by Vic Simms
Recorded live in Bathurst jail in 1973, Vic Simms' album The Loner has just been reissued by Sandman Records, making this astonishing album available once more.
There is so much significance to these songs, as personal expressions of isolation and race poitics through intimate storytelling and songwriting. His prison sentence is only one manifestation of Simms' incarceration.
The fact that the album exists at all is remarkable, and the detailed liner notes from archivist Brenda Gifford honour this so well. After his release from jail in 1977, Simms formed a group to tour prisons, and over a period of 12 years "traveled from jail to jail, letting the fellas - black and white - know that someone was thinking about them." This ongoing tour also included visits to Canadian prisons, where Native Americans were overrepresented, just like Indigenous Australians were back home.
Vic Simms' story also connects with Roger Knox, who released Stranger In My Land earlier this year - an album honouring Aboriginal country music masters, and named from the lyrics of Simms' song Stranger In My Country. Knox and Simms toured prisons together, and some of their Canadian bandmates appear on Knox's new album.
The Loner is part of one man's story, but it is also part of a much larger experience. Well done to Sandman Records for allowing this voice to be heard.
by Maddy Mac - The Brekfast Spread (Weekdays from 6-9am)
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