Coronavirus: Writer’s block persists but Paul Kelly’s happy tinkering

Paul Kelly said spending time at home during the lockdown was similar to those weeks when he wasn’t on the road touring Picture: Glenn Hunt

The travelling troubadour when he’s at home is content to get on with “woodshedding” — Paul Kelly’s word for spending time alone, tinkering with old and new songs, and seeing what comes of them.

The lockdown has not inspired Kelly’s songwriting — the muse, it seems, is keeping her social distance — but he has instead been revisiting his back catalogue and also has discovered some songs from the distant past.

“I haven’t written anything for a while, I don’t really know why that is,” he said.

“It’s a bit out of my control that. The best way for me to get writing again is what I’m doing right now, which is just playing at home, figuring­ out other people’s songs, playing them and getting into the nuts and bolts … I’ve slowed down generally, writing songs the past few years. It’s not something I really­ fret about or worry about.”

Kelly released a video this week of him singing a 1920s song, Hummin’ to Myself, that sums up the wistful, slightly melancholy mood of social isolation.

And on Saturday he is taking part in Music from the Home Front, a mega-concert of Australian artists to honour the healthcare workers in the frontline of the battle against coronavirus.

The concert, broadcast on the Nine Network, will feature some of Australia’s biggest musical names, including Jimmy Barnes, Delta Goodrem, Ben Lee, Missy Higgins, Mark Seymour and James Reyne.

Kelly will perform his song Every Day My Mother’s Voice, recordi­ng his part at home and sending it on to singer Jess Hitchcock to add her part.

Kelly said he played the song on his Making Gravy tour last year when Hitchcock “kicked it out of the park”, and he’ll release it as a single for Mother’s Day next month.

Music from the Home Front, on Anzac Day, will salute the spirit that has seen the nation through some of its most challenging days.

Kelly said the efforts of the nation’s health and medical workers had been extraordinary through the COVID-19 crisis. “Most people would feel the same as I do — it’s courageous, it’s dangerous work, and they’ve stood up, I can’t praise them enough,” he said.

He said spending time at home during the lockdown was similar to those weeks when he wasn’t on the road touring.

“A lot of it is not that different to what I would do when I’m off-tour, when I’m not busy with other things. It’s more time to just play music around the house.

“It’s not that different to what I would do normally, it’s just that there’s no social engagement.”