What a year it’s been. There have been times where I thought that the world was shutting down around us folks. But I must say that we are resilient. We are still here and we are fighting back against all that’s been thrown at us. Everything from bushfires, floods, ridiculous world politicians and catastrophic weather conditions to a deadly bloody pandemic that swept the world and tried to stop us in our tracks. And despite all these terrible events, I look around me and I still see you guys out there smiling and ready to pick yourselves up, dust yourselves off and get back to rocking. Not only that, you’ve been there for each other. A lot of us have gotten through lockdown, some of us might still have that to deal it. But we’ve been in it together and I am proud to be here with you.
Even though things seemed bad, we did have some fun. Cold Chisel managed to get through our Blood Moon tour – every time I have shared a stage with these guys it has been a joy. I got the chance to work with the Australian Chamber Orchestra again on Killing Time. Such an honor. I wrote a book and a whole lot of new songs that you will hear over the coming year. But the best thing that I’ve done has been spending time, sitting at home with my Jane making music for all of you. Jane has inspired me and amazed me. She has sat at home everyday working on her guitar playing so we could play songs for you every night. Our life, even in lock down, has been complicated and busy but Jane has juggled all of that while being a mother, grandmother and the head of our family. What a girl. I want to thank you all for getting behind us as we made these very simple recordings. They were done with love and with the help of a iPhone, my children, grandchildren and the odd dear friend who happened to be visiting. We put them out for you as they were recorded. Warts and all. No smoke and mirrors here, folks. And your feedback has been amazing. We are well on the way to two hundred songs now and there’ll be no stopping us any time soon
Jane and I are in the process of writing a cookbook for release later in the new year too. Jane’s a great cook and I am a good kitchen hand and I’ll write stories to go with her fantastic recipes. And we’re going to let you guys try some of the family shortbread again. It was a big hit last time we released it. The recipe this time doesn’t come from my side of the family but from Jane’s side – Jane’s Australian grand mother used to make it for us. It will be available in some Christmas packs you can get from the JB online store. Not trying to be pushy here, just letting you all know.
Finally, we’re really looking forward to hitting the road to play some big shows very soon. The Red Hot Summer Tour will be popping up somewhere near you in a few months. Come out and join us – it will be a great tour. Besides me, there’ll be The Gurus, Diesel, Jon Stevens Vika and Linda, and my good mate Chris Cheney and we’ll be tearing apart a town near you before you know it. NSW and Victoria, we haven’t forgotten you. Dates will be announced any minute.
Once again thank you for sharing a very big year with us.
Merry Christmas and happy New Year to you all
Love,
Jimmy Barnes
(And the Barnes Clan)
PS Thanks for getting behind the book!
CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE JB ONLINE STORE FOR XMAS ITEMS
