The Gathering Wool



Even though she’s the daughter of Cameron Lancaster, local sheep farmer, and grew up playing in a bushband Erin Heycox thought she would never write a shearing song. That all changed during the floods of 2022. 

“We were on tour and I was on the phone to my Mum who was exasperated, ‘Your father can’t find any shearers. He’s over sixty and will have to shear a thousand sheep before the rains come’. As soon as I heard that I knew I had to write a song about Dad. There wasn’t much else I could do being so far away during the floods.”

Both Erin and Lachlan grew up with parents playing in bushbands and are well versed in the traditional Australian shearing songs like ‘Click Go the Shears’ and ‘Ryebuck Shearer.’ 

“Those old shearing songs can be a bit blokey and full of bravado” says Erin, “but our song explores how traditional farming ways are changing.” 

This kind of re-examination of traditional Australian music is what Lachlan Heycox (guitar/banjo) and Erin Heycox (vocals/fiddle) explore in their ‘old time Australiana’ duo Broken Creek. 

Named for the creek Erin grew up near, the name ‘Broken Creek’ signals a love of traditional folk music with an adventurous musical bent to “break” with the same old ways of playing folk music. 

After their three month national ‘Small Town Tour’ across Australia in 2022, Erin and Lachlan moved back to Erin’s family farm in Picola from their inner city apartment to set up a studio in their grandmother’s hundred year old farmhouse to record a follow up to their 2022 album ‘Small Town Anthropologies’. 

Alongside the single, Broken Creek are releasing a music video shot on the farm that traces the traditions through in situ historical photographs, footage precariously shot from the back of the ute and Broken Creek performing around the farm.  The music video was edited by fellow local JC Jacinta Scadden. 

Erin’s Mum, award winning mixed media artist Linden Lancaster created the single release image featuring layered artifacts from their farm’s history. 

‘The Gathering Wool’ features guest musicians Emily-Rose Sarkova (accordion and backing vocals) and Nick Henderson (bass and backing vocals). It was mixed by Mischa Hernan and mastered by Myles Mumford. https://youtu.be/gmOnVqPerm8

Listen to Broken Creek’s new single here: www.brokencreekband.com/gatheringwool 

Watch the video here: https://tinyurl.com/gatheringwoolvideo 

 

Dates

 

‘The Gathering Wool’ available June 23rd on all streaming services. 

Links to the listening page here: www.brokencreekband.com/gatheringwool

Links to website and social media www.brokencreekband.com

 

THE GATHERING WOOL LYRICS VERSE 1 My father is the last of a long line of farmers With a thousand wooly backs, sheep were ready to be shorn.  But you can’t get shearers since they tore up the award, And the wool’s getting longer by the day CHORUS Gather the wool before the gathering storm And the clouds of white turn to grey VERSE 2 It’s the first year in forty there’s just one buzzing blade The rough boys fling the fleece, he stands alone on the shearing stage And the smell of lanolin will seep into his skin Mum’s made sure there’ll be a cup of tea CHORUS Gather the wool before the gathering storm And the clouds of white turn to grey

BRIDGE Sweeping up the fallen locks He hears a drop of rain fall on the roof He shuts the gate, they’re all safe for now Survive for another year CHORUS Gather the wool before the gathering storm And the clouds of white turn to grey VERSE 3 He’s bagged up all the wool but he cannot take a break They’re sandbagging the school Learned from past mistakes If the rain continues, he’ll be cut off from the town Water grey as the sky  CHORUS Gather the wool before the gathering storm And the clouds of white turn to grey

 

‘The Gathering Wool’

Single Cover