Chew Like Hell
I caught up with a local grazier in the Kingaroy district who had just taken on a bigger loan to expand his beef cattle enterprise. He said it meant he had to work harder than ever before. He said you’ve got to bite off more than you can chew then chew like hell.

Skye High
I met this beautiful girl in the Territory a few years ago and we seemed to get on really well. I never thought it would be possible, meeting someone on the same crazy wavelength as myself but it happened. Things progressed and I ended up singing this song to her at our wedding.

Wild Horses
This was one of the hardest songs to write, because I wanted to convey exactly how I work on a wild young horse, in preparation for being ridden all day mustering cattle.

Born Out Here
I was looking for a fun upbeat song, typifying the ordinary hardworking Aussie bloke. Garth Porter came up with Born Out Here and we thought it would really add something to the Heatwave album.

Heatwave
Last summer I wrote this song with my older brother James and the help of a few beers. We wanted to capture the essence of the Australian heatwave - everything stinking hot, with that unique silence and defining stillness.

Wearing Out Leather
Jim McAdam of Camfield Station was telling me a few stories, and one line stuck in my head: “You know, when we were young fellas we used to just wear out jeans and leather”. I wrote this song while I was working with the horses there on the station. Thanks heaps Jim.

Worthwhile
A lot of farmers are feeling the pinch of drought, debt and an uncertain future. A local cocky surprised me when he said, despite everything going on, he wouldn’t trade his life on the land for anything, and that he could always find a reason to smile..

Go Goanna Go
This is a true story based on some stockmen who caught goannas and cooked them up for smoko. This time the boys went hungry.

Days Roll By
I pictured myself 50 years down the track, with all the things achieved and places I'd been, reminiscing on the good days and enjoying it all with my best friend, my wife.

Ringer In The Sky
Martin Oakes wrote this song. I had a look at it and thought it was a cracker. It builds a picture of what happens on a typical day mustering with helicopters.

A Million Memories
I was looking through the harness shed at home when this old saddle caught my eye. It literally had pieces missing off it, gouges, rust and scratches. This song was conceived at the College of Country Music, where I worked on it with tutor, Kedron Taylor, but it’s taken a few years to mature, just like the saddle.

Hillbilly Music
I have toured extensively with the Davidson Brothers - always an eye-opening experience! They give me a hard time, but this song gave me a chance to give a bit back. Thanks boys, for introducing that great blue grass music to me and a heap of other bewildered people!

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Smack Bang
One night I was practising this song in the corrugated iron shower in the stock camp on Mt Sanford Station, NT. I emerged to find all the ringers standing quietly in the dark listening. They urged me to sing it again …. and it all went from there. Thanks to Garth for the makeover and to Sara for singing on this track for me.

Windmill
I started this one in 2001 in the stock camp at Mt Sanford Station, out on the horses waiting for the choppers to bring in the cattle. The idea came from a yarn spun around a campfire. Martin Oakes was working on the station at the time and helped me out with the lyrics and showed me the guitar chords - I'd never played guitar before that.

A Man's Not A Camel
We needed an upbeat number and Garth came up with the line A Man Is Not A Camel. We wrote this one together, trying to portray how blokes in the bush often have to get a drink wherever they can, while fellas in the pub can take the cold beer for granted.

She Stays With Me
I heard a yarn about an elderly local farmer who was approached by a few young blokes wanting to buy his very old tractor. He had used it for many years and it was still going strong. They wanted to do it up and put it in street parades. He showed them the gate.

Long Straight Line
Mrs Janet Holmes a Court (Heytesbury Beef) suggested I should spend a few days with the workers who were laying the Darwin to Alice Springs railway line, with a view to learning a bit of the lingo and writing a song about this important development in Australia's history. She arranged for me to stay at the camp near Tennant Creek, get a taste of the life of the construction workers, and see the line happening at first hand. I wrote a rough which Garth renovated with enthusiasm. This song is the result.

Waiting
Once a week the mail plane usually delivers mail and supplies to remote stations and communities in the Northern Territory, and the people in these outback areas eagerly look forward to receiving news from the rest of the world.

Dogs
At home we've always had a lot of dogs and realized that names can describe their differing personalities and behaviours.

Drink Drovin'
I was working with Mitch Maguire breaking in horses in the Territory when he told me a yarn about a mate of his who musters sheep in NSW with his saddle bags packed with cold beer. At the CMAA College of Country Music in January 2003 I began writing this song with Emily Taheny and Beccy Cole. We had great fun putting it together. Dobe Newton and Rod Coe also helped out. Garth added some finishing touches. I simply wanted to capture the picture of an ordinary bloke and his up-and-down relationship with his dog, aggravated by the influence of a few too many beers.

Bit of Alright
Some girls have it all - looks, personality, talent and a great work ethic - but they are few and far between. When a bloke meets one who has it all, how does he let her know?

No Place Like Home
I wrote this at the end of the dry season as I headed back from the Territory to my home -Old Boyneside near Kingaroy, Queensland. Being away for so many months, the anticipation builds as you get nearer day by day.

Brothers
Growing up in a family of five boys has always meant plenty of laughs and good times. We'd argue about the simplest things - sometimes for the sake of arguing - and I think most families are the same.

Wild Machine
I was never much good at riding motor bikes and when the manager at Mt Sanford Station (Paul Stone) gave me a new bike (an XR 400) to muster horses, I didn't even know how to start it - much to the amusement of the blokes standing about. A few dramas around the yard provided inspiration for this song. Listening to it makes me want to get back in the seat to give it another crack!

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