The Story Behind The Songs While the story behind a song may take years to form within me, generally writing the lyrics for songs is a very fast process for me. I am inspired by an event, movie, documentary, social media posts or who knows what else really. It just comes to me and when it does I write. It’s not always a complete song either. Sometimes just a few lines or the concept. Then when time permits and I feel inspired I create. EP Name – No Borders The idea of No Borders is based on my desire to write songs in a range of genres. As it turns out, most songs on this EP follow a country theme. It was not a conscious decision to write country songs as over my life I have not really followed country music at all. I have however let the songs take their own direction with what felt natural and this is the result. The Best Man During his working life my father was a very clever man. He was brought up during times when you didn’t buy everything, you made it or fixed it. As a result I feel he could do anything he put is hand to. I believe this has rubbed off on me, however I always have pondered the first line of The Best Man. “Will I ever know just what he knows”. It is from this line that the whole song developed as I reflected on the times of my father and others of his era and how that way of life has influenced me as a father. The Best Man is a very heartfelt song that resonates with many who have heard it, as they reflect on their own father/child relationship. Feel Fine This song has a cool, soulful or jazzy feel. The song was born from a single chord that sounded cool and I wanted to write a song using that chord. I took the concept and basic chords to Benjy Pocock who came up with the fantastic guitar sound that has become the basis of feel Fine. Then it was up to me to write the lyrics and melody. While searching for the inspiration for Feel Fine I a music festival documentary during a flight. The festival and documentary was inspiring change throughout the world. This prompted me to write and as a result we have “Feel Fine” Hold My Hand Whilst this is primarily a song about how I feel about my daughter, the first line and concept of the song came from how I see the relationship of Keyboard player Vaughan Jones’ musical influence on his daughter who is quite the musician herself. But where too after the first line. I drew on my relationship and love for my daughter as she grew from a small child to the remarkable woman she is today. For me this is a beautiful ballad highlighted by some wonderful piano by Vaughan himself. I must give a special mention Barbie Nugent who sang the female vocals on this track. Barbie, a friend of mine, had never sung in public until recently. I invited her to sing with us after hearing her sing at a party we played at. I Love Your Way A fun song that came about while I was just jamming and messing about with chords. I travel a lot for work as do many people in my field so it became a song about a man missing his girl. In this case the travelling man is a musician on the road and looking forward to coming home. It’s a simple short upbeat love song. Lillydale Lillydale is the first song I ever wrote and the lyrics were written about 20 years ago after my girlfriend (now wife) and I visited a hobby farm named Lillydale. We had such a great time and driving home from the farm stay I was thinking about writing a thank you letter to the family who owned the property. So out came the lyrics and melody to Lillydale. Just like that. I did a rough recording way back then with some friends but always knew that this song was catchy and had more potential. It is actually the reason I approached Benjy at Vibetone Studios and it is only that Benjy told me that it wasn’t cost effective to do just one song, so I set out to write more. So again…thank you Benjy. Feel Fine Instrumental I have included the instrumental to Feel Fine as it is an awesome piece of music and a real testimony to the talented musicians I was fortunate enough to have play on my EP. All of these musicians took my simple guitar chords, lyrics and song structure and turned them into the awesome sounding songs that I can now share with you. It has been an amazing journey creating my first EP and there are not enough words to thank the musicians for their contribution. Studio and Musician Information • Recorded and produced by Benjy Pocock at Vibetone Studios Pomona Qld Australia. • Vocals - Jim Brodie (Songwriter) - Caloundra Qld • Guitar and backing vocals - Benjy Pocock - Pomona Qld • Bass and backing vocals on I love Your Way - Soni Pocock - Pomona Qld • Keys - Vaughan Jones - Redcliffe Qld • Drums - Russell Mourilyan - Noosa Qld • Vocals on Hold My Hand - Barbie Nugent - Newcastle NSW