Brosnan on the road again

By TIM LAMB

At the age of 54, singer-songwriter Mike Brosnan is in his musical prime. Retirement is not in his five-year plan.

He plays up to 200 shows a year and his silky finger-picking skills and slide guitar playing have a healthy following in Europe.

The Rotorua-born roots artist is back for another tour, while also producing material for a sixth album.

"Why can't you play concerts when you are 60? The Rolling Stones do," he says from a mobile phone in his campervan, his hotel/tour bus during the 16-concert, six-week tour.

"They claimed they would never play beyond 30. I'm not suggesting I'm in the same class as the Stones, but I don't think age is an issue any more."

It's no wonder Brosnan is not ready to part ways with his guitar and take early retirement.

He's part of the emergence of roots, or Americana as it is known in the United States, with artists finding success with a blend of country, blues and folk. Music produced by the likes of Dwight Yoakam, John Hiatt, J.J. Cale and more recently the John Butler Trio, which has struggled for definition in the past, is now finding success as roots music.

For the past decade, Brosnan has been based in Europe and has carved out a strong fanbase in Germany, where he resides with his wife and tour manager, Henriette.

Brosnan originally settled in England, but struggled to find success as a blues musician.

"When I was still living in London I was touring throughout Europe, but I was becoming famous nowhere because I was doing too little concerts in too many places," he says.

His move to Germany in 2000 and a rebranding as a singer-songwriter culminated in him playing 211 gigs that year.

As a result he now has a loyal following - google Mike Brosnan and you'll find as many German-language web pages about him as English ones. "The German fans are crazy; I have people drive 600 miles to see me play," says Brosnan. "As a Kiwi I find it hard to deal with support like this, because I like to keep a low profile."

Brosnan's focus on being a singer-songwriter resulted in his 2002 album Wasted Time - his first completely original release.

"The songs I'm writing now tend to be from a middle-aged person's point-of-view. I think middle-aged people find that interesting and attractive. You can't keep writing songs about being a schoolboy when you are 60."

Brosnan's popularity has spread to Australia and the US. His fourth album, Streets of Glass, is prominent on American roots radio stations.

"This was an album that is five or six years old and which the blues followers hated. But it's generated a lot of interest as a roots album in North America. However, we just don't have time to tour there this year."

The Brosnan roadshow is likely to hit the US and Australia next year, which will probably mean he won't tour his beloved homeland in 2005.

But he has plans to return home and buy property in Southland, with the hope of improving his trout fishing ability.

"Right now, I wouldn't change my life for anything," he says. "I think I'm the luckiest guy in the world."

Performance

* Who: Mike Brosnan

* Where and when: All Nations Tavern, Ponsonby; tonight, from 8.30pm