Informality under the influence of singalongs

Music / “Under the Influence”. At Smith’s Alternative, May 13. Reviewed by HELEN MUSA.

AN affectionate, informal tone permeated the latest iteration of Shortis and Simpson’s series “Under the Influence”.

This time, the duo turned the spotlight on host/owners of Smith’s Alternative, Nigel McRae and Beth Tully, best known to members of the public from their behind-the-counter service but are, in fact, formidable musicians in their own right, as we found when listening to the powerful, ringing sounds of Tully’s voice and McCrae’s facility on guitar and, astonishingly, trumpet.

In  2015 the pair took over Smith’s from Domenic Mico and Jorian Gardner, whose founding influence they acknowledged, transforming it into one of the leading spots in Canberra’s music scene.

A striking difference from the previous “Under the Influence” shows involving Keith Potger, Karen Middleton, and DJ Gosper, was the opportunity for singalongs, as the pair paid tribute to archetypal Aussie experiences such as long car journeys, school music and singing around the pianola.

The opening musical choice was “Amazing Grace”, which had brought Tully and McCrae together. That already had audience members humming along, while later excursions into “Kiss Me Good Night Sergeant Major” and “I’ve Got a Lovely Bunch of Coconuts” had the crowd singing along lustily. By the time they got to Carole King’s album “Tapestry” they couldn’t be stopped.

This is where Shortis and Simpson came in as effective moderators, quizzing the guest performers and seizing the moments to interpolate their own musical experiences – Simpson loves an opportunity to yodel.

With Shortis as interviewer, it became clear that Tully was the more reticent of the pair. To be sure she had a talented vaudevillian grandma, but otherwise depicted her childhood on a farm near Dubbo as a fairly ordinary one. That changed when she came to Canberra to pursue a science degree and ended up singing in bands around town.

McRae proved a more natural raconteur, allowing us into stories of his checkered private life and inglorious moments on stage, such as the time he froze while attempting to sing the punk song “Anarchy” – he remembered the words for us last night.

Both have paid their dues, with Tully having worked on a farm, picked fruit, made hamburgers and worked in the public service, while McRae, we learnt, had been a paperboy, an Avon lady, a smallgoods distributor and also a public servant.

Eventually, thanks to “Amazing Grace”, the pair ended up together and embarked on a series of adventures aimed at giving Canberra musicians opportunities to perform.

When McRae founded Canberra Musician’s Club, they used the welcoming but now-vanished McGregor Hall in the ANU precinct.

Then there was then a rented house in Ainslie out of which they were eventually thrown because of hostility to gigs, and finally a house in Downer, home to concerts, racy events and 136 episodes of a music podcast called “Insatiable Banalities”.

Parodying Leonard Cohen’s “First We Take Manhattan”, the pair treated us to their Downer tribute song, “First we take Burn Street then we take Cadell”, before singing an original number,  “Hopelessly Romantic”.

Not to be outdone, Shortis and Simpson sang their own tribute to their guests – “You’ve not kept up with the Joneses, but you’ve ended up at Smith’s”.

And what of the future? After having first taken the former neighbouring newsagency, as McRae told it, now they’re taking the former bar upstairs and renaming it – McGregor Hall.