Guy Kachel had an idyllic entry into the world of music. Born in Tamworth, he was raised on the banks of the Peel River. The landscape was a fertile ground for his imagination. Seeing this rustic world change, as Tamworth developed into an inland city, and friends grew into sometimes troubled adulthoods, provided insights for the artistry that later powered his career as a performer.
His paternal grandfather, an itinerant harmonica duellist, gave him his first guitar at 15. However, bereft of musical guidance Guy progressed no further than the riff to ‘Smoke on the Water’ until, as an apprentice electrician, he struck up a lifelong friendship with Lawrie Minson, who went on to become one of the country’s best-known journeyman musicians. Minson coaxed him through the rudiments of guitar and transplanted a love of hillbilly guitar picking, and such southern-rock stalwarts as the Ozark Mountain Daredevils.
After many years experiencing the life of a troubador, Guy found himself drifting east to the Byron Shire where the fertile tropics energised his creative talents. He started writing songs, cathartically, about his past, Tamworth, the fate of his peers – and ultimately, himself.
You can catch Guy at The Rails in Byron, for free, on Monday from 7.30pm.
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