#168 Tania Kernaghan
Tania Kernaghan, Australian country music royalty sat down with Rae Leigh in this podcast to talk about her incredible songwriting journey and share golden nuggets of wisdom she has picked up along her way. Sharing her new project Tania Kernaghan online Club and new music with a friend of the show Ginna Jefferies. Shows and tours in 2022 so make sure you don't miss out.
Their new single featured in this song - My Old Friend
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Transcript
Rae Leigh: Welcome to software to tryst with Tania Kernaghan
Tania Kernaghan: It's great be here Rae in person It's fantastic.
Rae Leigh: in my bedroom.but I, this is my safe space. This is where I like did music before anyone even knew I did music. So it's kind of nice to invite other songwriters into that sort of very intimate space. So thanks for coming
Tania Kernaghan: It's great to be here. I like this. It's sort of like a casting couch.I won't get too comfortable. I might reveal things that I wish I'd never said.
Rae Leigh: Some people do get very comfortable. It's a part of my trick. Oh no. You're okay. You can have, as long as you're comfortable.
Tania Kernaghan: we could do a scotch and just kick back and, you know, just chill.
Rae Leigh: I I've always wanted one of those chairs in my room. I don't know why, like the Chasey sort of loungy vibe, especially because I do so much song writing on my own. I don't know. I just always had this vision of having one in my room and now I do. It's great.
Tania Kernaghan: I think he needed a little mini bar just to top it off, you know, just so you could,
Rae Leigh: I'm appreciate. I know, I appreciate the feedback and then everyone's going to want to come over.
Tania Kernaghan: like if you've been to Rae's bedroom, it's awesome.
Rae Leigh: That might be construed wrong, or not.
Tania Kernaghan: Maybe, maybe Trysts should get a, get a new name, like, you know, like in my bedroom with Rae or, you know,
Rae Leigh: What do you know what Trysts means? Trysts is an old English word. it's a meeting between two lovers, so it's a very cheeky word already. Which is why I liked it because songwriting is such an intimate practice. It was like, it's a bit like having a tryst. Um, so yeah, it is a bit cheeky already.
Tania Kernaghan: just to clarify, I'm straight,
Rae Leigh: Okay.
Tania Kernaghan: there's nothing wrong with being any other
Rae Leigh: husband doesn't have to be worried.
Tania Kernaghan: No.
Rae Leigh: I dunno. Okay. All right. So I like to start by getting you to share a little bit about who you are and where do you come from?
Tania Kernaghan: Well, I grew up in Aubrey in the Riverina Southern new south Wales. I was born into a family of entertainers, I suppose you could say. Although my dad, my dad, Ray, when I first was born, he was actually selling cars. He had raised prestige cars, but he was a singer. When he was 17, 18 years old. So he was always sort of dabbling in that a little bit. And then, then he would have like a real job through the week.
Rae Leigh: Car salesman is a bit of an entertaining job anyway. Isn't it.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. I always think of
Rae Leigh: on a
Tania Kernaghan: That song, I don't know if it was Al one of those American artists, they do this song called the, the devil danced in empty pockets. He'd have a ball in mine and it's all set in the car yard.
It's like these dodgy kind of guys in check trousers and wide colors. And that real seventies kind of look that they're like, you know, just sort of grabbing their hands together, ready to rip off the next person,
Rae Leigh: I instantly go back to that stereotypical car salesman from Matilda, you know, the movie where the, her dad's just like dodgy is everything and yeah. It gets into trouble.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah.
Rae Leigh: So that, wasn't your dad though.
Tania Kernaghan: no, my, my dad was a motive dealer,
Rae Leigh: Okay.
Tania Kernaghan: a car salesman. Yeah. But, yeah, so I, I was mum and dad and my brother Lee and Greg and myself and my sister, Fiona and
Rae Leigh: that's how
Tania Kernaghan: 4k.
Rae Leigh: big
Tania Kernaghan: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. So we, grew up in Aubrey and then in pretty much when I was four years old, I got up on stage. Actually I got up on a bar stool at the boomerang hotel. It was this local pub at Bri where incidentally, my dad used to perform, when he was 17 and 18 years old, and I sang a song called Mornington ride by the seekers, you know, that rock and roll and riding rock and roll and riding.
Rae Leigh: No, I don't know that.
Tania Kernaghan: Oh my God. Well,
Rae Leigh: I'll have to go listen to it now.
Tania Kernaghan: there's a big age difference between you and I, but that's okay. But anyway, so that's what I was saying. And I've got a few claps and it's like, oh, this is great. And I was one of those kids that mom always says I was eating and singing, you know, like I'd be eating my dinner and I'd be just singing away.
And I love music and you know, I, so I've learned a few more songs. I used to remember sitting next to my grandmother's I'll radio Graham, putting on the, seek his albums and, all sorts of music, Jamie Redfern, and, beat the Beatles, all of that kind of thing. Just learning songs and singing. And Yeah.So when, w when we were little kids, it was, I think, Eight and Lee was probably 12 or 13.
Mum and dad bought a little piano and upright piano from pilings. It was a music shop in Aubrey and they thought that'd be really cool if we learnt how to play. And the guy in the shop said, look, if the kids aren't interested, they kind of lose interest after a few months, just bring it back.
Rae Leigh: Oh, that's nice though.
Tania Kernaghan: So, yeah, but that piano is still in our home today. yeah. It's at mum and dad's and the old lady that taught us how to play piano, her name was Mrs. Ball. And she had this method of, rather than reading sort of music, it would be C D E F G, ABC.
Rae Leigh: um,
Tania Kernaghan: Say twinkle, twinkle little star out, but it would be CC D G a G. So we were playing like in the first lesson with her.So that really got us.
Rae Leigh: to learn the notes and the theory behind it, so you could just go straight into it. Oh, that's a really clever way of teaching.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah, it was great. And I think that's what, why we stuck to it. And so Lee had this great idea that what he'd do in nail Polish and the piano would be right. Um, CDE, F, D ABC as an, in an octave. So we knew where to put our fingers and the nail Polish is still there today.
Rae Leigh: that's clever. I've done that with a permanent marker on my piano, downstairs for my kids, just on one octave, because like, they'll go sit there. They don't want to let me teach them. That was what I learned. I started on piano as well because my dad was a piano player and a worshiper. Um, they're my kids, don't worry.
Don't they don't want me to teach them like, oh, do you want me to show you something? No, mum, I can do it myself. So then I do that and then they learn off the iPad and every now and then I'm kind of like fingers crossed, but I think the kids need someone else to
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. It's like trying to teach them how to swim or something. It's better if there's a teacher to come on board for that kind of thing,
Rae Leigh: Someone different.
Tania Kernaghan: yeah. Yeah. That's right. So where we had this little band when we were kids, so we had this band called angels and the blue devils.
So it was my sister and I, and my brother Lee and Greg Greg played the drums. Lee was on piano and then one of our friends, Glenn Simpson, he was actually a mate of Lee's, played bass guitar, but we'd go and play for all the pensioners around Aubrey, you know, for their Christmas parties and mother's days and
Rae Leigh: Or they would've loved that
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. Mum and dad they put the piano in the back of the horse. Float would take it to the local CWA hall.
Rae Leigh: really? How did it fair that
Tania Kernaghan: Oh, I dunno how they did it.
Rae Leigh: did I know how to tune a piano? Doesn't it? Do you have to go out of tune as soon as you move?
Tania Kernaghan: yeah. Probably. But, you know, we just, we just did it and, it was, it was good enough for what we needed it to do.
And so we did a lot of that when we were kids, with this little band. And then, had the opportunity of traveling with mum and dad per seeing dad perform,
you know, night after night on a national tour in the late seventies,
Rae Leigh: okay, so he actually stopped his
Tania Kernaghan: Oh Yeah.
Yeah. So dad stopped selling cars and, and all of that kind of thing.
And it was about the 1977 that dad went into the studio and recorded. He did a trucking album to begin with. One could mean Louie on the road. It had a big brown Ford Louisville truck on the front and it went on to sell. And about 250,000 records. It was phenomenal for, you know, back then. But my dad was the first Australian country artists to record, to, promote his records on, on television.
Wow. Yeah.
Rae Leigh: So, so what was that like growing up with Intuit, like traveling and
Tania Kernaghan: Great. It's fantastic. You know, and our mum has always been the kind of person to support dad. So dad has been, you know, musical and entertaining and, you know, he said, um, you know, we've, we've got the opportunity to go on the road for a year,
with, with Rick and fel Kerry who were actually the pioneers of country music, you know, like buddy Williams, slim, dusty, that kind of elk.
And, so mum said, right, let's get a caravan and we'll get on the road. And what about the kids' schooling? Oh, well they can do project books along the way. And you know, that's what we did, we're all in primary school.
So that was fantastic. But so we did that and we were watching dad perform each night and seeing a lot of Australia.
And we went to a lot of Aboriginal missions where they would perform and play and, and really Outback towns, you know, that. The Gib river road these days, which is up. the top of sort of from Broome across to kind of naira. If you went sort of across the It's really rough four wheel driving and a lot of enthusiastic four wheel drive in Theseus want to conquer that.
Well, they were the kind of roads we were on, like every day driving
around out there. Yeah.
So, so that was kind of where we really got to see a lot of music, meet a lot of other musicians and experienced that on the road traveling. And I think it was, we didn't realize it at the time, but it probably was the catalyst for us to get a real passion and love for Australia and the people in it.
And later on in life, that's why I think it's become so easy to be able to write about those people and have that connection because you lived at your breathe, that you knew what you were writing about
Rae Leigh: like, I mean, parents raised you, but a village is what raises a child. And if you're traveling, you're a child of the Australian village, if you're, you know, you've encountered so many different places, what an experience to write about.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah.
so it was sort of working away subliminally, I think all of those years. And then in 1982, dad had bought this jet truck or waltzing Matilda. That's a whole other story, but it was the world's fastest jet truck. , and dad took that on tour with a traveling country music show and a voice operated car that was called the computer car. So we're out for another eight months traveling around new south Wales and Queensland, with that. And I was singing six nights a week.
Rae Leigh: So he joined in eventually.
Tania Kernaghan: And Lee was playing piano. Greg's on the drums. We had a band, there was about 25 people on that trip to her. But we also had our own school teacher that came with us.
So we would get to a town sit under an Oak tree at two o'clock. Do about an hour of schooling and then get ready for the show that night,
which was in, it was in a show ground each six nights a week. There was a different show ground that we would play on
Rae Leigh: So you're traveling like with the shows or like whether they're being
Tania Kernaghan: not agricultural shows. Dad had his own show, his own
Rae Leigh: okay. Sorry. I'm some reason I was like, went to, you know, like
Tania Kernaghan: carnival land.
Rae Leigh: carnival, because like in BA I'm from I'm from bands down in country, Victoria, and we always had this show and it was like music. I was like, oh, you talked to him for that.
Tania Kernaghan: yeah, he was his own show Yeah. and dad has never been with a record label. He's always, he created his own record label, cardigan country records. He did his own promotions. There were times when he had a big Ford Louisville truck that he loaded up the sleeper cab full of records, no LPs back in those days.
And he put that truck on the spirit of Tasmania that went over to Tazzie on the boat and he would sing in shop windows. He would sell the records in and did it all
Rae Leigh: So he's took all these car salesman skills and just applied it to music.
Tania Kernaghan: pretty much. And mum and Lee were Lee was about 15 at the time. And I think mum and Lee were back home. They were wrapping records and sending, sending them off to the, to the shops and Yeah. it was very much,
you can't do it this, yeah. Yeah.
It was very much that way. You know, it's interesting, you know? Right. Um,
the year that my dad sold, um, 25,000 records, which back in the seventies was quite a lot. Yeah. Um, he nominated, he wants to nominate for a golden guitar and they said, um, we'd love you to do that, but you don't count because you advertise on television.
Rae Leigh: Oh,
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah.
Rae Leigh: so what is that like a, a rule with, I
Tania Kernaghan: was back then?
Rae Leigh: Oh, okay.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah, it
Rae Leigh: weren't allowed to advertise on TV?
Tania Kernaghan: What apparently not big, but dad was like taking, he was very much an entrepreneur and still is, you know, and took his own initiative to, you know, get it, get his music out there. But, um, it was like, no, sorry mate. You can't, uh, you can't nominate because you advertise on telly so much.
So I think, I think,
Rae Leigh: it? What do you think the reasoning behind that was?
Tania Kernaghan: Ah, who knows? I just don't think that they were probably thinking big enough, you know, the, the people, the powers to be, they weren't thinking on a bigger, larger scale. Whereas my dad was always looking for the next opportunity and, and a way to market and promote.And I think a lot of people could take a leaf out of his book, you know? Yeah. So.
Rae Leigh: experienced that a fair bit. I think in this industry, um, with limited beliefs, mindsets of what's possible. Um, and it's interesting, but it's, it's just a mindset at the same time. It's like, actually the sky's the limit, but actually your beliefs is probably also a massive limit.
Like if you don't believe it's possible and it's probably not until you change that mindset.
Tania Kernaghan: Oh look, you can wake up feeling terrible in the morning or you can wake up feeling like I'm going to make today. The best I possibly can. And some days it's really hard to keep that positive attitude, but that's the way I look at it is you've got two choices, you know, there's there's choices every, every minute of the day in your life and you can be like, oh no, I couldn't be bothered.
I'm too tired or whatever. Or you can be like, okay, what wave can I jump on today? And what goals can goals? Can I kick, you know, what can I achieve?
Rae Leigh: can make the most of it.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah, absolutely.
Rae Leigh: I spent, uh, I, I have a very, very long history of mental health disease, and yeah, there were days when I couldn't get out of bed or get in the shower and I had to rely on people like my husband to get me through. And I think that that's okay. Everyone has their moments.
But it is a choice as well. And it's, sometimes it doesn't feel like it, but, it's a matter of choosing whether you fight and sometimes you have more energy than others. Sometimes you feel stronger than others, but I think it's about just choosing to keep going. It is hard, but it's a daily choice.
Yeah. But you're sounding a bit late. Do you need dinner Jeffries now? Cause know, cause she's always like on the positive train and I love it. And she's got such a positive attitude. You guys have been friends for a long, long time. That's why you've got your new single. And where did that song come about
Tania Kernaghan: We, we met in Tamworth at the country music festival probably 30 years ago
when I was around about then when she won star maker and she was the new kid on the block.
Blonde permed hair and, you know, just like great voice and just fantastic, you know, energy, beautiful personality. So we got to become friends and then we were both signed to ABC records and were on that label for
Rae Leigh: So you didn't want to go with your dad's label?
Tania Kernaghan: Um,
no, no, because there was a great opportunity there to, you know, go onto a bigger stage.
I suppose dad was very independent, small, smaller, but this was an opportunity to go And actually the very first single I made just stepping back a bit from, from meeting Gina. It was in 1992, I released a song called I'll be gone. And Keith urban played guitar and sing backing vocals on that
Rae Leigh: oh really?
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah.
He came into the studio and there was, Garth Porter produced It and Rodan McCormack played and who then became later became Gina's husband and a bunch of those guys and, ABC records heard it and they said, like to release it as a radio single.
Rae Leigh: It was that, is that different to a regular
Tania Kernaghan: yeah, well we'll probably just every year radio, the single, to radio. Yeah. I think,
Greg champion was on the B side and I was on the ACE side. And, but the idea, the catch was, that we can't pay you for it, but if you want to produce and pay for the album that the recording yourself that's okay. We'll just put it out for you. So I had $2,000 saved up in the bank and I went into the studio, spent my $2,000 on getting this song made. And then it was four years later after that, that ABC actually signed me to a record deal.
Rae Leigh: So they released the song for you before they did the deal.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. Yeah. So that was the song. There's a, one-off single.
Rae Leigh: I be like, I wish to be a fly on the wall of that room, where everyone in there and just all working on this music together in the studio that would have been.
Tania Kernaghan: What sticks out in my mind, Ray, would that recording is I paid all the guys, all the music, those cash back then, you know, you just thank them for coming. And when I went to pay Keith, he said that I was good. I don't, I don't want to be paid. It was just great to be playing on it with you.
Rae Leigh: That's nice.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah.
So we did at my sister and I actually went to Sydney and we did some songwriting with him and some other people around about that time.And, keith really loves, Lindt chocolates. And so
Rae Leigh: noted.
Tania Kernaghan: what, what do we get Keith to thanking for? This is really before he
became like massive. Yeah, So what do you do? Well, how do you think someone? So we went back to Aubrey and we'd got the biggest box of Lindt chocolates we could get. And, We thought we'll just play a bit of a trick on it.So what we did was we turned it upside down and cut little holes in the bottom of the box and took a few out and then just wrap them back up and just lift them like empty. So a few days later, Keats rung ups, oh, you girls, you shouldn't have done that. You know, thanks so much really appreciate it. And then a few days after That's like, oh, you girls, you know, what have you done?
So, yeah, he always remembers that whenever we catch up, he's like, yeah, I remember those chocolates. So
Rae Leigh: though. And it's a bit of fun as well, and it is hard. I find it really hard to buy anyone, anything it's it's it can be challenging because you want to be thoughtful, but it's nice to be grateful as well, even when someone doesn't want anything.
Tania Kernaghan: yeah.
Sometimes the harder you try, the worse it gets, you know, and here we are, like, you know, the bear in the festive season and what have you. And it's just such a nightmare. It's like, What do you get my brother? Or what do you get anybody? It's just, everybody gets whatever they want, you know, goes and buys whatever they want. But I try to think of something a bit quirky. You see, I have bees at home. I have a beehive, so my honey is pretty good as gifts, you know, they love, they love the honey. Yeah. It's great.
Rae Leigh: cool. Cause that kind of like a little side thing,
Tania Kernaghan: my husband
Rae Leigh: loves star wars. So that does make gift giving easy.
Tania Kernaghan: I think these days with the way the world is so fast and everybody's so busy in trying to achieve things and got to do things, I think. Probably the greatest gift is your time. And being able to sit down and, and be, and be present in that time, whether it's half an hour or an hour or whatever it is, but to actually be listening to what each other is saying, you know, be able to talk to each other and be focused and be present.
That's probably one of the great, the greatest gifts that we can give each other these days.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, I think that's beautiful. I completely agree. It's like just slow down.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah,
well, let's hope that, with the way things are going to sort of hopefully open up, you know, we will be able to get back and do some more live performing. And I think the people who like to come and support those shows are just as eager as the artists are to get out there and, and perform and do what we've been doing for all of our lives.Their whole career has been based around data to have. That taken away. It's, it's just you sort of, it's like being starved.
Rae Leigh: Yeah. It's like been grounded. I'm spreading this rumor and I don't know if it's true or not, but I love it. It's have you heard of the roaring twenties? Like in 1920 after the Spanish flu pandemic and the world was shut down, everyone came out and it just became this big clubbing everyone's out and it's jazz.
You know, out all night music and drinking, whatever, or the theory is that that's about to happen again. We're going to have the roaring twenties of, and I'm just like, we don't need jazz. We can just have country music and just be out all night or sitting around the campfire and just being with each other.
Tania Kernaghan: I love that rumor.
I'm going to spread that
Rae Leigh: Yeah. Please do roaring twenties. We're waiting for you because I want that. I want to just go out and be with people, but, um, but you know, you can only have what we can have. Tell me about your journey because I mean, you've told me so far about your family, which just sounds like, I'm very obviously naive to what I feel like I'm speaking to country music royalty now, after your story of like how much you've traveled and what you've done.
I mean, obviously you are because everything, but,
Tania Kernaghan: just think we're all the same. Right. We've just had different experiences, you know, that's the way I see everybody, you know, just, and everybody's, everybody's the same, you know, we both feel, we both cry. We both need to eat. We both need to
hydrate all of that stuff, you know,
and we, we both need love and all of those basic things, but it's just that I happen to have done a bit more traveling perhaps than you, but you're young and you've got your whole life ahead of you.
And you know, you never know where it's going to take you.
Rae Leigh: No, I'm looking forward to the journey or wherever it is right now, it's led me here and I'm really grateful. And so, um, what I was going to ask was what was the decision process for you as an artist and a songwriter to go from that family and that experience to then decide, well, Hey, actually, this is what I love.
I want to do this to, how can I make that work? Like what was that process like for you?
Tania Kernaghan: I loved it from when I was a little kid, so I love singing love performing, and not from an egotistical point of view, like, oh, look at me. It was never like that. It was just, I really love
this. Yeah.
And when I was 13, I went on to and did a lot of shows, as I said, with, with mum and dad and their traveling and then finished high school kept sort of, it was actually the week before my HSC, I was on tour with dad.
Rae Leigh: Great timing, dad.
Tania Kernaghan: And I remember sitting in this motel room in Korean trying to study, and then knowing that, oh, six o'clock, I've got to get down to the gig, get ready for this show. So school was just one of those things that just, oh, I'll just get through it, you know, do it. And I S I, I got the HSEs I scraped through it, but, um, I think it was just a place to kind of hang out well, until I could get on with life, you know, school was a bit like that.
Rae Leigh: So you knew that music was the thing that you just going to keep doing it. There was never like a, and this is what I think for me in my upbringing and a lot of people in Australia that bring you the art and music is not a career. You know, if you go to school and you sit down with a careers counselor and you say, you want to be an artist, they were like, right.
But what do you want to do to make money? You know, that it's just, it's not normal. Whereas I guess, you know, you came from the experience of the model that you can be done and it was done.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. I never, um, yes. I always like, even it's at high school, the kids were saying, what uni, where are you going to go and apply for?
And it's like, you know what, going to be a country singer, you know? And
they, they said to me, you know, but what's your real job going to be? Well, is it a real job? You know, it's cause that's what I've seen. And that's what I grew up with. And, and I think probably. I probably, I think mum and dad have.
Mum's always said, if you think you can, you can. And dad's always like, you know, if you see that. you'd be right away for as long as you can. And then when you see it petering off, look for the next wave. Cause there'll always be another wave. You just gotta be ready for it. And you don't have to just do the same thing all the time.
I see life as a smorgasbord and you can, you can't eat avocados all the time and you can't just stick to mangoes. You've got to have variety.
Rae Leigh: I just had an avocado mango, so
Tania Kernaghan: Well, tomorrow you'll have something completely different.
Rae Leigh: exactly. I was just like, did she, was she watching me?
Tania Kernaghan: No, I mean, I love avocados and mangoes, you know, but sometimes
Rae Leigh: it.
Tania Kernaghan: great to have roast pork, you know?
Rae Leigh: Yeah, absolutely. Yeah,
Tania Kernaghan: But you know, I think if you can be,
gutsy enough and, and just. But everybody's different too. Some people like to just go to work and have a steady job, and they've got their community of friends in that job.And, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing at
all. It's just for me, I needed the variety and I needed, and I knew it could be done. And, you know, because I had never had a plan B, it was like, I gotta make plan a work, but anyway, yeah,
Rae Leigh: So you just, you kind of just rolled into it. It was always going to be that way. And then you ended up with ABC after all that experience. What was the journey like with ABC?
Tania Kernaghan: to go back just a step from when I left high school, I was playing in pubs and clubs and piano bars doing that kind of work, you know, on Friday, Saturday nights. And I actually had a receptionist job at eldest pastoral for a couple of years. And, that was kind of helping pay the bills in that.And then,
my sister and I ended up moving to Sydney and we were doing gigs at, clubs and pubs and, you know, driving from, I remember that one of the hellish gigs was we left, Hunter's hill where we were living and we had to drive to, Willingong. So we left on a Friday at two o'clock in the afternoon, got down there about six loaded our gear in, played from seven to 11, loaded up the gear and drove back home. And I remember
it was two o'clock driving back into the driveway of the house, you know, so we had a regular, like a residency there for about six or eight weeks doing that.
Rae Leigh: 12 hours of travel and set up and everything. It's
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah,
And they paid us, I think it was $400 for the gig or maybe it was 200. It was really, it wasn't much. And it just paid the rent, I think.And we would get paid up after about six weeks. Cause back in those days, the booking agents took forever to pay you. So,
Rae Leigh: like they still do. Don't they?
Tania Kernaghan: yeah. And I remember them doing that for a couple of years and songwriting in Sydney and, and learning our craft and honing the skills. And, and then,
I remember I was, I had $3 in the bank and John Bromwell who's since passed away. He was the head of Warner chapel music. He had signed Lee to a publishing deal and he signed Fiona to a songwriting publishing deal who she later went to Nashville and became a staff songwriter over there for years. And he signed me to it. And the day I had $3 in the bank was the day the contract came through from, from John to, yeah.he totally saved my bacon.
So that allowed me then to be able to step back a little bit, focus a bit more on songwriting and, go and pursue that side of things. And then that's when I was writing more songs, getting ready for this, my first record, December moon, which was released to ABC. And I took, it took kind of four years to write because I had that luxury of just a whole lifetime of songs that I'd been gathering. Yeah. And
Rae Leigh: was that experience with ABC and from there on,
Tania Kernaghan: Oh great. It was fantastic. And the touring, the, you know, the experiences was completely different to what I had done previously, but I'm so glad I, I kind of did the hard yards because when we got people like roadies on the road with us to set up gear, I know what those guys have to do, you know, and, and the musicians having to learn, learn the songs and, all that so much that goes with it. I've done it all myself. I'd seen it all. So I'm always so very grateful for those people that make up the whole team
Rae Leigh: It takes the two.
Tania Kernaghan: you. Yeah.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, independent artist, such a, I don't like that name at all because it just doesn't represent what's
Tania Kernaghan: going on
Rae Leigh: all. It takes so many people, so many hands on just to get a little three minute song done or to put on a show. It's just, it takes an army, you know? Um, and you, you would have witnessed here with your dad and your mum running kind of like an independent label, seeing everything that goes on with
Tania Kernaghan: that, then going
Rae Leigh: into something like ABC would have given you a whole different appreciation that maybe a lot of people.
Cause I think from my experience of talking to people who were in the music industry longer awhile before like Spotify and like re more recently was that, that was what you did. You, you didn't do it yourself. You had to be with a label and a publishing deal and all that sort of stuff. You couldn't just go out and do it.
Like now everyone, you can just do it yourself, set up a record label in a day or two.
Tania Kernaghan: it'd be, it'd be interesting now to go back and, and have what's available to, to us, through social media, what my dad could have done because you know,
Rae Leigh: loved it.
Tania Kernaghan: he'd just be like all over it. you know, but, but Yeah,but then in saying that too, you know, there's not too many places these days where you could pull up a prime mover truck in front of a record store and sing in the shop front window and just park it there all day.
Rae Leigh: permit. You need this
Tania Kernaghan: I know
Rae Leigh: So many rules. You can't even just go and play guitar on the street. You gotta
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah,
Rae Leigh: so many rules.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. That's
Rae Leigh: I actually don't even know why. I mean, there must be reasons, but I'm not into politics. So
Tania Kernaghan: I think it's probably better to go and do it and then beg for forgiveness.
Rae Leigh: yeah. Again, ignorance. Someone told me the other day, apparently ignorance. Isn't a defense. No, I definitely believe in ignorance is bully. So that is how I live my life. I just have a husband who takes care of all the other stuff. It's like, I don't, cause I have a sort of a traumatic childhood. I really struggled to like listen to the news and stuff.
Especially if something comes up about a child being harmed. And so I just ignore the rest of the world outside of my bubble. And my husband like protects me in that sense. And he watches everything. And when something has happened, which he thinks I might hear about from someone or on the radio or whatever, he's like, just so you know, you know, when I'm having a cup of tea and I'm all calm, he'll let me know what's going on and I'll have my little emotional moment and then I'm prepared for it.
But I'm such a softy now when it comes to that and that the news was, I think one of the biggest causes of my depression, I just couldn't handle it so negative.
Tania Kernaghan: I don't watch the news. I don't listen to the news. You know, I choose to avoid all of that because I feel as though it's so filtered and it's really just, it's what they want us to hear and what, you know, it's so manipulated.
It's not really the truth. There's so many great things happening out there that we'll never get to hear about, So go and make your own great news, you know, go and you don't need that really. And I think if it's really, really important, then we'll hear about
Rae Leigh: you hear about, and I do everything filters are because I'll just be at the, at the shops and I'll overhear someone talking about it or, you know, things filter through, even if you don't actually specifically sit down and watch or listen to the news. And, um, I think the important things I do get, even if I get it a week or two later than everyone else
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. And if you've run out of toilet paper, I'm sure someone will kind of
Rae Leigh: I know.
Tania Kernaghan: give you
Rae Leigh: that's, if I'm at the shops with the, with the, um, the COVID, um, shopping, that's been weird because I won't know until I'm doing my grocery shopping, I'm like, okay, there's no toilet paper. There's obviously been a scare or something. I did that the other day. I was like, I think only yesterday, maybe I was at the shops, but I don't not, I actually don't know if anything's happened, but all of a sudden there was no toilet
Tania Kernaghan: it's probably the opening. The board is like
Rae Leigh: Uh,
Tania Kernaghan: why the toilet, but the toilet paper things got me completely baffled because I don't even know why, because it, other than getting frustrated and getting the, you know, upset in the stomach about, you know,
what's happening.
Rae Leigh: rule, not the rule, the reason it went started in China when everyone got COVID is because you get sniff the sniffles and toilet paper is cheaper than tissues. And so toilet paper got bought out, first and then not having toilet paper. So then people from other countries were buying toilet paper and sending it to China.
Tania Kernaghan: jeez, I didn't know about our ELA Vira tissues.We could've all been buying those. Geez.
Rae Leigh: Well, then I think then the panic buying just happened you said you started doing co-writing and working and stuff in Sydney and honing on your skills. Tell me about that experience. And what would you say after all your years now of karate and collaborating, would you say is really important for you now going into.
Tania Kernaghan: a curve?
I love co-writing and it just, you know, you think you've got a great idea and you, it, I love to see where someone else can take your idea. Places that you never thought was possible. Just recently, I've been doing some writing with Brian McCormack and, a girl, and her husband over in Nashville.
And it's just, it's so refreshing to hear their take on what, you know, you've an idea that you might have. So I'm a big advocate for co-writes. 'cause. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's just you, it takes your music to an area that you never thought possible. A lot of times I've written some of my best songs have been co-writes, you know?
Rae Leigh: let me do
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah, yeah.
Rae Leigh: I, yeah, I get, I learn a lot from co-writes like, just on different things that, yeah. I wouldn't have thought of.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. And, and I think there's some, you know, when you're riding, like years ago, I learned from, there's a Bible in Nashville called, the songwriters, the craft of songwriting, this, the craft of lyric writing by Sheila Davies.And, yeah, it's a great book. And a lot of the guys in Nashville sort of use it as their Bible, you
know, and there's tips in there, you know, um, if a title is vital, you know, so you've got to have a good title and then, don't bore us, give us the chorus, you know, it's, it's like,
Rae Leigh: I love that.
Tania Kernaghan: science, but it's true, isn't it?
And then in that first verse, you should have who, what, when and where covered, you know, to keep it tight, you don't need to have three verses before you get to the chorus. And you certainly are not on a winner. If you have to tell the audience what the song's about. you should be able to just get in there and sing it and they connect it connects, and that's the kind of stuff that you just always have in your back pocket.
And you it's, it's like your, your checklist when you're writing a song, is the title strong, you know, are we laboring over verses in verses then finally getting into the chorus? Like that. So, and there's a bunch more other things that you can apply and just have, have as part of your asking the, I suppose, when you're writing, but it, it changes a song from, you know, something that you personally like to like a hit or, yeah.
Rae Leigh: Oh, and I love that. Like, having a checklist just makes sense. Cause I mean, like you said that there are things that you need to sort of just have in the back of your mind, but even just having a physical list there to go, well, have we actually done these things is probably quite smart. I don't think I've ever done that.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's good. Good idea. But I also like to write from real life experiences too, and the song that I've recently recorded with Gina, and we wrote on Skype we were having a Chardonnay on Skype, just talking about the world and everything.
And, we were thinking about this coming year and what we're going to be doing and touring. We said, oh, let's write a song together about friendship. So we pretty much wrote it about our friendship. It doesn't matter how far you are a part or how long you, how many miles or how much distance is between you or how much time? Really good old friends when they get back together. It's just like where you left off.
Rae Leigh: like no time has passed at
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah, where you, where you finished and you pick up again. yeah.
So that's right. And there's a line in it, you haven't changed at all. Beautiful as ever making this world better and better. Well, that's what you feel about your friends.
How often do you see your old friends and go, oh my God, it's so good to see you again, you haven't changed at all, you know? Well, I've got a few more lifelines these days, you know, it's all good.
Rae Leigh: I think we all have that experience where there are those people in our lives that we can go a certain period of time without seeing them just because life gets busy. And then when you do see each other, yeah, it is. It's that Jay and I want to hear everything that's been going on and just have that instant connection.
Tania Kernaghan: again,
Rae Leigh: That doesn't happen with everyone and that's okay as well. Like sometimes you have lots of distance and all of a sudden it's like, you're strangers again, because you probably weren't close enough in the beginning or there wasn't that connection.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah, but it's those, those friends that you met, like in pre in preschool or,
you know, primary school. In fact, when this song came out,
a girlfriend of mine that I was friends with in grade five and grade six, and we sort of kept in contact in our teenage years and then lost contact. She emailed me out of, out of the blue the other day and said, oh, I heard a new song on the radio and just wanted to reconnect with you. And it was so good to hear from her. Yeah. Yeah. So
Rae Leigh: felt like she could reach out to you because you released that song, you reckon?
Tania Kernaghan: think so. It's like, ah, my old friend, I should just, you know, try to
Rae Leigh: Maybe she wrote it about me now.
Tania Kernaghan: Well, a lot of people, I think a lot of people can relate to it, you know, and that they might've felt that she might've felt that way. It's like, Yeah.
it's, how we were when we were at school together. So now we've rekindled our, our friendship again. And she's got kids and, you know, doing all The family thing. and it's yeah, It's what you do,
Rae Leigh: It's a universal truth though. And I love that when, when I love finding a universal truth and trying to put that into a song. And I think that it's, it sounds simple, but sometimes keeping something really simple is like the hottest thing. And I try not to get too bogged down with it, like the technical side of things, but yeah, it's good to feel your way through it, but at the same time, yeah, it's definitely a balance.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. Yeah. And that's why I think getting back to your question about co-writing, you know, it's, it's great to have someone else just put their ideas forward or say it in a different way. I'll tell you. Who's really great at that is,
Colin Buchanan, I've written a lot of songs with him and he is like John Williamson in so much.You can state it. That's another thing in that book about the craft of lyric writing, don't state it, illustrate it,
Rae Leigh: Yeah,
Tania Kernaghan: and that's what, Bucko and John Williamson are so good at.
Rae Leigh: I love that.
Tania Kernaghan: They don't just say there's a man standing next to a fence. It's, it's like, it's magical, the old railing and he's weathered hands, fading in the, in the sunset light, it's like, God, Yeah. I can see it
now.
Rae Leigh: furniture that you're putting into someone's mind so that they can actually see what you're seeing rather than having to come up with it all on their own. It's such a powerful tool. That one, I love that one. Yeah. And when you can get a good line that just create, creates that image.
Tania Kernaghan: And I think too, like I never felt that I was a very good songwriter. My sister has always written a lot of songs for me and I've always thought, oh, whatever I have to say, it's not going to be as good as what Fiona has got to say, but it took me a while to get over that because she is such a great songwriter.
Rae Leigh: Where do you think that came from?
Tania Kernaghan: My insecurity or, or her
Rae Leigh: your insecurity of, well, just that comparison of, oh, she's so much better than me, so I can't do it. So I definitely know what that feels like. Every, I think every woman does, if someone else is better at it, so I'm no
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. I just think Fiona was just well read. I think reading's really important, you know, to really keep, keep your creative juices flowing.
Whereas I'm probably more into the running of the business side of thing and, that kind of thing. And, but Yeah, she's a bit more creative or she's a lot more creative and she's sort of off in her own world a lot of the time, you know, and
Rae Leigh: I can
Tania Kernaghan: sometimes she's written things and it's like, oh man, feeling words, where did that come from?And she said, I don't know. It just came through me, you know? So that's a gift in
Rae Leigh: I love that.
Tania Kernaghan: But I think the more you do it and confront your issues and your insecurities, it's not that bad after all really. It's a problem shared is a problem halved,
Rae Leigh: It really is, isn't
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. So I think, Yeah. just get out there and do it, but it's the ones that just sit on their haunches and don't have a go that, you know, they're the ones that are missing out.
Rae Leigh: Yeah. And there's so many reasons as to why people don't do things. Like I said before, I didn't sing in front of anyone for a really long time. I was always writing songs on the piano or guitar in my room privately. Gosh, I would never show anyone because I was too afraid. I was afraid that so music for me really saved my life.
Like it was the thing that made me feel okay. And I was afraid that if I shared it with someone and I didn't like it, that I would then not like it. And if I didn't have music, I would probably not live like that. It was just so like, it was my life very through real traumatic experiences. And from I'm a very observant person and I would watch people.
Do you talent shows or competitions or they'd go do a music degree. And then they, after a few years they hated music and like, oh, they didn't want to do it anymore. And I'm like, I was like, well, if they can just give up on music like that, I'm not going to show it to anyone because I'm like, I just, I couldn't imagine a life without music.
And I was afraid that someone was going to take my music away from me. And it sounds stupid when I say it out loud. And it wasn't until I realized that no one can take that away from me. I was like, oh, I can share with anyone now.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah.that's right. And you don't listen to the good opinion of others, you know, everyone's going to have an
Rae Leigh: Opinion.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. But I think be true to yourself and that's a lot of people ask me, what would I tell up and coming artists to, I think. that it's really important to, learn from your peers. You know, those people that you admire and, you really think, oh, whether it's faith hill or for me, you know, I was growing up with Trisha, you wouldn't Patty Loveless and Leanne Womack. All of those were my kind of idols, I suppose, Patsy Cline.
And I could appreciate what they were doing. You watch what they do, they're there, their musical style, their songwriting, whatever. But don't become that because there's already one of those, you've got to really get in touch with who you are. And then when you've done that, you've found that who you are then your songwriting will reflect that as well. And that's what will separate you from everybody else and make you an individual.
Rae Leigh: I do feel like sometimes when I listened to music and I listened to a lot of new music, especially now, I do sometimes feel like it's there maybe, someone's created music that they like of someone else's and maybe then trying to be like that. And someone said something really smart the other day, which I really I'm still thinking about this is like, just because you, like, it doesn't mean you need to be creating it so you can, you can appreciate and like someone else, but still do your own thing.
And like, I love that cause like I love R and B and I love a lot of soul music. I love Amy Winehouse. I don't want to be anywhere in house. Or Mariah Carey, even though I can sometimes do my little trills and things. Yeah. I don't, I'm not trying to recreate that. I just, I think I realized I like it when I see an artist who is doing what you just said, they're just being themselves and that it comes through, doesn't
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. I think that's with everything in life. If you can just strip back all the, you know, the pressures of what you think you should be and just be who you are and that unfortunately. A lot of time to become that person too, because when you're younger, I think you're always worrying about, do you look good? What are people thinking about you? Am I saying it right? Am I saying the right things? Am I, it's just, that's just the nature of the beast, you know?
Rae Leigh: brought up in a world of being graded and right. And wrong and being judged
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. But if I could just, if you could just say that to young kids today and
just say to us, without getting like two things we have always, always been taught is don't believe your own publicity never forget where you came from.You know? And I think if you can keep your feet on the ground and, and keep, take on board what people say, but don't take it to heart. Don't take it personally think like, okay, how can I learn from that? You know, can I better myself from that? But, yeah.
I mean, if you listen to everybody and all their opinions, you'd, you'd never get out of bed.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, honestly, I think I've found that 99% of the time someone's opinion is directly linked to a projection of something that they're dealing
Tania Kernaghan: with
Rae Leigh: and usually has nothing to do with you. And I actually now find it quite complimenting because I realized that if someone is projecting something that maybe they're dealing with onto me, it means that I've helped them maybe look at whatever it is they need to do.
And that's helped me deal with that sometimes negative feedback in quotation marks that I get, that actually it's like, huh, that post or that comment has nothing to do with me. And I'm really glad that that has been brought up and triggered for that person because you don't deal with something unless it's.
Tania Kernaghan: painful.
Rae Leigh: Usually you don't go to the doctor unless you've got an issue. You don't deal with your emotional trauma or problems unless someone's stuck a knife in it and made it come to the surface. And as much as that's horrible to sort of say in that way, but pain is really a big motivator to actually heal some things.
And that's how I've dealt with. Like, I had to have children to have the courage to want to be better. I didn't have any other reason before kids to want to be better and deal with my darkness and my trauma. I had children. It was like, I have to be better and I have to, or at least die trying, because I don't want them to deal with like, have to then deal with stuff that I wasn't strong enough to deal with.
Tania Kernaghan: Kids are great teachers too.
Rae Leigh: I've learned so much from my children. Like I can't really say, I mean, I'm sure I'm teaching them something. I just hope I can teach my kids. Like what your dad taught you is just to do what you love. And if anything.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah, I really think that's the case, you know, and it's hard. You're not always going to get out there and kick a goal or, you'll have failures, but it's about being able to come back from that failure and have another go.
And that is so important. You just got to get, like, we've all had it. We've all had some terrible things that happen in our life. But, you've just got to say, okay, well that's happened and you've got to get on with things now. You're still upright. You're still breathing and you know where there's life there's hope.
Rae Leigh: Yeah, you can't control what happens to you, but you can control how.
Tania Kernaghan: you react,
Rae Leigh: And how you deal with it. Yeah. Anyway, sidetracked again, I'm, don't have to call this podcast tangents with Tina. Give me a whole new podcast. Okay. Now you've jumped ahead and answered that question already. I usually ask what's the best advice you give to people in the industry and that you, that you were given.
And then I ask about the young and upcoming artists or yourself, but do you have anything else on top of what you've just shared that you'd like to,
Tania Kernaghan: I think pretty much what I've said as far as just being a, be yourself, try to be true to yourself and, and don't, and probably, being able to bounce back from adversity, that's really important. If you want to have a long career in, in the music industry or whatever industry you chose, you choose. And I do think it's really important to, be across your business side of things as well,
Rae Leigh: Um,
Tania Kernaghan: it's one thing to get on stage and perform and tour and get out there and entertain people. But it's another thing, if you don't know how to write an invoice,
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Tania Kernaghan: you don't know how to apply your ABN or, or whatever it might be, that's really, that's probably just as equally as important
Rae Leigh: or understanding simple things like copyright
Tania Kernaghan: yeah, all of those
Rae Leigh: copyrights once it's recorded and yeah. It baffles me that a lot of people who are performing on stage and writing songs and stuff, don't, they know about it and it's like, oh, did you not know that there's two copyrights to every song that gets recorded?
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. So the business side, I remember Elvis Presley used to have a motto taking care of business,
Rae Leigh: Yeah.
Tania Kernaghan: and it's always in the back of my mind. And I think that's just as important as, walking out on stage and, and knowing the words of your songs and entertaining people. So, yeah. Yeah. definitely. And then if you can get the right People around you, that seemed really important to have a team, you can't do it all yourself. That's one thing I've learned.
Rae Leigh: do try.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah, they do. And I mean, I, I do too. I'm juggling so many things, you know, and when, COVID hit and,
it basically my 18 months of work just got decimated in about four days. Like a lot of other, other I actually created a club through my website called the TK club and that's where I upload, the seven categories to it. So this is what I did for my COVID project. And it's
Rae Leigh: yeah,
Tania Kernaghan: it's still, it's still going, still going on now, but
Rae Leigh: project. We're doing it right now.
Tania Kernaghan: this is great. But, but Yeah. so what I did, I created these seven categories. I had a section called don't bore us, give us the chorus. The honeypot stories from the hive about my BS and studio sessions, TK adventures, there was a mystery box, family recipes and, garage karaoke. So there was a lot of categories in this and each month they applied. New content to each category.
Some guy was just learning how to video, edit film, make songs, record them, write about bees and all his stuff. Like I just was absolutely smashed with this. And so now I've got like 19 months worth of content in this club and people subscribe to it and they can, go to any month and have a look at their whatever category it might
be. Yeah. it's been great. And that's, I guess, getting back to, having a go at something you don't just sit around and say, Okay.
now I'll wait for a gig to come in. You've got to think, well, what can I do next? What can I do to keep in touch with the people that have followed me and keep connected and also keep myself learning and stimulated as. Yeah. but now I'm finding, I'm getting really busy and It's like, oh my God, I've got, so I'm working months in advance with my club to try to get all this content, put together. So Yeah.
it's been a, a big learning curve for me, but, a project that I've really enjoyed to throughout the, the last 18 months or so
Rae Leigh: I think learning something is good for the brain and the spirit and the soul, like doing something new and fresh as much as it can be challenging. It also is very stimulating. I think we need that. I get very bored easily. If something gets too easy, I love to be challenged. And I'm a big believer in create your opportunities as well.
Cause I do a lot of acting and acting and modeling and music, anything that's storytelling. I love that pop podcasting fits into that category.
Tania Kernaghan: the arts. You've got to
Rae Leigh: it's the arts. It's just, if it's a story and it's a performance of some form, don't ask me to paint anything. It's not going to be fancy. I love it. Like, and I just, I don't mind if I'm a be on the wall and just a part of a bigger team or if I'm heading a project, but if I'm bored and I have.
Someone else's project. I'm a part of, I will create my own. I'm not going to sit around, waiting for someone to knock on my door and saying, Hey, we want you to be the lead actor in this TV show. And I'm like, you know, that's just not going to happen.
Tania Kernaghan: Well, you never know. Never say never,
Rae Leigh: know, Hey guys, directors out there. You never know, but at the same time, I'm a big believer in you get out there, you meet people and you never know who you're gonna meet. Always be kind, you know? And like you said, everyone is the same. We all need the same things. For me, it's like, what can I give, what can I do to be able to give back?
And, that was kind of where music started for me. It was like, music really did save my life. Like, I don't know where I would be if I hadn't didn't have music. And it took a lot of therapists telling me that before I believed that. And it was once I believed it and I was like, huh, and if I share my music, no one can take it from me.
So that's good. Maybe if I have this gift that I'm writing songs and they're healing me through this. Maybe if I shared those songs, it could do it with someone else. And I was like, wow. Okay. And I was like, that was the end of the story. I was like, this is what was wondering what the rest of my life, you know, but it just, yeah.
Different journey if I had, and I needed her husband to believe in me as well. You know, you need to have people around you that believe in you.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. But I think it's great to have that. And you really, it puts the wind in your wings and the, and the, you know, in your sales that day never stopped believing in yourself because that's where it comes from.
That that's, that's that from the heart, from the soul. You've got to believe too. It's okay to have all of these people tell you how good you are or believe in you, but if you don't believe it yourself, then you're never really going to get beyond where you are. So, yeah. As long as you can practice.
Having that belief within yourself. And it's not from an egotistical point of view. It's not, I always think of egos is edging guide out, it's pushing it away and it's like, that's, that's not where I'm coming from. Spiritual very much so. And I believe,
I believe in God and there's a much greater force than, what we are in this vehicle.
We're being taken around in this world, in that, I feel as they, you've got to have. Okay. Have godliness in your heart and that will shine through and get you through a lot of difficult times in life. Yeah, But have that belief in yourself. yeah,
I would
love to be able to teach that to young kids. It's the greatest tragedy when you see little kids who, you know, seven and eight years old, that that don't believe in themselves, don't feel as though they're good enough.
You know, that to me is probably one of the greatest sins ever. And if I could just have a magic wand and be able to instill belief in, in young children, that would be the greatest gift because everybody is deserving. Everybody needs is deserving of love. Everybody is love and, everybody is valued and that, that's what I would love to just be able to sprinkle across.
Rae Leigh: sounds like God speaking, but no, I, I love it. I, I'm a big believer that all children deserve to be loved and protected, and unfortunately it doesn't always happen. Especially like my experience of being a mum with young children, there's so much pressure to have to do and be everything.
And I'm like, my parents didn't do that. Their parents didn't do that. They had, the teachers and they had their neighbors and they had their church community members and the sporting members and people from the clubs. And it was a community that raised children. It was never one person responsibility.
And it's like, let's just love them and give them a safe space to be kids. And so, especially now, I don't know how they deal with it, but everyone is being filmed all the time. Like you just have
Tania Kernaghan: to
Rae Leigh: assume in today's world that you were being filmed filmed 24 7, you just have to, because the reality is there's a camera everywhere in people's phones and they're gonna pick it up and they're gonna film.
I'm like, I don't know if I could have dealt with that sort of pressure as a kid that
Tania Kernaghan: yeah.
it's sad to hear young girls, I think 15 to 21 or something I heard the other day, some statistics about how they're they feel the most,
they don't feel good about themselves or undervalued or, and that's such a great shame, but I thought, that's that age group where the whole social media thing is so powerful and it's such an influence on, on young people.
And I think if we could. Take a step back to the six and seven year olds and instill that confidence in them when they get to 12 and 13 years old, they don't need to look at someone else's opinion or have, have the, the approval of somebody else to feel good because they've already developed those, that skill in themselves.
That's why I think it's really important at an early age to, to, to instill that into your kids. yeah,
Rae Leigh: Children are a reflection of us. So, yes, emotional intelligence, I think is a really important thing that we need to lift up. Be careful be careful because yeah, like kids that they don't know anything better than they just want a copy of what us adults do. And then we're like, oh, bullying's a really big issue in schools.
I'm like, it's a big issue everywhere. It's not just, it's just reflected in schools because we're, we're watching our children copy us
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. It's like
Rae Leigh: it. And as that all,
Tania Kernaghan: I was amused or not amused, but I was, you know, interested hearing about the black lives matters, you know, but doesn't every life matter. So what happened to that, you know, and that's not diluting or having this respect for, colored people at all at
all, but it's like every life matters as far as I'm concerned,
Rae Leigh: Absolutely. And every age matters and that's been a big thing. That's going around at the moment as well as ages. And it's like, oh, you have to be 15 to start a music career and let them know you don't, can't be, can't be a mum and have a music career. Apparently. No, it's too selfish. And I was like, watch me feel like everyone, like I said, everyone has their own beliefs.
And if yours is conflicting to their belief, they're going to project their belief onto you. No matter what it is, positive or negative. And I'm just hoping that I can be a stronger light. Like you said, let God like shine through. My beliefs will reflect on to other people as a
Tania Kernaghan: things. I
Rae Leigh: in myself, you can believe in yourself too, and we can inspire each other that way. And it's just about that balance. Isn't it?
Tania Kernaghan: But it's saying about, you know, don't blow out someone else's candle to make yours burn brighter. It's like, you know, it's
Rae Leigh: throw each other on the fire and you make a bonfire.
Tania Kernaghan: exactly. Like the match and let them let them shine.
Rae Leigh: I'm a big believer that we lift each other up. We lift up.
Tania Kernaghan: up
Rae Leigh: And that's something that I think was inspired by when I went to Nashville in 2019, it was the first time I realized I didn't have to do everything myself. Cause that was a big thing stopping me from doing so I was like, I can't do it myself. So I'm not even going to bother doing it. And all of a sudden being over there, I realized that they it's a, it's a massive team of
Tania Kernaghan: And
Rae Leigh: I was like, okay, I can just do this thing. And I'm really good at this thing. And I can, if I can't do it, I just get someone else to do it.
Tania Kernaghan: You don't see the McDonald's account and making the burgers,
Rae Leigh: no, yeah.
Tania Kernaghan: so, and I'm not saying that the accountant is any more important or less important than that person putting the meat together and assembling the hamburgers, , it's important to have that team of people around you that you can trust.
And I also think getting back to knowing about the business side of things is that accountant should know what goes into the burger to make it, I don't want to make it, but I know what goes into it.
Rae Leigh: Blind trust is going to be an expensive lesson to learn
Tania Kernaghan: yeah. yeah, that's right. And I think if you know a little bit about it all, a bit across it all, then, that's a better foundation for a longevity in, in any career.
Rae Leigh: good. Wisdom. I like that. All right. I'm going to ask you one of the questions. My favorite question, the podcast. If you could work with anyone in the world, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
Tania Kernaghan: I've always had a big crush on George straight.
Rae Leigh: How would that co-write go
Tania Kernaghan: well,
Rae Leigh: this is why we're still single is.
Tania Kernaghan: no, no, he's well, he's he married and quite happy and all of that sort of thing, but I'm sure, but, I've just always admired him. I've loved his music. He's always been so consistent. I mean, he's probably got a team of songwriters that do all of that heavy lifting for him, but, you can put an album on from, you know, his first album to his latest release and it's, exactly what you're going to get. And I love that about him. That he's stayed true to himself all the way along.
Rae Leigh: That's awesome.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. But, he's into horses. I am into horses and, cutting events and all That kind of stuff. And, I just like to sit down in a room with him and. Probably just even have a cup of tea and just walk around the paddock with him. I think I've always admired him, but I mean, there's so many, people that I'd love to just have a conversation with. I'd like to sit down and have dinner with Dick Smith. I reckon he'd be so interesting. Where he's been in the career that he's had and he's, he's whole other side of business, that'd be interesting as well.
But anyway, George straight, definitely.
Rae Leigh: So this is essentially the end of the podcast where you get to share what you're doing
Tania Kernaghan: so Gina Jeffreys and I keep kicking our show off our girls that out show and we're doing some shows together next year.
We've got quite a lot of festivals and events that we've been booked for as a double header. So yes, and we've been working on a record together. So it's a record of duets, but are original songs that we've been writing,
Which is great. But I also worked for a television show, a caravan and camping lifestyle show.
I've been doing that for about 10 years and I've got a lot of filming with them next year. They're in Victoria. So. Had quite a sabbatical because of the whole lockdown and we haven't been able to get together,
but there's a bit of filming next year for that, which I love doing. Cause it's, you know, getting out there and seeing Australia and, you know, towing caravans and all of that kind of thing that I'm into.
Rae Leigh: Yeah. That sounds like fun.
Tania Kernaghan: And then the other thing that I'm really loving is,
2021, I was doing, because you know, the singing was not really, happening and touring. I got together with a rainbow beach horse ride people. They're just, east of gimpy. They have a five day camp out that I'm hosting.
I've got five of them next year. That I'm, that I'm part of. So what you do is if you're a horse rider and you don't have to be the best horse rider, they have a really good lot of horses you can choose from, but we, we go and camp out for five days, in glamping tents. And we have a chef that comes in and cooks each night for us.
Rae Leigh: like one type of camping.
Tania Kernaghan: Do do breakfast and lunch and that kind of thing. And then we ride every day and it might be to the beach and swim in the ocean. It could be, to the pub, have lunch and then ride home. Another one of the days is we have a camp drafting guy come in and teach us how to camp draft. So it's five days of that.
And then one of the nights I sing around the campfire and play a few songs for the, the guests. But I've found there's been a lot of women that have gone on that ride in a sort of forties, 50 year old.
Rae Leigh: Um,
Tania Kernaghan: That have been into writing in their earlier days. They're at a stage where it's like, oh yeah, I'd like to do something for myself. You know, the kids have grown up and yeah, yeah. So they've been coming back, they've been booking for it. And the first group that I took out last may, those 12 girls have rebooked again for next may for the first one.
Rae Leigh: So it's quite an intimate group. You have a limit on number.
Tania Kernaghan: yeah, about 12 people is sort of the maximum and, yeah. And we, we ride together and make, have a great bond. Yeah.
And it's, they're all the same. As I said, you know, we're all the same. We've just got different experiences. There's a, of a pilot. One of the girls is a pilot. Another lady was a doctor. Another one was a psychologist, you know, they're all really.
Rae Leigh: in need. So just
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah, one lady, actually, she was a grandmother and brought her granddaughter
Rae Leigh: Oh, that's
Tania Kernaghan: and her little friend came along too. so they were about 14 years old, the girls and the grandmother took them along and she was a great writer. She was 70 and she could ride like, you know, the young ones. It was amazing.
Rae Leigh: haven't been on a horse since my friend owned the pony club, so we would go riding and I haven't been in a horse since high school.
Tania Kernaghan: anything. Oh, you never forget.
Rae Leigh: my kids on rides
Tania Kernaghan: You should come.
Rae Leigh: but I would love to,
Tania Kernaghan: when I was 22, I was engaged to be married. I never got married because I never really met anyone I'd really want to marry, but, I was engaged this guy and, I knew he was a good man, but he, we weren't right. for each other.
But when I was young it was like, well, That's kind of what you do. You get married. And, and, it was a few weeks before the wedding and I did the same thing. I prayed to. Give me a sign.
How can I, what, what to do? And half the church burned down. Yeah.
yeah. In St. Matthew summit St. Matthew's in Aubrey, the front part of the church burned. Well, a lot of the other churches opened up their doors for, for weddings that were booked in, but I figured this was a sign and it gave me a bit of breathing space and it was like, okay.
Rae Leigh: sense of humor. Don't you think?
Tania Kernaghan: Oh, he's wonderful. Wonderful. But Yeah. you don't ignore stuff like that. And you know, looking back, I should have, if I, if I was the girl I am today, it would have been a lot stronger with it.
This is not working, and said my bit, but it was, I was young and naive and thought that's what you do. And
Rae Leigh: the strength that you needed to make the right decision and listen to your body.
Tania Kernaghan: yeah, And, and he, he's a good fellow, but not, we weren't right for each other really, you're so anyway, there you go. So you've got your beautiful children.
Exactly.
Rae Leigh: think I've prayed for, yeah, I've definitely been humbled by praying the wrong things. I'm like, all right, God, I've got the picture and care for what to pray for.
Tania Kernaghan: Yeah. There's your next song.
Rae Leigh: Yeah. Probably should be. We could write that one.
Tania Kernaghan: Know, It is different. but there's no,
right or wrong, you know, there's, I think if the love is there, that's more important than anything, you know, and the transparency and the truth. And, you know, that's, that's what makes the world go around. It's not about if you got pregnant or you, you got married the wrong time or the kids came first, or then you know, it doesn't really matter in the big picture.
It's the love that's important. And as long as that's true and genuine, then the rest can just, my mum has this great saying about life is mostly froth and bubbles, but two things, Dan, like stone kindness in another's troubles, encouraging your own.
Rae Leigh: Wow. I love your parents.
Tania Kernaghan: know they're the best. I love them too.
Rae Leigh: I was going to say there's still hope my cousin, but she's my oldest.
Tania Kernaghan: cousin,
Rae Leigh: Mid forties. And she'd never been married, had a massive career CEO of youth action, um, new south Wales, and she's just got married. She had a surprise wedding the other day and both her and her now husband had never been married.
So you never know it can happen
Tania Kernaghan: You never know. But when you know, you know,
Rae Leigh: I used to hate that saying until I met my husband and then I was like, darn, it's kind of true. Yeah. Once, you know, you know, and you just got to move on with it and you can not stop worrying about it anymore.
Tania Kernaghan: when people say to you, don't worry. You'll know when you know, and it's like, oh, that's like a red rag to a bull. It's just like so frustrating. But it's the truth. And that's all there is to it.
Rae Leigh: So that's everything you're doing next year. Is there anything else you'd like to say before we
Tania Kernaghan: Oh, just thanks so much, Ray, for having me on your podcast, it's been a really interesting chat, probably the best chat and interview that I've done for a long time.
Rae Leigh: Oh, thank
Tania Kernaghan: And I hope your listeners have enjoyed it, it's been wonderful. Thank you.
