Paul Kelly does his tours by the book

PAUL Kelly is on the road for the third time this year, giving him plenty of opportunities to catch up on his reading, writes Kathy McCabe.

Paul Kelly

PAUL Kelly is on the road for the third time this year, giving him plenty of opportunities to catch up on his reading, writes Kathy McCabe.

Paul Kelly is one of those people who can read in cars. After catching up on seasons of Game Of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire, Kelly got his head stuck in a book or three while on his recent nine-week tour of America.

"I couldn't have survived 30 years of touring without being able to read in cars," he says.

"I am not one of those people who like to drive and am happier with my vestibular system buried in a book."

This is the year for him to catch up on tomes and movies, with the North American tour preceded by the magical Neil Finn and Paul Kelly double act and followed by his Spring And Fall national run which kicks off next week.

"It's just one of those years," he explains. "I girded my loins to spend the year on the road and they are still girded.

"We are in the process of getting all my records through the one distributor in America and I told them I would come there as much as I could this year.

"I knew I would tour Spring And Fall and then the Neil Finn tour came up and we'd been trying to do that one for years.

"My voice holds up all right, it doesn't get tired as long as you get enough sleep. Sleep is the main thing a singer needs."

Geography isn't the only variable in the songwriter, author and actor's touring plans this year, with the line-up for the Spring And Fall dates including his longtime guitarist Dan Kelly, bassist Zoe Hauptmann and drummer Bree Van Reyk.

Hauptmann played on the Finn and Kelly tour, and Van Reyk is a regular in Holly Throsby's band.

He said he wanted to "change things up" by having women on stage and had previously been inspired by seeing Prince's all-female band in action.

The line-up "auditioned" during the Finn and Kelly stint at the Sydney Opera House earlier this year.

"I decided to see what it sounded like, me Dan, Zoe and Bree so we had an audition before one of the Opera House shows," he says.

"It felt good. And they are low maintenance. I have to be the only high-maintenance person in the band."

It is a brave musician to join a Kelly tour, and not because of the artist's high-maintenance claims. That was a joke.

There is a considerable catalogue to wrestle for his shows, starting with his most recent record, Spring and Fall, which he is performing in full, plus dozens of fan favourites to fill out the rest of the night.

His initial wishlist totals more than 30 tunes including the new record, although Dan can handle about 150 Kelly compositions now.

Like most live performers, he likes to freshen up his older tracks to keep things interesting, but there are some Kelly classics which "aren't that bendable".

"Songs like Before Too Long have certain gears that you just have to play while Dumb Things, you can do it fast or do it as a shuffle. It can take different treatments," Kelly explains.

It is inevitable after decades of playing some of his older favourites that the performance now is a vastly different version to the original recording.

"It actually becomes fresh to play the original version as we found during the Finn and Kelly shows when Elroy (Finn) had learnt all the old drum parts," Kelly says.

"And hearing others do my songs, like Renee (Geyer) can help me find my own way into them."

SEE Paul Kelly performs:

- Melbourne Recital Centre on August 8 and 9. For all regional dates, see paulkelly.com.au
- City Recital Hall, Sydney on August 13 and 14. For all regional dates, see paulkelly.com.au
- QPAC Concert Hall, Brisbane on August 1. For all regional dates, see paulkelly.com.au