caroline j dale


writes music + sings songs

Songs in the City

I’m playing this Friday at the WAMi Lunchtime Mall Sessions in the city.

Catch me on Murray Street at 1pm and Hay at 1.30pm.

No updates lately. I’ve been working feverishly to get some music recorded. This shit takes time! I’ll probably get some covers up soon enough, just for practise. Then some originals once I’ve learned a little more.

I think I’ve done things kind of backwards; I’ve played a million gigs and hardly recorded a thing. That used to be how it was done, but now you get bands putting out beautifully-produced albums before they’ve played six gigs. Which makes a lot of sense, since people take in so much via the internet; I’m not complaining! I love live music and I’m glad I’ve had a chance to play in a live setting so much between my regular gigs and the cabaret business. I don’t mind doing things backwards, and it’s a relief to know that once I get some nice recordings I’ll be able to back them up with performance.

There are things to be said for doing things backwards. When I was in Chile my friend and I accidentally did the Torres del Paine “W” trail, a five-day hike in the Patagonian Andes, back to front. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend that, but we did see the trail in a way that most people don’t.


Honestly, it’s pretty good backwards or forwards.


Other things I’ve been doing: pacing around a the city lot potentially looking quite terse and muttering to myself (it helps me think through things), cooking chickpea dumpling soup for my boyfriend Mark (he’s sick), drinking tea and coffee endlessly, wearing men’s shirts almost every day; I swear to god they make me 75% more productive.

RUNNING FOR REASONS

I’m doing the HBF Run for a Reason 14km on the 27 May. I’m raising money for the Fred Hollows Foundation. I have a lot of respect for the Foundation, who are working to end avoidable blindness in 40 countries around the world in addition to improving health and living conditions for Indigenous Australians.


You can visit my fundraising page here. If donating isn’t an option, consider sharing the link. I’ve covered the admin costs myself, so all funds go directly to the Fred Hollows Foundation.



Check out those biceps, said no one ever.

REASONS FOR RUNNING

One day I’ll write about running in more detail - it’s something I think about a lot! - but I will just say this quickly:


Lots of people think they can’t run, or say “I’m not made for running; I can only run for sixty seconds before I collapse.” But here’s the thing about running: the first sixty seconds are by far the hardest. Slow down. Run slower than you would if you were walking. Try to make it to two minutes. Try to make it to three minutes. If you collapse that’s okay. You can walk for a bit and start again, or you can walk back home if you don’t think you can do any more. And the next time you try to run, do the same thing, remembering to go very slowly, and once you’ve made it to three minutes see if you can stretch it to five minutes. And once you can run for five minutes, you can run for however long you like. I mean it.


LOVE LOVE LOVE,
CAROLINE J. DALE
(This is fact not fiction)
Photo by Jakub Dammer. Jakub was kind of racing the sunset to get some test shots done, and the beach and sky looked like something out of a Jane Campion film. All neon blue and lilac and gunmetal.

Photo by Jakub Dammer. Jakub was kind of racing the sunset to get some test shots done, and the beach and sky looked like something out of a Jane Campion film. All neon blue and lilac and gunmetal.

In shop windows there are signs saying “ESCAPE THE COLD. BALI FROM $699.” I’m sitting on a grassy knoll in Fremantle in a summer dress watching an empty ferris wheel.

In shop windows there are signs saying “ESCAPE THE COLD. BALI FROM $699.” I’m sitting on a grassy knoll in Fremantle in a summer dress watching an empty ferris wheel.

A terrifying candid photo by Jakub Dammer. I think I was having some kind of chomping war with my friend T-Bone at the time. Take a look at more of Jakub’s work here.
A terrifying candid photo by Jakub Dammer. I think I was having some kind of chomping war with my friend T-Bone at the time.


Take a look at more of Jakub’s work here.