By Helen Musa

Blues troubadour and folk musician Archer Shepherd, simply known as Archer, is due to descend on Belconnen Arts Centre in early July with a 28-strong brass band.

Performing a blend of pre-war country blues and contemporary folk, he’s known as a walking encyclopedia of human experiences in regional Australia.

When I catch up with Archer by phone at his home in Smeaton, near Ballarat, I’m expecting to hear a North Carolina accent, since he was born there, but the twang is distinctly Australian and I find that he’s not much interested in the US aspect of his life.

“I’ve lived there a few different times, but mostly in Australia,” he tells me, although he admits to a bit of American influence in his musical tastes, having taken inspiration from Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly, but just as much, he asserts, from the Australian indigenous world and from swag people from all over the world.

One critic has described him as having “the sound of an Australian cattle rustler you might find camped out next to a dam entertaining himself with his songs about death, travelling and bushrangers”.

Although Archer has a reputation for being a purveyor of stories, he does not see himself as a talker, saying: “I’ve gone through periods of severe silence as well, and I don’t talk that much; I live with a bunch of animals.”

Most notable among those is Seamus, his rescued black Angus bull, born with a rare neurological palsy, who became a celebrity food critic via the hit Australian comedy-documentary series Cooking for Seamus. Because his condition prevented him from nursing as a calf, he was raised on human food (vegetarian) by Archer, who discovered in him a world-class palate.

The project he’s bringing to Belconnen is called Open Sky Brass Band. It’s been going for about five years and this is about the fourth time they’ve done it.

Behind the exercise is Melbourne conductor Philippa Edwards, described by Archer as “a phenomenon, she can do anything”, as well as music producers Mark Grose and Michael Hohnen, and virtuoso jazz trumpeter Eugene Ball, who did all the arrangements to conjure up the old-time dance halls of Saturday nights gone by. He will himself be performing here with Open Sky.

You wouldn’t immediately think of Archer as a match with brass, but he describes it as “an amazing community… They all know each other.

“They all swap into each other and help each other out and they sometimes do it just for the love of music.”

Besides which, he does like the brassy sound, saying: “I’ve definitely got a thirst for community and the brass band is the ultimate community organisation.”

For Open Sky, all the songs will be Archer originals, arranged by Ball for a band of 28 brass players, sourced by Edwards from local brass bands wherever he goes. For the gig at Belco Arts, Archer will be accompanied by Canberra Brass, formerly known as the Hall Village Brass Band.

“These community bands we’ve played with around the country are all really professional,” he says. 

“All these people coming together to do their thing, it’s probably happening less in our current society, so it’s beautiful to be a part of.”

It’s a concert, Archer says, that promises to make everyone feel hopeful.

Smith’s@Belco: Archer and The Open Sky Big Brass Band, Belconnen Arts Centre, July 4.