Bringing The Gold Back In - Back story

“Bring the gold back in” is a heart-felt acoustic folk ballad exploring the fragility of life. With a backdrop of fingerpicking acoustic guitar and soulful, alt-country tones, the track captures a sense of timelessness and ragged beauty, channeling the back hills of the Byron shire where it was recorded in a late afternoon at the end of 2019. The track features Cheynne’s second collaboration with Jeff Martin (The Tea Party) who came down to producer Paul Pilsneniks home studio in the evening to share a glass of wine. As Cheynne recalls: “It was quite spontaneous. He lives on the same property and heard the song and kindly offered to add some parts, ending up settling with an alt-country tone that seemed to cross nicely against the sweet acoustic guitars. Jeff is a master craftsman with his music and doesn’t need much direction. He plays with a lot of feel”.

The song showcases a maturity and wisdom that has been honed for over twenty years as a singer-songwriter. Signed to BMG publishing as a singer of a rock band in Sydney during the early noughties, Cheynne left the city and his band behind to move to a North Coast farm and start a young family. It was here he became inspired to write more music on his trusty 12 string acoustic guitar, listening to artists like Neil young, Ryan Adams and Damien Rice. This song represents a quieter, more reflective mood from the forthcoming album Headlights and Goodbyes. It has a wistful earnestness drawing on contemplations of this journey of humanness and our inherent vulnerability; reflected in lines like “we come in all alone, and leave it just the same” and “we crave the love but we live with fear, like all the laughter that comes with tears”. The song is also a celebration for those we meet along the way and strength in connection.

Says Cheynne: “For me it represents the craving of the human spirit to connect with something deeper. A yearning for more. I find that in nature. I have always loved the sun, and love the way it illuminates things gold like in the fronds of a palm, the glow in the hills or the shimmer of a wave. I am also partial to a warm, flaming fire. This helps me connect”. This new release represents the next phase of evolution for this folk-rock songwriter that began with the showcasing of his first album Firesongs For The Soul at Bluesfest, Byron Bay and in recent years a nomination as song-writer of the year in the North Coast (NSW) music industry awards.