Plenty of tales to tell

WITH podcasts becoming increasingly popular, it makes sense to release your album as one. Tasmanian musical storyteller Daniel J. Townsend did exactly that last year, and 12 months later he has released the songs on an album, both titled A Tale of Two Cities.

In March last year Townsend released the first episode of an eight-part podcast series, with each episode exploring the stories behind his songs, which he described as a collection of works based on his experience as a sixth-generation Tasmanian living in Darwin. He said he was reading Charles Dickens’ A Tale of

Two Cities at the time and thought it made sense to release his songs in chapters. “The opening track on the album is called Waiting

for the Storm, after Cyclone Marcus knocked over all the trees on my street,” Townsend said.

The episode included stories about cyclones in Darwin, as well as mythology and what it’s like to be waiting for a storm to hit.

“I’ve never lived in a place where the animals and the weather can kill you,” Townsend said, adding that the podcast series was a way of trying to make sense of home when home is a long way away.

“It seems a very natural way to release music, particularly if you’re a storyteller, if you’re a musician that connects with the audience.

“They were two parts of my life — I was writing a lot and playing music a lot. It took me a while to realise that I’d be at my best when I put the two together.”

Townsend moved back to Tasmania with his family in September, and released his album on March 8.

He is also selling a 48-page book, which contains selected stories from the podcast.

This weekend he is performing in Victoria, before returning for a show at Saint John Craft Beer in Launceston on March 31.