Tim Freedman strips back his Whitlams repertoire and delivers classics like “No Aphrodisiac” and “You Sound Like Louis Burdett” from the piano, with help from acclaimed pedal steel and guitarist Ollie Thorpe, in what they call The Black Stump Duo. They have toured together nationally in the Whitlams’ alt-country offshoot, The Whitlams Black Stump Band, and their singles “The Day John Sattler Broke His Jaw” and “Blow Up the Pokies” have been staples on Australian Country radio over the past year. The new single due February 2023 is Freedman’s bushranger classic “Kate Kelly” performed in a duet with Felicity Urquhart.
The Daily Telegraph wrote of a recent solo show at Sydney’s City Recital Hall, “The tall and gangly front man charmed and cajoled his 600-strong audience with all the debonair flair of a Bryan Ferry….The stripped back accompaniment of the piano highlighted just how cleverly constructed his lyrics are – they sound so uncontrived, which is hellish difficult to do as any would-be songwriter will tell you.” (Steve Moffatt)