Review: Jonny Fritz and Joshua Hedley at Fremantle Arts Centre

Jonny Fritz and Joshua Hedley at Fremantle Arts Centre
w/ Ange Boxall
Sunday, October 20

Jonny Fritz and Joshua Hedley are no strangers to Australia. Nor are they strangers to performing together, so it was only a matter of time before the duo collaboratively found their way west. And while the past weekend’s inclement weather tried its best to throw a dampener on the latest installment of Fremantle Arts Centre’s outdoor Sunday Music series, some quick thinking by the presenter transformed the duo’s final Australian performance from a washout into an intimate, cosy, and heartfelt musical soirée.

With the audience having arrived holding umbrellas instead of picnic baskets and blankets, the event was moved from the Front Garden of the Fremantle Arts Centre to the upstairs Pavlich Room. Eager concertgoers quickly claimed chairs and floor mats, and by the time the afternoon’s opening act, Ange Boxall, was halfway through her set, the room was packed with patrons standing at the door, jostling to get a peek. And Boxall’s enchanting folk-tinged take on country music was certainly worth peeping upon.

Armed with an acoustic guitar, a songbook of charmingly crafted songs, and adorned in a flowing white dress, the Tasmanian is Australia’s version of a southern belle. Revising her set list to suit the setting, she gracefully toured the audience through a selection of heartfelt ballads. The tender cascade of chiming notes provided a tempered bed for her tender vocals in Electric Blue, while The Salt Plains raised the tempo a little yet still maintained the polish and poise that characterised much of her 45-minute set.

With local ensemble The Little Lord Street Band opening for Fritz and Hedley on the previous night at Lyric’s Underground, Boxall’s inclusion on the Fremantle Arts Centre bill was part of a wider Western Australian tour. Saturday saw her headlining at Fremantle’s Honky Tonk Blues, while the coming week will have her undertake a run of shows in Denmark, Busselton, Bridgetown and Margaret River.

In addition to her own compositions, Boxall also threw in a couple of well-chosen covers. She delivered a delightful rendition of Dolly Parton’s Jolene, followed by a fitting tribute to the late Kris Kristofferson via an inspired performance of Me and Bobby McGee. A spritely changeover then saw Joshua Hedley take to the stage for a handful of solo offerings.

Joshua Hedley last visited Perth on Asleep at the Wheel’s recent Australian tour, which reunited Lucky Oceans with the iconic Americana ensemble Oceans cofounded. Armed with an acoustic guitar, it was refreshing to see the Nashville-based Floridian in a more intimate mode. He opened his classic country set with Broke Again from his 2022 sophomore album Neon Blue before diving into a couple of selections from his debut album Mr. Jukebox, Including Weird Thought Thinker and a gorgeous rendition of the album’s title track. Hedley then infectiously rounded out his set with a spritely serving of honky-tonk with Neon Blue.

Jonny Fritz is something of a country music jester who celebrates the everyday and commonplace within deceptively astute ruminations that are propelled by masterful wordplay and some of the catchiest hooks you’re ever likely to hear. Take I Love Leaving, for example. The opening procession of toe-tapping notes from Fritz’s acoustic guitar has you instantly hooked. Hedley then immaculately accentuates the orchestration with his fiddle before Fritz’s vocals join the fold in the fast-paced and infectious ode to hitting the road.

Another lyrical barrage followed with Boss Man. A rapid-fire gripe from a reluctant manager in the banal retail world of big box stores, the song beautifully juxtaposes frustration and anger with an empathetic chorus of lament. Tea Man is an equally masterful composition. Fritz’s ode to tea drinking takes on super hero proportions before the song lands back firmly in the everyday via the confession that “I’ll be alright living in my Sprinter, just as long I’m parked out of a Target with a Starbucks in it.”

Now based in Los Angeles, the Montanan released his first album, I’m Not Ready To Be a Daddy, in 2008 under the moniker of Jonny Corndawg and followed it in 2011 with Down on the Bikini Line. In 2013, Fritz reverted to recording under his birth name and teamed up with Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes for the album Dad Country. Recorded in Jackson Browne’s Los Angeles studio, Fritz was backed by various members of Dawes and even Browne himself. Another Goldsmith-produced album, Sweet Creep, followed in 2014.

Fritz’s collaboration with Hedley dates back to his Corndawg days. The pair are impeccable in duo mode, with Hedley’s immaculate fiddling and subtle vocal backing offering the perfectly textured complement to Fritz’s grounded eccentricity. There was no better example of that than on the lively ode to touring Goodbye Summer. The song had the pair in a Cajun-infused frenzy that, despite the venue’s close-knit quarters, brought audience members enthusiastically to their feet as Fritz crooned about the pitfalls of being a touring musician.

Ain’t It Your Birthday followed in a similar vein and had the audience clapping along, but the set also had its moments of Fritz-style reflection. One such moment came via an acapella performance of the Jimmy Cousins penned Stone Cold Daddy-O (anyone who delighted in this rendition needs to seek out the sublime recorded version from the 2014 Sweet Creep album), and with that, Fritz and Hedley’s Australian tour came to a reluctant close.

When it comes to Australian tours by visiting Americana artists, the west coast frequently finds itself left out in the rain. This made relocating the show indoors so the duo could still welcome us into their inner creative circle as it rained down on the outdoor stage even more meaningful.

BRETT LEIGH DICKS

Photos by Brett Leigh Dicks