album “Kookaburra”, out March 8, 2024.
The song had been the first single off The Whitlams’ multi-platinum breakthrough album “Eternal Nightcap” in 1997, recently placed at no. 24 by Rolling Stone in the Top 100 Greatest Australian Albums of All Time. The song itself was in JJJ’s Top 100 in 1997.
A line up as versatile as The Whitlams Black Stump, with Rod McCormack and Matt Fell, two Tamworth Producers of the Year in the ranks on banjo and bass, as well as restless young gun Ollie Thorpe on pedal steel and electric guitar, was never going to play straight country for too long. The band looks forward to revealing the mixture of smooth sounds and country rock, Tex-Mex and Latin that makes up the much-anticipated debut album, two years in the making.
A live video of the song captured at the Princess Theatre in Brisbane at the end of their 2023 Big City Debut Tour in April, 2023 is now on YouTube, and shows why the band has become a live drawcard early in its journey, with main stage spots confirmed in 2024 at Bluesfest, Gympie Muster, and Savannah in the Round, as well a national tour going on sale Feb 8.
2024 Tour Dates
Thu 7 March – Lizotte’s, Newcastle – NSW
Fri 8 March – Lizotte’s, Newcastle – NSW
Sat 9 March – Blazes, Wests Tamworth, Tamworth – NSW
Sun 10 March – Avoca Beach Theatre, Avoca – NSW
Sun 31 March – Bluesfest Byron Bay – NSW
Thu 25 April – Hotel Victor, Victor Harbour – SA *
Fri 26 April – Hopgood Theatre, Noarlunga – SA
Sat 27 April – The Gov, Adelaide – SA
Wed 1 May – Playhouse, Caloundra – QLD *
Thu 2 May – Springlake Hotel, Brisbane – QLD *
Fri 3 May – Imperial Hotel, Eumundi – QLD
Sat 4 May – Princess Theatre, Brisbane – QLD
Tue 7 May – Piano Room, Bendigo – VIC *
Wed 8 May – Piano Room, Ballarat – VIC *
Thu 9 May – Piano Room, Geelong – VIC *
Fri 10 May – Kindred Bandroom, Yarraville – VIC
Sat 11 May – Memo Music Hall, St Kilda – VIC
Thu 16 May – Wilder, Gowrie Park – TAS *
Fri 17 May – Royal Oak, Launceston – TAS *
Sat 18 May – Forth Pub, Forth – TAS
Sun 19 May – Longley International Hotel, Longley – TAS
Thu 23 May – Resin Brewery, Bulli – NSW *
Fri 24 May – Tallagandra Hill, Gundaroo – NSW *
Sat 25 May – Qirkz in the Hunter, Abermain – NSW *
Sun 26 May – Dangar Island Bowling Club, Dangar Island – NSW *
Thu 30 May – Avoca Beach Theatre, Avoca – NSW
Fri 31 May – Factory Theatre, Sydney – NSW
Sat 1 June – Avalon RSL, Avalon – NSW
* Black Stump Duo – Tim and Ollie
**Tickets on sale Thursday 8th February and available at https://thewhitlams.com/tour/