We caught up with Chris (Old Man) Luedecke eating a vegemite sandwich in the land down under, a day before playing at the Brunswick Music Festival. “Australia is quite wonderful,” he writes. “This is a country that does coffee and music festivals really well. Morton Bay fig trees are thrilling.” The Juno nominee’s big 2008 highlight also involved a fest: “I got to play and hang out with Ramblin’ Jack Elliott at the Regina Folk Festival. He’s probably my favourite inspiration. A real outlaw and adventurer, you feel all the grit and joy of the cowboy and Woody Guthrie songs he sings. He sure can talk and he’s still interested in everything. I had a lot more highlights: 2008 was one of my best years after the long dark tunnel of risky uncertainty.” Don’t worry folks, Luedecke still has his sights on home. He hopes to play Halifax soon, and has tentative plans for a tour by bicycle in the fall.
First runner up: Joel PlaskettSecond runner up: David Myles
