Gillian and Dave Reviewed, Andy White Joins In, Presley’s Epic Is Seen, Bill Frisell’s New Record, Michael and Brian Fall Out Over A Gaelic Murder : On The Record

In this episode, roots music returns via the altar: Gillian Welch & David Rawlings live at Melbourne’s Forum, with guest Andy White joining the chat.

They describe the duo as deities in Australia, playing with disarming minimalism (mics on guitars, SM58s, no fancy DI wizardry), and drawing an audience so quiet it feels like church.

Brian’s only complaint is the kind you’re only allowed after 20-plus gigs: he wanted setlist variations — the tour’s Neil Young (“Cortez the Killer”), Springsteen (“Racing in the Street”, “Atlantic City”), maybe a Garcia nod — and didn’t get them.

Michael diagnoses him as “gluttonous”, which is fair, though “devout” might be kinder.

The conversation widens into stagecraft: tuning mishaps, the art of filling dead air, and the delicate question of whether you should tell stories between songs or let the song do the work.

That segues beautifully into a bigger theme: the thrill (and terror) of the no-setlist life.

Bill Frisell becomes the exemplar: dazzling, improvisational, apparently operating without a set list, with Brian recounting a classic partner-at-gig moment — Karen asking if Frisell’s strange effects are just him tuning up.

Frisell, told the story, laughs and admits people say that a lot. (This is the highest compliment: “your art is so unfamiliar I assumed it was maintenance.”)

From Frisell they leap to Elvis — specifically Baz Luhrmann’s concert-footage film EPiC (Elvis Presley in Concert), made from newly uncovered Vegas-era material.

Michael’s key point is unexpectedly roots-adjacent: underneath the jumpsuits and spectacle, Elvis is vulnerable.

He’s also a kind of bodily conductor, cueing the band with movement rather than baton, with the musicians watching him like hawks for the next dynamic turn. It’s showbiz as improvised gospel.

And in case you worried the episode might end without another collector’s item, Brian flags a song that did land perfectly at the Forum: Gillian & Dave covering Guy Clark’s “Desperados Waiting for a Train”, from Old No. 1 (1975), notable also as Steve Earle’s first recorded appearance — and now reissued in a special edition.

They wrap by teasing more about the new McCartney documentary, sponsor fantasies (“someone with really deep pockets”), and the ongoing podcast mission statement: tell your friends — and also tell people you don’t like.

Which, frankly, is the most honest marketing plan in music media.

You can catch Andy White live on stage in May at the Merri Creek Tavern.