Festival regular Richardson still privileged to perform at Folkie

Tom Richardson grew up in Warrnambool and is now performing at his fifth Port Fairy Folk Festival, but the shine will never wear off, he says.

After a year mostly spent touring solo around the world, Richardson is thrilled to return to the familiar stage.

"It's a privilege and not a right by any means," he told The Standard.

"We've been so fortunate to have big opportunities on big stages and you see what it's like.

"It's one of those things that I'm so lucky to do it and no matter how big you get that should be the mindset.

"It pulls people, especially from Melbourne.

"There's a large amount that come from Melbourne and interstate to see us there who will come along to our shows down the track.

"You get to hit so many people in one go and you never know where they're from, so anybody would be crazy to say they played Port Fairy and nothing came from it."

Warrnambool-based eight-piece outfit the Tom Richardson Project landed their first Folkie gig as students in 2009 as part of the fringe program, but were quickly upgraded to the main event.

Blending the best parts of blues, reggae, roots and rhythms with a distinct Aussie feel and sunny point of view, Richardson and his mates have become a staple of the Folkie over the past decade to the point that overseas musicians have started to ask how they can land a gig in Port Fairy.

"They've been so good to us over the years," he said.

"We thought after a pretty good run at the festival and not having any new CDs last year we wouldn't apply and we got lucky again this year, which we're just so stoked about.

"Obviously it's such a wicked festival and I've got so many musician friends from all over the world that they always ask me 'how do you keep getting into Port Fairy?'.

"If I had an answer I'd tell them.

"Growing up in the area helps there's always an element of south-west acts.

"The (Hog Stompin') Zydegators and Tank Dilemma are back in, so they try to support local guys."

So if we've seen Richardson at the Folkie before, what can we expect this year?

"I've been hoping to have an EP ready for Port Fairy, or at least a couple of new songs. We will be recording a full live DVD at Port Fairy, so that's going to be one main focus.

"As free as it is to play solo shows there's not a lot that can compare to being on a festival stage with the full band. The line-up we've got at the moment is really solid and everyone gets along so well.

"I've found more so now I'm writing songs that aren't completely factual they're more inspiration from hearing a story of a certain scenario and putting myself in their shoes, then putting the rest together from there.

"I met a German lady who felt a connection with music and told me about her son who passed away and wanted me to write a song for him."

Richardson's involvement at the Folkie goes beyond his on-stage performances he also gets a chance to help out the next batch of rising talent.

In the festival lead-up Richardson has been tutoring music students in songwriting at Port Fairy schools, as part of the APRA Songs in Schools project.

The program aims for students to gain songwriting skills and confidence through workshops and culminates in the opportunity for them to perform at the festival.

Students have been working in a professional recording environment, with their music recorded and produced to give them a taste of working in the industry.

"It's probably the fourth year we've done it and it's definitely a collaboration between Port Fairy and APRA," Richardson said.

"Everyone always says it but there's definitely something in the water down here.

"There are so many good musos and I've been lucky enough to see every year the next crop of guys.

"I saw Jackson McLaren, The Roaring 40s, Tommy Lie, Didi Peters and those guys when they were in year 10 writing songs and really getting into it for the first time. Now they're starting to get out there and perform so it's cool to see that happen and be a part of it."

The Tom Richardson Project will perform at Reardon today at 11pm, stage one tomorrow at 10.30pm, at the railway stage on Sunday from noon with APRA Schools and from 1pm on Monday.

j.pech@fairfaxmedia.com.au