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Redneck Recommenders No 8 - Rod Dowsett - Rhyme Or Reason
Thursday March 20th 2008

    For the last few years I’ve seen Rod Dowsett at the Tamworth Country Music Festival - but only in passing. A number years ago he was performing on the footpath in front of the Tudor hotel - with backing tracks. He’s come a long way since then. He got rid of those awful midi files a few years ago - moved inside the Tudor and seems to have made the Tudor his home now - complete with band. You can usually catch him late night downstairs at the Tudor with his band (and unfortunately he’s actually one of the few late night country gigs around Tamworth at the festival!). My neglect of having seen him was not due to lack of interest on my part but only in my own scheduling conflict.

    However - this year (08) I finally got to see Rod and his band in action - at the Toohey’s Battle of the Bands competition where his band ("Cold Hard Truth") and my band ("Bayou Boogie Boys") participated in the action. (We both lost - by the way - to a highly entertaining country show band with two gorgeous blondes called "Ruckus"!). However - I did get to see Rod Dowsett and the Cold Hard Truth for the first time. I met up with Rod after the show and introduced myself…we traded albums (one of the unexpected advantages of being an artist - you get to trade music with other artists!).

    As I listened to the album I realised that I was on to something special. The closest comparison that I can make is either Chris Knight or an early Steve Earle - the songwriting is that good - it’s poignant and personal. He’s particularly good with character development. "Tobacco May" is about a madam in a boom town and the song takes you straight into the middle of a Sergio Leone Spaghetti Western. "12 Foot Tinny" takes you to the North Coast of NSW in the 1980’s - complete with BBQ, fishing trips, heat and beer. "Shot Gun Wedding" transports you to hillbillyville…where the best man is your new wife’s uncle - and though you’re ’forced’ into this marriage - you realise how attractive she is when you lift the veil to kiss her…and so does, rather uncomfortably - your new uncle…(yuck!).

    There are four qualities that make his songwriting so good. One is his absolute fearlessness in saying out loud what is often thought quietly - just raw honesty. The other is that his songs have an unexpected twist and turn - you’re always listening for the next line - because sometimes the next line goes where you don’t expect it too. The third is his attention to detail - descriptions that bring you to a time and place - like "Tobacco May" - who "rolled her own with a slight tremble in her hand". Finally - and most importantly - his ability to mix sadness with beauty - true beauty always has at least a touch of sadness.

    His songs are so honest - in less skillful hands they might be depressing. However…there’s enough beauty in his lyrics to bring hope through the sadness…no mean feat - even though the songs are about touch subjects like depression and suicide ("Rhyme Or Reason"), a man who talks with his parents after having been involved in a drink driving fatality ("Thank You") and the abject poverty of a woman with two small children and a no account man ("Bread Crumbs"). There’s no easy or pat answers in these songs - just the beauty of the human spirit that carries on despite bad circumstances.

    It’s not all bad news, however…he gets raucous and rocky with "Country Living" and "It’s My Shout". These are fun enough songs - for me they don’t have the impact of a lot of the others - but are a nice contrast.

    He is a songwriter - so the vocals are what I’d call ’songwriter’ vocals. But they do the job quite adequately - and will undoubtedly improve as he does more recording. The main problem I had with them was the lack of dynamic…all the same level…so that by track 10 I was a bit tired of hearing them. However…I didn’t notice at all until track 10 on my second listen through - so it couldn’t have been too distracting! (I think mainly we singers develop this when doing lots of pub gigs without an adequate P.A. - so we end up pushing the whole show rather than developing a dynamic singing style).

    It’s a great album and you will want to get it. Rod is an independent artist - truly independent. He’s not trying to have a ’commercial’ appeal - which means he’s not trying to act like something that he’s not so that it’s more so-called ’marketable’. Rod Dowsett is the real deal. The album is a treat - so treat yourself to some ’cold hard truth’ with Rod Dowsett’s - "Rhyme or Reason".

Buy it at http://www.roddowsett.com

I used to do a weekly radio program called "Hi-Tech Redneck" on 2RRR 88.5FM in Sydney but I’ve unfortunately have had to give it away – for good reason however – too busy doing live gigs on Friday nights. One of the things I loved about radio was listening and recommending new material - so here’s where I get to do that - and in keeping with the spirit of my radio show I call the spot "Redneck Recommenders" - just music I love and you may not have heard of yet!

Rod Dowsett  -  Independent

I’m a sucker for a gravel-voiced smoky country bar-room tenor. Add the fact that I’m a child of the seventies with fond memories of long-haired bad boy Romeos and ROD DOWSETT fits the bill to perfection. His new album Rhyme Or Reason is a follow up to his 2005 CD Dodging Bullets. Once more, his song writing skills delve into dark and thought-provoking subjects. The title track is a disturbing look at suicide and depression. Country Living is about the attraction of a ‘tree change’ from city living to country freedom. Tobacco May is a backwoods anthem. It’s My Shout is a sure-fire rocking fun hit. Bread Crumbs is sad ballad of hard times.  Pretty And Small is a tragic lullaby to a tiny struggling life – a song that reveals Rod’s tender heart. Rod Dowsett’s music is like an onion; it might have a strong flavour but it can sure make you cry.

One Stop/Independent RD003

DEBORAH MINTER

Country Music & Dance Magazine
Scotland & Nth Ireland, August 2006
REVIEWER:  GERRY FORD

ROD DOWSETT DODGING BULLETS (Own Label) 
In 2003 newcomer Rod recorded an EP titled Six Tracks Down with the help of a couple of friends producer Pete Dyball and Bill Chambers (Dead Ringer Band). Rod was able to produce a recording that gained recognition from his peers and won him a place in the finals of the Buskers Championship at the Tamworth festival. 
 
His latest project is this album Dodging Bullets, 10 self -penned songs, each one telling it's own individual story based on his own experiences. The music and song has a rawness not found in many of today's songs, more like early Steve Earl and others in that mould. Pete produces the album and also plays bass, drums and el. guitar, string guitar and even the kitchen sink (used as a percussion instrument) while Rod calls again on Bill for lap steel, mandolin, electric guitar and dobro, and also adds Tim Webbe on accordion on one song with Roger Faynes on organ and piano on others and Rod himself also plays guitar. 
 
Not your slick Nashville country sound then I hear you say and rightly so, as the honesty found here is in a class of its own, Great personal songs sung from the heart and well produced . This is what we once called Outlaw music but this CD is more that cowboy hats and boots. As a debut this will find a niche and create a place for Rod probably at the edge but then that's as good a place as any to set up your stall. Most enjoyable and refreshing and deserving of success which I'm sure it will find.
 
Check out www.robdowsett.com for more details on how to get a copy. 
 
SONGS:- Reap what you so-I Got Me A Boat- Time will tell- Thrill Of The Chase-Killin'time-Drunken A**ehole - I´ll Never Understand Why- Robbin- Dodging Bullets-Like you want me to. 

The 6th Annual Musicoz Awards
Friday June 9th 2006  
The 6th Annual Musicoz awards and Dodging Bullet got 3 tracks in the top 100.
The tittle track Dodging Bullets is in the top 20 placed at #16, Robbin placed #43 and Drunkin Areshole #53.

Review: Kanga Routes (French) CRI
Artist : Rod Dowsett 
Album : Dodging Bullets 
  
Dix Chansons refietant la vie mouvementee que Rod veut oublier. Une autotherapie en quelque sorte qui a suscitece superbe album. La voix basse et lisse s'accompagne a la guitare. aidee par 2 ou 3 musiciens tels Bill Chambers (gtr, dob. lap-st. mdl) Pete Dyball (bss, drm) et par moments Tim Webbe (accor) ou Ray Fayness (pno). La musique, style barroom, est remuante avec 3 rockabillies (dont la chansan btre) pour dire la difficulte de supporter une femme acanatre et la cure d'alccol qui en decoule, tandis que Thrill Of The Chase nous fait partager la journee delirante du parieur aux courses. I'll Never Understand Why est une ballade blues pour pleurer sur une rupture, et. parmi les honky tonks, nous trouvons l'amusante I Got Me A Boat (depuirs qu'elle est partie. mon grand amour est mon bateau) et la dramatique Robbin ou la femme aimee, infidele, est ecrasee sous la locomotive conduite par son papa. CD (avec livret) fortement recommande (RL) 

NFS #103 TRACK 5
Artist : Rod Dowsett 
Track : Thrill Of The Chase 
Album : Dodging Bullets 
  
Coffs Harbour (NSW) singer/songwriter ROD DOWSETT literally stopped the crowd at the recent Tamworth Festival. Passers-by stopped in their track when they encountered the powerful sounds of Rod in Peel Street, stayed to watch and listen and more often that not walked off with a copy of his Dodging Bullets album. It's no surprise Rod's great songs and raw charisma show out both live and on the album, and Dodging Bullets has had excellent reviews and reaction with its drown-your-sorrows tracks and catchy barroom feel. 
 
The first single I Got Me A Boat drew strong radio reaction, and the new song is set to follow in the Boat's wake. Thrill Of The Chase is a great rockabilly number full of edge and attitude that immediately shouts turn the volume up!
 
rum entertainment

ROD DOWSETT
Based Coffs Harbour NSW

Six Tracks Down
First release a six track EP titled Six Tracks Down
 
4th Annual Musicoz Awards Finalists
Country Top 100
     # 30 Circle Work 
     # 34 Merry Christmas 
     # 66 One week out of two 
     # 75 Taken the chance

Dodging Bullets
Single I Got Me A Boat released on NFS # 97 (June), from second album Dodging Bullets
  
I Got Me A Boat charted:
     #61  Saturday Night Country Hottest 100 Tracks 
     #87  Top 100 Country Hits Chart
 
Rod's track Drunken Arsehole topped the Satellite Music Australia's playlist chart May 10th
 
Filmclip on CMC & other outlets. Rod is also filming a new clip with locations including Lightning Ridge to be air from December 2005

ROD DOWSETT DEBUT 
Daves Diary Reviews - August 2005
www.nucountry.com.au

Rod Dowsett is the hottest export from NSW coastal city Coffs Harbour since Carol Young town to form the acclaimed Greencards in Texas and Tennessee.
 
Dowsett performs a video for his single I Got Me A Boat from his new debut album Dodging Bullets.
 
The album is a sequel to his EP Six Tracks Down.
 
Dowsett hired Bill Chambers to play on seven tracks after the veteran singer invited him to play on his gigs in Tamworth.
 
Further info - www.roddowsett.com  

DAILY NEWS April 2005 
UP COUNTRY 
with Bob Anthony Jnr

DODGING BULLETS
ROD DOWSETT Independent
 
If there is one thing to be said about modern Australian Country Music - it's that it draws from the rich heritage of the music better than its American Counterparts.
 
For Coffs Harbour singer / songwriter Rod Dowsett, His debut album Dodging Bullets is a great example of this. For a relative newcomer Rod captures a quality in his music that many seasoned veterans would be envious of. He has written all 10 tracks on the album and put plenty of heart and soul into each track vocally.
 
Rod manages to give each song a bit of an edge with his vocals and with good variation in the different styles reflected in the play list, he shows he is at equally at home with the heart felt ballads as he is with toe tappin up tempo numbers.
 
The album also show a deep appreciation and understanding of what it takes to craft a good song and he has delivered an album that is aimed at the listener rather than just the radio five of the tracks run over four minutes. There's a country rock quality about Rod but he doesn't go far from the traditional feel to most of the tracks on Dodging Bullets.
 
This is particularly evident on the slower tracks such as Time will Tell, the bluesy influence of Killin Time, the very Poignant Drunken Arsehole with its powerful message, I'll Never Understand Why and the emotive Like You Want Me To.
 
Rod also shows he likes to mix things up a bit with up beat songs like Reap What You Sew, the rocky Thrill Of The Chase and the title Dodging Bullets.
 
Add a couple of laid back tracks like I Got Me A Boat and Robbin and there's a very interesting collection of songs. Rod Dowsett has a fresh sound, most importantly it's his own and he isn't trying to be anybody else.
 
Great lyrics, great sound and great potential.
Give this a bit of volume on the stereo and you'll be impressed!
Check out more about this talented performer at www.roddowsett.com

DODGING BULLETS
ROD DOWSETT - Independent
Review by Deborah Minter / Capital News
 
Rough and raw, ROD DOWSETT sounds like smoky bars, beer and tequila shooters. Rod's new album Dodging Bullets is ten tracks with quirky songs like I got me a boat, a love song about a boat - well, his women left him. There are a lot of drown your - sorrows tracks, all with that catchy barroom feel. Great Doro and lap steel from BILL CHAMBERS adds to the bluesy atmosphere. Killing Time is a soft rocky number with a sinister plot. I'll Never Understand is another lost love lament.
 
Percussion on Robin had me reach for the album liner. The unique tapping sound was created on the kitchen sink! Yes this album has everything, including the kitchen sink! The title track Dodging Bullets is quite a foot stomper; I can see the barroom dust rising already. Certainly, if you like your country coloured with tones of the blues, you will love this album.
 
Independent
Available direct from www.roddowsett.com
DEBORAH MINTER

COUNTRY Update
MORE REVIEWS with Bob Anthony Jnr
 
It's a shame that Australian Rod Dowsett has only released an EP' aptly titled Six Tracks Down, because there is plenty to like. After listening to it, you find yourself wanting to hear a bit more of him.
 
This independent artist has come along way since I first heard him playing in Peel Street Tamworth in 2003. On this EP, he has "enlisted" talented guitar player Bill Chambers. The result is a collection of six originals performed in the finest country traditions.
 
There's an honesty about his music plus the rawness around the edges, be it the up tempo numbers like' Night Star' great pace 'Railway Love' the laid back swing rhythm of 'Circle Work' through to the ballads 'Taken the Chance', 'One Week Out Of Two' or the heart wrenching 'Merry Christmas'.
 
Lyrically the songs are Aussie to the core, musically there's a touch of the Texan country influence coming through which is very refreshing and very catching, especially on the fast tracks.
 
Rod has a distinctive recognisable voice, versatile and one that would allow him to be at home in any venue. This EP of outstanding quality with plenty of conviction from the artist which is important. If this is a sample of what Rod can do, let's hope an album isn't far away. Rod's EP can be ordered through his web site www.roddowsett.com

Hundreds of buskers, now it's down to just 10
Friday, 21 January 2005
 
WITHOUT buskers in Peel St the Telstra Country Music Festival in Tamworth wouldn't be the same, so it's time for the best to be rewarded.
 
The Best of the Buskers concert, featuring the top 10 buskers, will be held this afternoon from 4pm to 6pm in Bicentennial Park before the Telstra Road to Tamworth Showcase and the True Blue Muster. "It is fantastic entertainment and we've had some tremendous winners in the past, such as the Sommers Family," Northern Daily Leader managing editor John Sommerlad said.
 
This is the third year of competition and other finalists have included Bobby Cash, who is now internationally renowned as the Indian Cowboy. This year there is another international finalist with Kata Hay from Oklahoma, who enjoyed the Festival so much last year she came back for another. 
 
It has been a record year for buskers it seems, with 500 entries received. "It's absolutely phenomenal to have a record number this year and the council have indicated everyone has been well-behaved," Mr Sommerlad said.
 
Finalists include Melbourne's Jetty Road, a six-piece group who write their own material and have their album, Full Circle, available for sale. Third-time finalist Rod Dowsett is back to try his luck on the verge of his second album release in March. Finally, it wouldn't be a busking competition if there was no Elvis and TJ Elvis is here to delight the fans on his first visit to Tamworth.
 
The finalists are: Rod Dowsett, The Lairy Farmers, TJ Elvis, Johnny Huckle, Jetty Road, He Said She Said, Talia Wittmann, Kata Hay, Paul Killingly and The Fuelers. 

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