Australia’s Mallee Boy, country music legend John Williamson, has become a true-blue Queenslander, settling in to his picturesque property perched on a ridge in Springbrook looking across the Numinbah Valley toward Binna Burra.

While venue shutdowns and border closures during Covid-19 abruptly forced musicians out of work, Williamson retreated to his sprawling property between the Scenic Rim and the Gold Coast hinterland.

“I was really delighted to be here for 11 months instead of 10 days. It was my holiday break but it has really become home now,” he said.

“I had the time to put an extension on the roof. I’ve had the time to get some heifers on, because I’ve got a bit of land, and I’ve developed it a bit more.

“I’ve enjoyed it actually. The worst part about it was not catching up with my two daughters, who are in Sydney, as much as I’d like to.”

Williamson bought a 10 acre block at Springbrook in 1976 which belonged to a larger dairy block, which he later bought, combining the 180 acre property. 

“I finally built an L-shaped cottage, because that’s all there was room for on top of the cliff in ’87,” he said.

“In 2013, I filled the verandah in and last year we put another storey on top so it’s been a long process but a very enjoyable one. It has all progressed organically and we love it here. The view here is to die for.”

Apart from working the land, he also focussed on his songwriting and wrote the song ‘The Great Divide’ during that period.

“That’s a bit about how the Covid has really broken us up and I think people are making up for that now,” he said.

“We were able to duck in and out of places. We just had to keep an eye on (Premier Annastacia) Palaszczuk because she was likely to close you out while you were gone.”

Before Covid he used to split his time between Springbrook and his home in Sydney.

“It is a huge contrast but I like the contrast. We go down there and it is a different lifestyle altogether. We have our favourite coffee place and our favourite restaurants and we can walk to the movies, all that sort of stuff but also it’s a pleasure to jump on a ferry and maybe go to Manly for a meal and catch up with friends.

“We are very lucky to have the two. Up here you are a lot more isolated but I’m a bush boy so I’m in amongst koalas and gum trees up on the ridge here and we overlook the rainforest, tropical and sub-tropical and that’s different country altogether. Even on my 180 acres I’ve got three different rock formations which means you have different vegetation even on one place.”

Last year was to be his ‘Winding Back Tour’ celebrating 50 years in the music business and closing the book on regular touring.

“Winding Back is really a way of saying I’m winding back but not retiring - just winding back the number of tours I do,” he said.

“After 50 years, whilst I love getting around Australia, for a holiday it’s fantastic, but just jumping on a plane, hiring a car and going straight to a motel, having a nap and doing a gig and doing the same thing the next day … I love being on stage but I’m pretty tired of that routine.”

IN 1970 WILLIAMSON walked on to the set of Richmond’s GTV9 studios with a guitar under his arm and performed his first composition, novelty song ‘Old Man Emu’, for talent show New Faces. He was signed to record label Fable and the song shot to Number 3, reaching gold certification and a 50 year plus career was launched.

“I would never have believed that I’d still be doing it as well as ever at 75,” he said. 

“Both of my grandfathers died in their early seventies of old age. That’s what I was told. I couldn’t imagine in any way doing what I am doing when I am older than they were when they died.

“I actually enjoy it on stage more than I ever did. I think I’ve got nothing to lose and I’ve already done it. I enjoy the kick the audience get out of it and it’s pretty easy to sing about Australia.”

Half a century on, Williamson has made an art of capturing Australia in song, painting lyrical pictures of our fauna and flora, landscapes and people with songs of larrikin humour to touching laments. He has released 20 original studio albums, been awarded the ARIA Hall of Fame, an Order of Australia and 28 Golden Guitar Awards, has more than 5 million album sales and performed thousands of shows.

“When you think of songwriters, whether it is Elton John or anybody else, we are always remembered for only a handful of songs in the long run. No matter how many you write there is always a handful that just seem to jump out on top for some reason or another,” he said. 

“There are songs I always put in [the live set] ‘Mallee Boy’, ‘Cootamundra Wattle’, ‘Galleries of Pink Galahs’, ‘Raining On The Rock’, they’re all off the one album.” 

IN NOVEMBER 2020, John Williamson’s ‘True Blue’ was inducted into the National Film and Sound Archives ‘Sounds Of Australia’, recognising its significance as an iconic Australian song.

“I often wonder whether my career would be quite the same if I didn’t have that song I must say,” he said. 

“I can charge people money just to go and sing that and nothing else. It was used for the Buy Australian campaign but I had no idea it would end up an anthem. 

“People bury their mums and dads to it and the cricket team use it when they win a game. It’s just got so much mileage in it and it seems to be getting stronger. 

“I sing it at Anzac Day at Elephant Rock at Currumbin Beach every year. It has just been a very useful song and everyone calls me ‘True Blue’ which is a flattering thing to be called.”

John Williamson’s ‘Winding Back’ Tour heads to Queensland with a show at the Ipswich Civic Centre on April 9. The show replaces the postponed concert originally scheduled for October 15 last year.