Feature - Mountains of music

Long-established duo, Shaky Razor, is keeping Blues and Country music alive and well in the mountains.

By Victoria McGuin

The hinterland is home to a vast array of creatives, something evident everywhere you look. Sculpture on the Edge and Arts Connect; the Lind Lane Theatre and Maleny Playhouse, and The Presynct, Maleny Lane and Glasshouse Musos – this is just touching the surface of what’s on offer here.

Two musicians who have been performing up and down the Range for years are John Roza and Tom Ryan, also known as ‘Shaky Razor’.

Their Facebook page describes them as a duo playing ‘alternative country, blues and balladry originals and classics’, and if you check out their YouTube videos, you will hear plenty of their songs that reflect this.

We recently met for coffee and a chat at The Edge in Montville, with its stunning view down the sweeping hinterland hills to the ocean on the horizon. With John based in Mapleton, and Tom in the Obi Obi, this is a familiar picturesque neck of the woods.

“We ran Mountain Sessions in Mapleton once a month at the Mapleton Bowls Club, until COVID stopped things in their tracks,” said Tom. “These were afternoon sessions we hosted of acoustic artists, mostly original singer/songwriter material, and we had different guests each month. It was a great atmosphere.”

Despite the loss of this regular event, the duo are constantly busy, with gigs at venues such as the Maleny RSL, the Mary River Festival, the Maleny Music Festival, and the Majestic Theatre, Pomona.

“We play at Alfresco’s Garden Cafe in Eumundi regularly now, they have Blues on Friday nights (except during winter) and music with Sunday lunch all year round. Dennis, the owner, has built a small stage, and is keen to support us and other musicians,” said John.

I asked when their love for music and guitar in particular began. “I used to play in Eisteddfods and school bands,” said Tom. “I was ten years old when my brother, Gerry, bought me my first guitar. He was sick of me pretending to play with tennis racquets!”

“When I was seven years old I was getting elastic bands and banging nails into sticks, making guitars,” said John. “My father would take me every Friday to my music lesson in Brisbane. We’d walk across the bridge at North Quay and he would buy me a pie for dinner.

“When Tom moved to Nambour, things were tough financially for the family, so I started as a cleaner at Nambour State School, I was making $2.50 a week, and I spent $1 of that on my music lesson.”

Although both had ‘day jobs’, John as a surveyor, Tom as a builder, music has been a constant, with Tom playing in a Folk band in Brisbane and John spending years in cover and dance bands on the Coast.

“We’ve been playing for a number of years now,” shared Tom. “Music is not just a job to us, it’s got to be fun. We are lucky we can be selective about gigs.”

“There was a time when I was playing about 40 gigs a year with my bands, then the noise regulations came in and killed off much of the music scene overnight,” added John. “Nambour is beginning to improve, thanks to Sunshine Coast Council making it a ‘Special Entertainment Precinct’ (SEP).”

Under the Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014, the Nambour SEP can have ‘lower impact’ entertainment across restaurants and small bars across centre zones, encouraging visitors and supporting the night-time economy.

“We have quite a busy rest of the year,” said John. “We’re opening with two acts during the Festival of Small Halls Spring Tour, at the Mapleton Hall on the 30th October and we are playing at the Maleny Music Festival in November, alongside various other gigs.”

The duo are a well-honed act after many years performing together, even their conversation is balanced between them with a gentle rhythm that a good friendship brings.

“Tom told me about a songwriters retreat outside of Tamworth, years ago called The Dag,” said John. “We started writing music and it just clicked. Tom does most of the finger-picking/strumming and I fill some of the spaces. Tom has a higher vocal range while my voice sits strong in the blues and for some reason our voices blend well together.”

“We’ve worked out through experience that we would rather play a smaller gig with 50 people listening, than at Parliament House, as I have done, with 700 people who aren’t really engaged in the music,” continued John.

“We arrange some of our gigs at local halls and prefer not to play at venues with big TV screens up in the room – it’s a different atmosphere, and you really appreciate playing places where they have put in a good PA system!”

Tom has also observed that in venues serving meals, if music is an additional $10 cover charge to the food, more people are coming to listen.

“At the end of the day, this is what we aim for, the audience's connection to the music, and to us,” said John.

“I’m often asked, ‘how do you make a living out of music?’ Tom said with a big smile, “It’s easy, just make sure your partner’s got a good job!”