COVID Chronicles EP
This EP is an exciting, story telling ride, that documents the events of 2020. Big events that affected everyone in Australia personally and some that affected the entire world. I have been told the name “COVID Chronicles” will date these songs and put a time stamp on something that could be timeless. But the time stamp on this collection is the only thing that ties these compositions together. Aus Rock, Blue grass, New Orleans, Classic Country, String Quartets there is no reason these genres should be on the same title. They tell the story of a confusing time where the world turned upside down, a mixture of tunes as surprising and new as every day in that year.

Burn Baby is a Bluegrass song inspired by the great Billy Strings.
In 2020 my wife and I purchased a house in a bush fire damaged town , the bush fires of 2020 had come into the back of our property and you can still see the black on the gum trees while I'm writing this in 2024. Something I didn't know was burnt gum trees grow there leaves back relatively quickly but don't have limbs to grow them on and so there leaves come back in tufts on the sides of the trunk. I had told a videographer friends of mine someone should do a music video out here because the regeneration from the devastation was quite beautiful, he implied quite heavily that that someone should be me and so I went to work writing a song. Instead of taking the traditional sadness or "We will stand together" attitude that disaster can lean towards, I decided that I would personify the fire and write a bad guy diddy.
The song was written and I was contacted by Michael Simmic. He was searching for local songwriters for an album called "Southcoast dreaming" part of an arts project called the Regeneration Roadtrip helping to support communities affected by the fires. He said the album comes out next week and although my Song was written it was not yet recorded. So we recorded it that weekend and it turned out great!! As menacing as it is jovial Burn Baby is so fun to listen to and perform.
Have a listen - https://open.spotify.com/album/4jG2eEk0mSsmDkAk0SFeCs
Guitar/ Vocal: Garth Prentice
Fiddle: Maria Dunne
Ganjo: Greg Angus
Bass Guitar: Ron McLaughlin
Drums: Jasper Shields
Artwork: Garth Prentice
On a very Windy Day Keva and I went to record the Music Video in the forest behind our house you can see it here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yO-vqkq43TA

We were all frustrated, stuck in doors, nurses were overworked and teachers were forced to reinvent how to teach, online, in the blink of an eye. The Entertainment industry was non existent and all we could do was watch the news to see what new rules we had to follow, and everyday it seemed there were new rules, every week the procedure unrecognisable from the week prior. This is a song expressing some of those frustrations, begging for some solid information to follow and hoping for some consistency.
We gave it as close to a New Orleans feel as a bunch of rural Aussies can get and Keva based the piano part on Fats Waller - All that Meat and No Potatoes. I sang the harmonies for the first time on a recording and managed to pick a pretty difficult chords progression for my first time. If you listen close near the end of the song there is a little feature from my daughter Eadie who was sittong on my lap when we recorded them.
I received a residency at the start of 2024 for a 2 week writing retreat at the Crisp Galleries in Yass. While I was there one of the owners thought I might like to play his banjo and dropped it off to the cottage, I'd never played banjo before and had great fun working through the book he gave me. I offered to purchase the Banjo as a memento of my stay with the promise of putting it on a recording. And here we are.
The Artwork is a photo of James Humberstone a lecturer at Sydney University and a huge advocate for music education, In 2024 when I was releasing this music we traveled to Grafton for the Regional Conservatoriums' Conferencewhere James was a guest speaker. The talk of the conference was the NSW government was in the middle of pushing through a revised music curriculum for the HSC music exam which would be detrimental to music education in the state, and James's talk was on the new curriculum's history, consequences and frustrating back and forth with the government that was letting us music teachers down. Exactly what my song is about, so I thought who's head better to be on the artwork than this man. I asked, he said yes, and there he is.
Have a Listen - https://open.spotify.com/track/3Tdtl5sgY5Kb8JhwBTnrw1
Vocal - Garth Prentice
Backing Vocal - Garth Prentice
Keyboard - Keva Abotomey
Trumpet - Mike Hammond
Slide Guitar - Tony 'Skid' Marks
Banjo - Garth Prentice
Bass Guitar - Garth Prentice
Drums - Andrew Picker

This is a story of a man who myself and my brothers grew up with.
My best mates grandfather. He unfortunately passed in the COVID Lockdown and had to have a.funeral with restricted attendance. I wrote this song for the family and asked bunch of my muso mates to record a part in their home studios and send them through.
A country song telling the life of a country gent.
The Family has relayed gratitude for this song again and again and so it is time for a release tot he world.
Have a Listen - https://open.spotify.com/album/7hEpdJaU1BMGBW9YXBJcRN
Nylon Guitar/Vocal: Garth Prentice
Backing Vocal: Keva Abotomey
Electric Guitar:Jeremy Minnet
Keyboard/Organ: Mike Baker
Bass Guitar: Jono Burgess
Drums: Thomas Dawson
Photo:Jasmine Pierce

Covid 2020 all the pubs shut down almost destroying the entertainment industry. Many of my friends, peers and industry buddy's were out of work or working at a fraction of the pace they had been. On the first night the lock downs were lifted I got a call from the Hibernian Hotel in Goulburn asking if I would come and play that weekend. I accepted and did my first socially distanced gig to a scarred but appreciative audience. I was on stage quick and from what I have seen was one of the first gigs in the state. This song is about the struggles the industry went through and is a tough as nails Aussie rock song representing the greatest mark that Australia has left on the world stage. It is a yearning and mourning for our local watering hole the Aussie Pub and a cheeky no nonsense statement of how the entertainment was treated by the powers that be during the Covid Lockdowns.
Have a listen - https://open.spotify.com/album/4MGAOB5dg1uP4yxhVBZ52H
Rhythm Guitar/Vocal - Garth Prentice
Backing Vocal - Keva Abotomey
Slide Guitar - Tony 'Skid' Marks
Organ - Andy Picker
Bass Guitar - Garth Prentice
Drumkit - Liam King
Artwork - "Beers at Home" Garth Prentice
We managed to book in some time to create a music video for this big rock piece. Check It Our Here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVeO1ACEMM8
Video - Sara Fife
Actors - Stef Hogan, Tobias Loberg, Jock Mclean