mick wilson
Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia | SELF
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BLAME TRAIN
Deborah Minter
With a vocal style full of dreamy laidback imagery, newcomer MICK WILSON and his brand new debut CD Blame Train have just about nailed the emotionally and environmentally aware ‘green’ country/folk genre. Mick has written all but one track on the album – that track, Sweet Home Alabama is an interesting, less hard-edged version. Opening track Headspace almost brings the aroma of the beach. Black Dog is a disturbing, yet positive look at beating depression. Justy is an unabashed love song dedicated to his wife – and the one reason he began writing and playing music. Blame Train has a message for excuse-mongers to stop blaming others. Debut single Run Piggy Run is a true tale of a professional pig shooter Trace Cronin – a very catchy track – not quite ‘politically correct’ but hey, I’ve seen the damage wild pigs cause. It will be a big hit with regional Australia. This is a really honest album.
Independent
Available from www.mickwilson.com.au
- Capital Country News
MICK WILSON
Blame Train
INDEPENDENT
This is a charming debut
album from Mick Wilson
that works on many levels.
Blame Train is an easy to
listen to soft rock album
with a melodic simplicity
to the music, while still
being lyrically appealing.
It’s one of those albums
you can enjoy in the
background while you are
otherwise occupied, or you
can give the album your
full attention for a more
fulfilling experience. The
pensive opening number
‘Headspace’ is an indicator
of the lay-back feeling this
album mostly conveys
throughout. There is an
almost retro ‘70s California
feel here although the very
Aussie feel of ‘Run Piggy
Run’ feels strangely out of
place here among ballads
like ‘Black Dog’, the funky
title track ‘Blame Train’, or
the wistful ‘Unconditional
Friend’. All tracks have
been penned by Mick
Wilson with the exception
of Mick’s very interesting
arrangement of Lynard
Skynard’s classic song
‘Sweet Home Alabama’. On
the whole this album is a
refreshing change from some
of the sickly pop that we are
exposed to at the moment.
Rosie Addset - Country Update
36 COUNTRY MUSIC CAPITAL NEWS MAY 2008
THREE
CHORDS
& A VOW
MICK WILSON first went underground as a 16 year old
fresh from school. He always had a yearning to play
guitar, but an early incident with a finicky purist of
a tutor took the gloss off the idea. But when the love
song invaded his thoughts, he knew he had to give it
another try. “I really wanted to express my love for Justy,” he said. “I
kept on practicing those three chords. I love her with my all, nothing
more nothing less.
“On the day, playing that scratchy song I called ‘Justy’ to 120 friends
and family there was not a dry eye in the house. A real feeling of ‘I can
do this’ came over me and has stayed quietly with me ever since.”
Mick kept practicing, working at the mine for seventeen years
before the couple decided on a sea change. Justy took a Paramedic job
in Tweed Heads. It was a break that Mick took full advantage of.
“I went full time playing as a solo artist doing covers and some of
my own songs at various clubs, pubs and private functions all over the
Gold Coast,” he said. It was not always smooth sailing. “Setting up for
a gig at this Hotel (which shall remain nameless) there was a general
feeling of agro in the air. It wasn’t too long before a fight broke out in
the bar and suddenly it was like a Wild West movie. Security could not
contain it. Speakers and gear got knocked over and smashed glass went
everywhere. Like Snagglepuss, I made a quick exit - stage left!”
With a delivery and songwriting style reminiscent of other nonrelated
Wilson-namesakes, BRIAN WILSON (BEACH BOYS) and ROSS
WILSON (DADDY COOL),Mick finds it hard to pigeonhole his music. “All
I do is transpose my real experiences into words and music. All my
songs represent my life.”
In 2006, Mick’s wife Justy surprised him with a birthday gift of a
day at Bignote Productions to record his first song. “I came out of
there on such a high it was all or nothing from then.”
After that it was a simple step to decide to record a full album. “I
needed the extra cash flow to fund the album so I am currently back
in the mining industry at Cracow Gold Mine, 154 kilometres south
east of Biloela in Queensland working as a maintenance supervisor,”
Mick said.
“I work 96 hours in eight days and go home for six, flying in and
out from the Gold Coast. I still do gigs on my days off and I am very
busy indeed!”
The album, Blame Train, has just been released, along with the first
single Run Piggy Run. “It’s a true story about a guy I work with at the
mine, Trace Cronin,”Mick said.
“He has been a professional pig and roo shooter for twenty years;
not one of those irresponsible louts who give shooters a bad rep. I went
on a couple of pig hunting adventures with Trace and saw how
efficient and professional he is at his craft. The Channel 7 TV show
Queensland Weekender featured me playing the song on the veranda of
the Cracow Pub. That was great.”
The song recently was awarded 4th place at the prestigious 2007
International / Australian Songwriting Competition.
“Talk about an amazing time!”Mick said. “For someone like me to
be considered and judged by music industry leaders in a positive way
did absolute wonders for my confidence.”
Mick Wilson is the perfect example of focus, personal development and
team building.“My advice is; Get a good team around you and let them to
the stuff they are good at. Drop your ego and listen to another opinion and
you may find you learn something. Don’t forget to be thankful for the
wonderful people in your life. Put your heart and soul into everything you
do.And last, but not least, don’t find the time to give up.”
BY DEBORAH MINTER
Ten years ago, MICK WILSON, a mine mechanic based in
Lithgow, surprised his new bride Justy with a song he
had written for their wedding. It was a shaky start, but it
sparked a passion for music. - Capital Country News
TIME OFF MAGAZINE 29/08/07
MICK WILSON Blame Train (Independent)
Tweed Heads-based singer-songwriter Mick Wilson spent 20 years stranded in isolation as a miner in outback Australia - a prospect that would’ve surely pushed one’s sanity beyond breaking point. But thankfully he had his guitar with him, and he’d use it to write and sing songs as a means to vent his frustration at being away from his wife and home. That was prior to 2001, and Wilson has since been trailing the pub circuit around south east Queensland, entering the studio last year to commence work on this his debut album.
The pick of these ten songs comes with dreamy opener ‘Headspace’, which purely distils the laidback feel of a summer’s day on the beach, epic ballad ‘Black Dog’ and groovy blues number ‘Run Piggy Run’, which reveals a distinctly Australian storyteller. And there’s also a well-done cover of Lynyrd Skynyrd staple ‘Sweet Home Alabama’ for good measure. Despite being a low-key independent release, production on Blame Train is impressively clean, and across this collection of songs a new Aussie talent is unveiled.
(Justin Grey) ***
- Justin Grey
Discography
Debut Album "Blame Train". Soft launch June 2007.Official Launch 29th August 2007.See calender for details.
Photos
Bio
MICKS BIO
You can't help noticing the passport stamp on the front cover of Mick Wilson's debut album...
It's a telling clue because 'Blame Train' opens the book on one man's many journeys. Every passport needs a photograph but trying to identify Mick amongst the album's artwork can be something of a challenge. It's the songs themselves that provide the clearest picture.
Great songs require complete honesty. As Mick says in 'Different Shell', 'throw away the cover and read the book'. During the recording of 'Blame Train' many heads were scratched trying to pigeonhole Mick Wilson's music.
In every song, there is a phrase, a word, an audible emotion that will touch someone somewhere. And that's where the honesty comes in. You can't have a good music without it.
There's no great genius associated with working out the song order here. The titles were thrown on the table and picked at random. But it works.
Uncomplicated verses lay the foundations for refrains and choruses that glitter like diamonds. From beginning to end, 'Blame Train' is easy-listening. But when you discover that little bit of yourself hidden in there somewhere, the listening becomes a little less easy.
Mick Wilson spent over fifteen year’s back of beyond, working in the mining industry. Most of the time it was just Mick and his guitar, stranded on what seemed another planet. The songs he wrote were a lifeline to everything he left at home - his wife, his passions - and perhaps more importantly, a means to vent his frustrations. His songs felt the full fury of his sense of loss and isolation, they plunged into the depths with him. But when he soared, the songs soared, too. If you want to experience the troughs, listen to 'Black Dog'. Then crawl out of the hole and get airborne with 'Justy'
In 2001 Mick left the mining industry and moved with his wife to Tweed Heads in Northern New South Wales. Much earlier, Mick took guitar lessons but was put off by a technically focused teacher when all he wanted to do was strum some songs around a campfire. Ten years on he learned a few chords and wrote a song for his wedding. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. This was, as they say, the turning point.
Mick has done the hard yards, playing covers at pubs and classy venues for the past five years. In
2006 he began laying the roughs for his debut album in studio one at Bignote Productions, on Queensland's Gold Coast. In 2007 the album was launched and Mick had two placings in the Australian song writing awards. Fourth place with "Run Piggy run" in the Australian category and a top thirty finalist with "Blame Train" in the Pop category.
Song by song, 'Blame Train' is an emotional rollercoaster. The payoff is an album that leaves the listener refreshed and relaxed. Overall, the message is a positive one. It's the kind of album that leaves you with a smile on your face and an overwhelming urge to hit the replay button.
As Mick says: 'To actually realise my first album is an amazing dream come true. This experience has shown me that no matter who or what we are, you can achieve anything as long as you believe in yourself'.
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