Description
The human condition questioned
TN168 Jan 25
Joel Smoker is a singer song writer, performer and visual artist from Western Australia.
Joel works in many mediums and has exhibited throughout Australia since 1978.
Much of his work is inspired by the Kimberley region of Western Australia, the outback, where he was born and raised.
With The Red Dirt Band, Joel has recorded five distinctive albums with a strong Australian flavour.
The first album, Out On Highway One, explores the themes of leaving home and discovering the world.
Outback reflects Joel’s Kimberley experiences both growing up as a child and returning to the heartland later as an adult.
The Flesh And The Spirit explores more internal issues. The Road to Nullagine is a four song EP reflecting Joel’s experiences in the north west of WA.
Smile deals with the passage of time and how it affects us all.
Heaven is a six song CD of original Gospel songs.
His latest recording, The Human Condition, deals with the foibles and follies of being humans.
Joel has also developed six shows about Australia, North Of The Tropic Of Capricorn, The Road to Nullagine and places further out, Out On Highway One, Outback Kid, The Big Sing and Way Out West.
Some of the shows are multimedia presentations incorporating slides, stories and songs that reflect Joel’s work as a photographer and musician.
With his latest release, The Human Condition, Joel has enlisted the veteran musician and producer Ian Simpson who was a member of the Slim Dusty Travelling Band for many years.
Musicians who contributed to this recording include Ian Simpson (guitar, dobro, banjo and baritone guitar), Dave Clarke (fiddle, mandolin and harmonica), John Mc Nair (bass guitar) and Brendan Leggo on drums.
Ian and Brendan also provide backing vocals.
With The Human Condition, Joel takes on the role of the jester and holds a mirror up to our lives with songs that reflect who we are.
Beginning with the title song, ‘The Human Condition’, we look at the little foibles that make us human.
‘I’m So Busy’ captures the essence of our busy lives and how we communicate with each other.
‘Calling On the Tom Tom’ is a talking blues song that examines how the mobile phone has become such an integral part of our daily lives.
‘She’s Gone’ is a country blues song about a theme central to most blues songs: the story of a man who has lost his woman.
The question is, what is he going to do about it?
‘The Queen of the Desert’ is a storytelling song about a beautiful girl who grew up in the outback.
‘Luddites of the World Unite’ is a call to arms for all people who don’t want their lives to be dominated by information technology.
‘Hannah and Daniel’ is a wedding song that Joel wrote for his niece and her prospective husband.
‘Jivin’ at the Juju Bar’ is a rollicking piece about jivin’ at the Juju Bar except that there’s a twist to the tale.
‘Lonesome Cowboy’ is for all those lonesome folk out there.
‘Girls in Four Wheel Drives’ is a tongue in cheek look at girls in all their diversity but it is also about how we stereotype people.
‘Mrs Curly Goes Shopping’ is another storytelling song about another outback woman, this time from Meekathara.
‘There Are Not Enough Hours in the Day’ is an expose of the pressures of modern life and how we should cope with them.
‘Jennae’ is a bitter sweet love song that charts what can happen when there is no commitment to the future.
‘Plain Old Me’ runs through a range of options that the singer could be, before he finally settles on who he is.
The album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Pete Grandison and at Shanghai Twang Studios in Kardinya, Western Australia.
Joel uses a court jester persona on Facebook and has now written a book The Court Jester based on that and the interactions he has with many people.
It is a follow on from the album.
“I make posts to Facebook in various personas, including the Court Jester, The Red Hooded Warrior, The Artist, Snappy Tom the Cool Cat Photographer, The Fashion Guru, The Theologian, and more that my twisted mind can dream of”, Joel said.
“The beauty of this Art Form is that people respond, which gives me cause to come up with further ideas.
“I am right now involved in a Facebook exchange with a bloke called Sven, whom I’ve never met, but has very strident views about religious faith.
“At this stage I don’t know who is going to have the last word!
“The Court Jester book consists of 10 Posts of 10 Court Jester sayings, which means it has 100 sayings altogether.
“The last part of the book consists of 50 Court Jester sayings which are titled Outtakes, being sayings which I thought might be too offensive for the book proper or were so funny I thought that I would be the only one who’d get them!”.
“The Court Jester” book will be launched at the Stirling Street Arts Centre, Bunbury, on Friday, February 7.
This will be followed by “The Human Condition Concert”, at Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre, on Saturday 26th of April.
Joel will be joined by the members of his Red Dirt Band.
Joel Smoker has six albums available on the Trad&Now website, five of which have been uploaded to TradandNow Live and can be heard there from time to time.
