There’s something particularly poignant about walking through Moore Park towards Liberty Hall tonight. Dolly Parton died today after a short illness and as I pass the Hordern Pavilion the sign outside reads simply, “WE LOVE YOU DOLLY”. I’m on my way to see Larry Fleet and Troy Cassar-Daley, so country music is already very much on the mind. That sign makes it impossible not to think about the woman, universally loved, who did so much to take the genre far beyond its traditional borders.
Inside Liberty Hall, Troy Cassar-Daley gets things underway with just a bass player for company. It’s a simple setup that suits him perfectly, giving his songs and voice plenty of room while leaving space for the stories in between. He pays tribute to Parton early in the set. Cassar-Daley is a great raconteur, and tonight he regales the crowd with anecdotes gathered over a long career. In particular, his stories about writing a song with Paul Kelly is engrossing.
Larry Fleet follows with a rather different take on country music. The Tennessee singer toured here for the first time last year and discovered an audience that already knew his songs. He later admitted that he was planning his return before that first visit was even over. Judging by the crowd at Liberty Hall tonight, coming back was a sensible decision.
Fleet has the voice to fill this room without having to batter it into submission. It’s deep and soulful, carrying traces of gospel and blues alongside the country foundations of his songwriting. There’s a lived-in quality to it that works particularly well with songs built around everyday lives rather than grand statements.
His latest album, ‘Another Year Older’, has brought him considerably more attention outside the US, but Fleet has been quietly building his credentials for some time. His catalogue has passed 800 million streams and he co-wrote Morgan Wallen and Eric Church’s number one hit ‘Man Made A Bar’. Tonight, though, the songwriting credits and streaming numbers feel secondary to seeing why these songs have travelled so well.
Fleet’s songs, his band and that formidable voice are allowed to do the work tonight, and the audience responds accordingly. The connection Fleet talked about discovering with Australian crowds last year is clearly still there.
Tonight inevitably carries an extra weight that nobody expected when the show was booked. Inside Liberty Hall however, country music simply gets on with doing what it has always done: telling stories.
The tour moves to Gympie and Brisbane next, tickets HERE.
Images Deb Pelser
