Australia's Troubadour: Gary Shearston 1939-2013

Abstract

Gary Shearston was one of the greatest voices in Australian music - and in several fields. He excelled as a folklorist, composer, and singer of traditional folk, protest songs, folk-rock, jazz, blues, gospel, sacred music, lullabies, country and pop rock. His life was in many ways extraordinary and for many he seemed to embody the optimistic sense of radicalism combined with discontent that swept Australia from the early 1960s to the early 1970s. Donald Horne aptly described that era in his book title Time of Hope: Australia 1966-1972 and much of Shearston's music was concerned with hope for a better world and like Horne's book, was permeated with a deep love for Australia. Gary Shearston was born on 9th January 1939 in the town of Inverell in the New England region of New South Wales, but when his father left for war service the Shearstons moved to Gary's maternal grandparents farm 'Ayrdie' two miles outside Tenterfield. When his father returned from war service he became a farmer there. Although it is easy to idealise rural life, it seems Gary's time there was happy. His later song 'Tenterfield' has many lyrical descriptions and is a paean to the town and surrounding countryside.