DAVE'S DIARY - 21/11/2023 - PREVIEW OF EPISODE 11 - SERIES 57
DONNA AND GENE BRADLEY FISK HEADLINE NU COUNTRY TV
Trentham singer-songwriter Donna Fisk and her fellow DJ dad Gene Bradley Fisk headline Nu Country TV at 6.30 pm on Saturday November 25.
Treble ARIA Award winner and prolific Golden Guitarist Tommy Emmanuel and Ferny Creek singer-songwriter Brendan McMahon boomerang to the show repeated on Tuesday at 1 am.
Georgians Megan Moroney and Erin Kirby inject satire and self-parody into their debut on the program filmed and edited by our loyal producer and co-host Laith Graham.
Nu Country TV is a highlight of C 31 streaming list on Digital 44.
Further info - https://www.c31.org.au/
DONNA HONOURS MICKEY NEWBURY DEVOTEE
 |
Donna Fisk returns with her tribute to a devotee of legendary singer-songwriter Mickey Newbury.
Donna, now 63, wrote her song after a farewell car ride by her late country friend Kevin.
Kevin's son Stephen fired up his old John Deere in Donna's video for Last Mickey Newbury Fan on her third solo album Be.
Texan legend Mickey died at 62 on September 29, 2002, after he toured here in 1984.
His hits included She Even Woke Me Up To Say Goodbye and San Francisco Mabel Joy.
Donna explained her reference to Kevin as the last Mickey Newbury fan?
“Of course he wasn't & most certainly won't be the last but he was a dedicated lover of his music who felt alone with his passion as the years rolled on in the rich red dirt hills heart of Victoria, Australia. Its truly an honour after dedicating the song to his family they chose the last words etched on his gravestone, “The Last Mickey Newbury Fan”.
Donna followed her Colac born dad Gene Bradley Fisk into radio and country music in Geelong.
She previously appeared on our show with her Drunk On That, Crying, Shoulder To The Wheel and Be title track videos.
Donna sang at the 1998 AFL Grand final with Michael Christian and released three albums as Fisk & Christian.
Her 1986 debut solo album Turn The Key followed 1985 duet album with Johnny Chester - Side X Side.
Further info - https://www.donnafisk.com/
GENE BRADLEY FISK THE LAST OF THE ROCK N ROLLERS
 |
Gene Bradley Fisk, aged 89, is following in the footsteps of singing acting peers Shotgun Willie Nelson and Pat Boone who are both 90 and on the country road again.
Gene made his name as a singer-radio host on 3HA, Hamilton , and radio shows in Swan Hill and Maryborough.
He also hosted country music shows on 3UZ from 1977-1980 and 3GL Geelong before it became K-ROCK FM.
Fisk showcases a vast cast of peers in his video The Last Of The Rock N Rollers that follows his singles including The Bushranger, The Ballad Of Ronald Ryan and I Ain't Gonna Stand In Line.
Gene began playing mandolin and banjo at the age of 11 in Colac Banjo Club before joining the RAAF at 15 and playing in The Strangers band while stationed in Malaysia.
Fisk and former Tyabb troubadour Joe Ransom reached into our past for bushranger flashbacks in their previous Nu Country video for Kaanglang Dreaming that means Place of the Tiger Snake.
They revisited the Otways for a cattle duffing tale based on Walter John's true story of being acquitted of cattle duffing in 1916.
Further info - https://www.facebook.com/genebradleyfiskmusic/
TOMMY EMMANUEL FINDS A CAJUN GIRL
 |
Muswellbrook born gregarious guitar-slinger Tommy Emmanuel OAM finds a Cajun Girl with Little Feat and Sam Bush in his latest video.
The song's writer Bill Payne is lead vocalist in the video featuring fiddler Sam Bush and Tommy on acoustic guitar.
Tommy, 64, and guitarist brother Phil, drummer Chris and Virginia on slide guitar toured from age of four in their father's family bands based in Muswellbrook, latter day home Gunnedah and way beyond in the fifties and sixties.
The Emmanuel Quartet, Midget Safaris and Trailblazers performed with artists diverse as Slim Dusty and Tex Morton.
Tommy also released albums with Phil and legendary guitarist-record label boss Chet Atkins.
He previously fronted Nu Country with bluegrass belle Mollie Tuttle on their tribute to late Texan singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt with their version of White Freight Liner Blues.
Townes toured here in 1990 and died at 52 on January 1, 1997.
Tommy also appeared with Jason Isbell on Doc Watson's classic Deep River Blues from Tommy's Accomplice One album that featured Mark Knopfler, Rodney Crowell, Jerry Douglas, Ricky Skaggs, David Grisman, Bryan Sutton, Suzy Bogguss and Isbell's wife Amanda Shires.
“I wanted to record an album of duets that could showcase my love of many styles, the challenge of rearranging some classic songs, and share the fun of total improvisation with players who do it on a level that we all marvel at,” Tommy revealed.
“I also wanted the chance to sing with some of my favorite voices too.”
White Freight Liner Blues and Cajun Girl are on Tommy's 35th album Accomplice 2.
Click Here for an Emmanuel interview in the Diary on September 4, 2004.
BRENDAN MCMAHON CELEBRATES LONGEVITY
 |
Ferny Creek award winning singer-songwriter Brendan McMahon boomerangs to our show with a sibling song to the long careers of Willie Nelson, Pat Boone and peer Gene Bradley Fisk.
He performs an acoustic studio version of It's Good To Be Alive on his sixth album As The Road Unfolds.
Brendan, now 60, was raised on a farm near Kapunda in South Australia where his dad was a stock and station agent.
He sang along to the radio as his dad drove his Ute in the bush on dark nights.
Brendan followed his music east to Rowville - not Nashville - where he wrote songs about a steer named Morris and an echidna who remains nameless.
McMahon honours soldiers who lost their lives fighting for our country in previous Nu Country video I Hear Your Voice (The Soldier ).
He also fronted our show with Back Roads and Gundrys' Track videos, evocative maternal homage video Mother and I Am inspired by childhood wanderlust.
CLICK HERE for an interview with Brendan in The Diary on December 9, 2019.
MEGAN MORONEY MISTRESS OF SATIRE
 |
Georgian singer-songwriter Megan Moroney debuts on our show with a satirical snapshot.
Megan, now 26, chose music after university and was mentored by Kristian Bush of Sugarland.
I'm Not Pretty is her tongue-in-cheek portrait of mean-girl behavior and its toxicity from her debut album, aptly titled Lucky.
Moroney wrote the song with Ben Williams, Mackenzie Carpenter and Micah Carpenter.
"I've had a creative vision for the song since I wrote it, and I am so excited that I was able to co-direct the music video," Moroney revealed.
"I cast my best friends in real life to be in it and thought it was really important to portray the difference in the nice girls that seem to mind their own business and the mean girls who spend all of their time tearing down others. Moral of the story - nice girls always win. I hope my fans love the video, and it continues to become the empowering anthem it is."
The video stars Moroney in a dual role as the song's protagonist and the jealousy-crazed mean girl intent on taking her down. After opening on an outdoor party where the antagonist becomes consumed with envy her eyes ominously reflecting the campfire's flames. The visual veers back-and-forth between the two characters' vastly different lives. From the rosé-soaked slumber party and impossibly perfect cakes of Moroney's pretty-in-pink universe to the dark and dreary world of her nemesis.”
Further info - https://www.meganmoroney.com/home/
ERIN KIRBY RAUCOUS REDNECK
 |
Fellow Georgian singer-songwriter Erin Kirby joins Megan with an equally joyous self-parody.
Erin, who fronted American Idol at just 15 in 2018, celebrates joys of being a happy redneck by showing how she didn't money to be rich.
Erin, just 20, and her prized Labrador celebrated in her pick-up truck.
She also had a shotgun, rifle and a 45 for protection in her vibrant video for Redneck Rich.
It follows her other singles Ours Tonight, Right Man and Waste More Time.
“I got a creek out back with a honey hole/ a Labrador and an ol zebco/ a shotgun, rifle and a 45/ in a truck that's stuck in four-wheel drive/ it isn't much, but that's all the stuff I need/ sling a little mud way out in the sticks/ raise one up if you're redneck rich.”
Further info - https://www.instagram.com/erinkirbymusic/
WIN WAYLON, GEORGE JONES AND MERLE HAGGARD
Help us celebrate being Nu Country TV members and win albums by late Waylon Jennings, Merle Haggard, George Jones and Highwaymen by becoming a Nu Country member or renewing your membership.
George, Waylon, Merle and Willie Nelson were among country historian Barbara Dowling's favourite Texans.
The Waylon, Highwaymen , Merle and George discs were donated by Barbara who died at 77 in December, 2020.
She co-hosted Long In The Saddle in our Nu Country FM era and was pioneer Australian and Victorian country music awards judge.
Barbara was admired for rising above losing her sight as a young woman and her country passion with annual trips to Waylon's birthplace in Littlefield, West Texas.
Waylon died at 64 on February 13, 2002, and is survived by singing spouse Jessi, now 80, and son Shooter, 44.
WIN KEITH URBAN CDS ALSO
We have expatriate Australasian superstar Keith Urban's chart topping 12th album The Speed Of Now - Part 1.
Also BR5-49 CD Big Backyard Beat Show and Billy Ray Cyrus's historic 1992 album Some Gave All featuring Achy Breaky Heart.
We have other CDS by major artists you can win by becoming a Nu Country TV member or renewing memberships.
They include Brad Paisley, Eric Church, Kip Moore, Carrie Underwood and late larrikin legend A.P. Johnson.
CLICK HERE for our Membership Page for details.