THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT BIO - MARCH 2014
The Long And Short Of It was created after a chance meeting at a charity gig just over five years ago. With David Baird on acoustic guitar/lead vocal and Patsy Toop on keyboards along with soulful harmonies their repertoire covers a range of country music styles including rock, folk and ballads.
Although David and Patsy are both classically trained musicians neither started playing professionally till they teamed up in 2009. David's musical influences include James Taylor, The Beatles, Garth Brooks and The Eagles and Patsy cites Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Patsy Cline and Bon Jovi as her musical heroes. While their individual influences are many and varied when they come together musically they create a big sound for a duo and can capture their audience wherever they play.
This was most apparent at the 2014 Tamworth Country Music Festival where the duo was featured in 18 shows over the ten day annual festival. Back at the 2012 festival the Melbourne-based pair was awarded the inaugural Daryl Kirkup Award at the Tamworth Songwriters' Association concert – presented to an artist considered by a panel to be deserving of exposure through CRS Publicity. The accolades kept coming in November that same year when David and Patsy walked away with two Canberra Country Songwriting Awards for 'My Life Is So Black & White' (Best Western Swing) and 'I'm Free' (Best Country Rock Song) – both tracks can be found on their EP "My Forever Book".
After working on original material and sifting through 2000 plus song submissions, in September 2013 The Long And Short Of It was ready to travel to Nashville Tennessee. This recording process was to become their new album "You Made Me Stronger". For nearly three weeks of 10am starts to past midnight finishes, the duo worked with Emmy Award winning producer Kenny Royster of Direct Image Studios and a collection of the music city's finest musicians.
The new album showcases the talents of a whole host of world-class live and session players including Dennis Holt (former drummer of Kansas), keyboardist Howard Duck (Keith Urban, Rascal Flatts), banjo/acoustic guitarist Bobby Terry (Brad Paisley, Tim McGraw), and lead & slide guitarist Pat Buchanan (Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kenny Chesney).
'Latter Day Cowboy' is the first single to be lifted from the 12 track release – a track that almost didn't make the cut. Whilst in Nashville, they discovered that producer Kenny had already sent the song to be considered but they hadn't listened to it yet. "We just love the melodic waltz and the lyrics are beautiful. Lyrics are important to us, we love telling stories through songs and creating imagery for those who listen", says David.
Thinking about their time in Nashville and recording "You Made Me Stronger" David says, "I think the difference between producing your own album and using a professional producer is like chalk and cheese. The quality is absolutely outstanding and I can't ever imagine going back to self-producing again".
David is the 'short' of the duo – quite shy off the stage and Patsy is the 'long' part, an entertainer from an early age. When not performing together their day jobs are poles apart – David is a sign writer and Patsy a lawyer. Despite her passion for the law, Patsy says music keeps her sane, "I just love doing it. We've come at this fairly late in our lives – we're not teenagers... so we practice a lot and really do work hard at it".
"You Made Me Stronger" will be officially launched at the Big Golden Guitar in Tamworth on Thursday April 24th @ 6pm. "You Made Me Stronger" is an independent release and will be available for purchase from The Long And Short Of It official site and iTunes.
