Bittersweet at its finest

Thought it was about time for another installment of what’s been happening in our world at present.  As many of you probably know, just 3 weeks ago Byll and her partner Tom gave birth to the most gorgeous little bub.  He is the apple of everyone’s eye at the moment and he and his besotted parents are all doing amazingly well.  As the younger one, I give thanks everyday that I get to watch my older sister go through everything first, pave the way, make life a little less terrifying.  Well, some things less terrifying..

There have also been many good hours dedicated to continuing writing and demoing for this new album that we are due to make before the end of the year.  Though as we’ve discovered, having a newborn baby around can be rather distracting to the required amount of discipline needed to come up with genius work and sometimes ‘writing sessions’ have quite quickly turned into simply looking at the baby do hilarious baby faces for two hours.

A strange sequence of events did however occur when within 24 hours of a significant birth, our grandma who has been battling Alzheimer’s disease for the past five years and fought palliative care for 5 weeks towards the end, waited long enough to welcome her first great grandson before finally slipping away.  All things certainly do happen for a reason, which makes me believe that it was no coincidence, but rather a carefully timed handing over of life. 

Thankfully there was light brought to our grandma’s funeral when to close the service a recorded version of our song ‘Grandma’ was played in honour of her.  Through a muck of tears, we were stunned into quiet laughter when the play button was hit and our song was played at a tempo that made our already sweet voices turn chipmunk(!)  We thought we were young when we recorded that song, but this was something else. 

So now we enter the period of existing as the generation in the middle.  It is quite strange as most brand new roles often are, but it is also unbelievably exciting in a way I never would have expected.  Though I guess that’s what happens when you recognize yourself growing up, hey.

Beth 

A new chapter: with change, comes opportunity

It’s been a pretty constant couple of years of solid touring and recording for us Little Stevies, and this week marks the beginning of a long earned rest that we are all very much looking forward to.  After kicking off the year with a very fun Victorian all ages beach tour and then three delightful months of house concerts all around Oz, meeting wonderfully lovely and interesting people and having an all round corker of a time, we have now reached a new chapter. 

As we say a musical farewell to our brother from another mother, Robin, Byll and I will be spending the next few months working on a couple of side projects we have in the works until we hit the studio again a bit later this year to make a new album.  While Byll is renovating a house and preparing for motherhood, I continue plodding along with a master’s degree and keep in practice by working on a first release for my pop, beat heavy duo, Sugarcraft.  Also remembering that albums don’t just appear out of nowhere, while side projects are being worked on, Byll and I continue to practice our engineering skills in comfy warm winter repellent homes while we continue demoing new songs about our next phases of life. 

But although we and our touring vehicle are more than ready for a good clean and refurbish right about now, it’s only a matter of time before we get itchy feet and feel the need to get out and play live again.  So of course it won’t be long until we hit the stage with a new show, particularly with the help of an additional little built in roadie who will be getting some accelerated work experience in the first year of his life.   

As I’ve been told by numerous strangers of late, ‘with change comes opportunity’, so it feels like appropriate timing after nine years of us making nothing into something together with Robin, to welcome a fresh start with just the girls as we enter the next decade of music making and ever changing touring adventures.

Stay tuned folks, because there’s a hell of lot on the horizon and we’ll be making sure we keep you all up to date and privy with all the nasty and hilarious details.      

Beth 

'Yacht with diamonds'

I have been lucky enough to have a job at a pretty cool toy shop for the last five years with amazing bosses who allow me to come and go in between touring, and who have allowed me to do that from the very beginning. Most days at the toy shop turn out to be fairly similar, but every now and then something happens that really stays with me, like today.

A lady in her eighties or there abouts came in to buy her best friend a birthday present. She told me that her friend had recently moved into a nursing home because of on-set dementia. It always fascinates me how people in their elderly years can speak about deeply affecting issues in a way that seems to be so calm and non-emotional. In reality I know that’s not the case at all, but I must admit that a small part of me can’t wait for old age as it seems to me that that is the point where a person makes peace with everything that they are, everything that they’ve done and everyone in their life. I can only speak for myself, but that would be a pretty handy tool to have in your twenties, I think.

She told me that she asked her friend what she wanted for her birthday and her friend replied with ‘I want a yacht with diamonds!’. Not an unreasonable request I thought for someone who has undeservingly been dealt the short straw of an illness nobody should have to live through. She asked me if I had what she needed, so I pulled the ladder out, climbed up to one of the top shelves and brought down a wooden yacht with a body painted blue and white sails that made it stand to a tall 30cm high. Her face lit up for a moment and I could see a sparkle of gratitude fly out of her. She then followed by saying not to worry about the diamonds, in a ever so slightly disappointed yet throw away manner as if she was trying to convince herself it was too much of a ridiculous request. But I haven’t been working in a toy shop all this time for nothing, I thought. I pondered for a moment and went to collect something else. I came back rather swiftly and presented her with a selection of diamanté rings that would normally go on the wedding ring finger of a seven year old. The only difference was that today it was going to be used to make the dreams come true of someone a lot older in age, but to the same level of excitement that it does for young girls who dream about being a bride one day. She picked up a light purple ring covered in diamonds and placed it on the mast of the yacht. It looked perfect. She knew it, I knew it and we both knew without saying it that her friend would think it was perfect too.

Beth