Two Tone Pony Are 'Writing Stories About Australia' In Their Own Style

As if from the pages of a manuscript, Two Tone Pony's origin story is both unbelievable and endearing, culminating in a debut album, Born On The Road, that refuses to be categorised.

With lead guitarist, singer, and songwriter David Kirkpatrick pulling the band together following a successful performance at his daughter's wedding in 2019, it was clear to the five-piece and their early supporters that music was to be their second life’s calling.

The 12-track album Born On The Road, produced by Rod McCormack, is out today (19 July), with a regional tour to follow. Two Tone Pony released their new single, Going Back, earlier in the month. Countrytown was given advance recordings of the album, and Born On The Road and The Flood became fast favourites. 

With bandmates connected to music through their adolescence and beyond, Kirkpatrick says that Born On The Road was a two-year process and contains the flavour of each player's respective musical influences, underpinned by Kirkpatrick's childhood living in caravans on the road.

Kirkpatrick says, “Born On The Road is really that first six years of my life. It's one of those things that you get asked a lot; ‘How was it growing up in caravans?’ It’s a nice way for me to acknowledge that [my] childhood was unique and also use it as an inspiration to play.

“It's really my way of doing my own thing - I'm writing stories about Australia or my own feelings but doing it in my own style. This is exactly what my parents would tell me to do - don't try and do something you're not; you got to do what you think is right.”

Of course, when the lads started playing together more frequently, it became clear that the group would have more than one songwriter and would flirt with a range of genres and styles to best harness the five bandmates' talents.

Kirkpatrick noted that the group's sound has evolved. Graham Puglisi (bass) has explored the works of renowned bass players over time, Glenn Willey (keyboard) has elevated the group’s range by identifying different instructions (fiddle) that should be added to tracks, and Ian Rhodes (guitar) and Greg Richardson (drums) have brought those loud and playful crowd-pleasing tracks like Hootenanny.

With his family equal parts supportive and bemused by Kirkpatrick's transformation from a retired medical professional to rockstar, he says that the fateful wedding performance whet the appetite of the group, but the reception of the audience when the group started playing their own music was an experience unlike any other.

Kirkpatrick said, “It really hit home with the band. We thought, ‘Wow, there is a real buzz to that, a satisfaction in people enjoying something you have put out there. It's always pretty daunting at the beginning - I am sure it is for every songwriter and band making original music. When people started coming to shows and coming back again, that was a great feeling. A really good feeling.”

When speaking of the album’s range in sound and subject matter, Kirkpatrick admits that his favourite artists are often hard to classify in one genre or another. He has enjoyed the freedom of bringing an idea to the group and how openly they have evolved and dissected their sound to the point where there is a track to appeal to every type of country fan.

“The album is very broad - there are a lot of genres there, and it shows all the different influences,” Kirkpatrick tells. “I think the latter batch of songs we recorded do show a much more unified sound than what we are bringing to it now.”

Kirkpatrick said, “Just when you go to release something, they say, ‘Okay, what is it? You can only pick one or two influences’. Some of my favourite artists are very hard to pigeonhole - like Neil Young. He can sit down and write a beautiful acoustic album and then go and do an electric album with Crazy Horse, which is right on the other end of the spectrum.

“I decided I wasn't going to be pigeonholed and worried about not putting a song on an album. Like on this album, Slow Lane is a bluesy rock song, but it does fit in that broad genre.”

He continued, ”The good thing about country music at the moment is that it’s got all of these edges that intersect. You got country rock, you’ve got roots, you've got folk, and you’ve got pop. I wouldn't say we’re doing any pop songs, but we’re certainly on the edges of all the other things. I think that gives you great freedom.”

Two Tone Pony look forward to taking their album on the road and promise to bring a memorable performance to each of the regional shows.

Kirkpatrick said, “We’ve been playing for a long time. We put on a good show and have a lot of energy. We want to get these songs out to people. We’re excited, and we hope that excitement and enthusiasm comes across.”

Born On The Road is out now - you can listen to it here. You can catch Two Tone Pony live on the following dates and find tickets here.

TWO TONE PONY - SHOW DATES

Saturday 20 July | Hats Off to Country, Moonshiners, Tamworth NSW

Friday 6 September | Marrickville Bowling Club, Marrickville NSW

Saturday 14 September | Hardys Bay Club NSW