Geoff Achison

Geoff Achison is the name and for anyone familiar with the blues scene in Geelong and surrounds he needs no introduction. Time for some words from the man himself…
Hey Geoff, long time no speak! How are you going and where are you right now?
Yes it’s been a while but I keep busy. I’m home in Melbourne for now and playing some regional gigs. It’s always great to be home but I am gearing up for the next US trip coming late August.
We have spoken to you so many times before that we don’t really need the full background re-hash, but for those not familiar, can you tell us a brief bit about your self?
Briefly? Well, I used to be the fresh faced kid playing the Goldtop Les Paul guitar in the Dutch Tilders’ Blues Club band in the ’90s. I was desperately trying to grow facial hair to make myself look older back then and I also learnt very quickly that trying to down as many Heinekens as the Dutchman on any given night was a big mistake! I’ve been doing my own music since the mid-’90s and spent a lot of time travelling overseas playing my original stuff to folks in the US, UK and Europe. I guess you’d call it some kind of blues/roots/funk/soul. I love it and it’s been an amazing trip so far.
You have a bit on ATM, most notably an upcoming ‘Guitar showdown’ with another one of Forte’s Mates, Jimmy Hocking. Tell us a bit about this concept and how it unfolds?
Jimi’s one of my guitar buddies. We were teamed up for an acoustic tour some dozen years ago. At first we started out just doing our separate sets and then maybe jamming together for a few songs at the end of the show. We travelled together, talked a lot to kill the miles and discovered we had a lot in common on our two very different musical paths. So I guess the more shows we did, the more fun we were having trading licks and we’d have this slightly awkward conversations sometimes with fans of Jimi who wanted him to blast me with Hocking licks and fans of mine who wanted me to take Jimi out with Acho licks. Neither of us really see it that way but we decided we could actually have a bit of fun with it and so the ‘Guitar Showdown’ was born.
You are coming to regional Vic soon, and you’re certainly a familiar face in these parts, tell us about what you have in store for the Main Bar gig?
I love The Main Bar, what a great vibe they have going on there! I’ll be playing my solo show which gives me freedom to play some old style blues, some funky soul songs and even a few classic hits which are fun to re-arrange for a solo performance. The Main Bar has a real show atmosphere so I can have a chat with the audience and tell a few tales from the road and talk about how the original tunes come together too. There’s a lot of fond memories of playing in Ballarat so it often has a bit of a ‘reunion’ feel to it. More like catching up with friends, you know?
You are also set to play the infamous ‘Blues Train’, are you looking forward to that, it would always be a pleasure having Hugo as your host?
Hugo and the whole Blues Train crew are wonderful hosts. It’s one of the most unique live performance experiences on the planet! My next gig on Aug 22 has me teamed up with the aforementioned Jimi Hocking in the duo carriage. So I guess we’ll essentially be staging our own, stripped back, down home ‘Guitar Showdown’ … on a train!
What is the state of play for a touring blues musician at the moment, are crowds solid?
Mate, our little scene down here in Oz is as vibrant and exciting as it ever was. I’m constantly amazed by just how much innovation, tenacity and passion is being displayed by emerging artists. Playing blues/roots style music is not a business one gets into to make big money – far from it. But the whole scene keeps rolling through the music loving hearts of, not only artists, but promoters, festival organisers, venue managers, sound engineers, blues, folks & jazz societies and most of all our enthusiastic audiences. No matter what fluff mainstream media spews out in the name of music, our blues/roots scene has weathered it and continues to allow our artists to evolve musically and prosper well enough to carry on. As my old Dutch mate used to say, ‘Keep The Faith’.
When & Where: The Main Bar, Ballarat – August 15, The Royal Oak Hotel, Fitzroy North – August 16 & The Blues Train, Queenscliff – August 22