FORMER Molong resident Tim Oxley is celebrating the success of award-winning documentary, That Half Barbaric Twang that was partially filmed in Cabonne and captures the extraordinary musical journey of The Number 4 Band.
For four years, Oxley called Molong home, becoming a familiar face around town as he performed out the front of the grocery store with his dog, Zoe.
“I used to sing outside the supermarket every weekend, just to keep my voice going,” he said.
For Oxley, it was never about chasing fame or making money, with his weekend performances instead providing an opportunity to simply put music out into the community and see who might stop and listen.
“I didn’t really care what went in there,” Oxley said of the collection case he would put out while performing.
“I was just wanting to put music into the air and bounce off the glass and just go down the street.”
The impromptu performances occasionally produced some unexpected moments, with Oxley recalling one resident who told him he had woken up to the sound of his singing from a nearby shop and loved it.
These days, the singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is living a more nomadic life on the New South Wales South Coast, but those who know him can still catch him on the silver screen.
The film follows Oxley and fellow musicians David Field and Geoff Morrell as The Number 4 Band travels Australia’s back roads, bringing original music to small towns and communities.
Directed by award-winning photographer and visual artist Stephen Dupont, the documentary has already begun making its mark on the Australian film festival circuit.
The film won Best Emerging Director at the Melbourne Documentary Film Festival and recently appeared at the Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival in Winton.
Oxley said he taught Field and Morrell the basics of songwriting, and the trio gradually began playing wherever they could find an audience.
“We started playing around a bit,” he said.
“Just small things, school balls, markets and busking. That sort of thing.”
Eventually, the group decided to venture out into regional Australia, where they discovered an abundance of small towns and country pubs that were eager for live music.
“We found between the Blue Mountains and Broken Hill just an abundance of pubs and little towns that were aching for live music,” Oxley said.
The group travelled without a strict itinerary, spontaneously ringing ahead to see whether they could find somewhere to play that night and together they embraced the unpredictability of life on the road.
Their journey was documented by Dupont, who followed the band, collecting around 90 hours of gig footage and 60 hours of interviews, with the resulting material providing a record of the musicians, the communities and the people they met along the way.
Among the places captured on film is Molong and Yeoval, where the band played at the town’s hotels, capturing footage that features familiar faces.
The documentary’s success has taken The Number 4 Band beyond country pubs where much of the story began, with the film recently opening the Vision Splendid Outback Film Festival in Winton to an audience of around 180 people.
“It went really well,” Oxley said.
The experience is typical of Oxley’s approach to life, which seems to be guided by a willingness to say yes to opportunities, see where they lead and embrace whatever unexpected experiences come along.
His four years in Molong were about more than music, too, as he worked with locals to collect unwanted furniture and help furnish homes for people in need, including women escaping domestic violence, while also becoming involved in community Christmas events.
He also worked on a cattle farm, learning to round up cattle and taking on fencing work, experiences that reflect the varied path he has followed throughout his life.
“I just do stuff,” he said. “I think, ‘I’ll go and do that.’”
While he has no idea exactly where the road will lead next, Oxley hopes that road will soon bring him back to the Central West, with the band planning to return to the region later this year for a screening of That Half Barbaric Twang, accompanied by a live performance.
The exact venue and date are yet to be confirmed, although Oxley said he expects it to happen towards the end of the year.
For a man who once stood outside the Molong supermarket simply because he wanted to put music into the air, returning to the region with an award-winning documentary about that very journey would be a fitting next chapter.
And before he signs off, Oxley has a message for his former home.
“Hello to Molong!” he said.
