![Between The Fires is Troy Cassar-Daley's most raw album yet. Picture by Michael McCartin Between The Fires is Troy Cassar-Daley's most raw album yet. Picture by Michael McCartin](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/E9srhG6YCw3ZDt9UDADP4R/441a6c94-e910-46a9-8b37-5543816f9beb.jpg/r0_0_5000_3311_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
TROY Cassar-Daley was performing his latest single Some Days last week in Adelaide when he laughs, "it [the song] kicked my arse."
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
"Here I am playing it and the band comes in, like the record, and I got this lump in my throat and I felt I was gonna lose it altogether on stage," he tells Weekender.
"That happens every now and then I suppose to a lot of us, because we get caught up. That's the one that's really been grabbing people and saying, 'Hey, allow yourself to have a bad day'."
For more than 30 years Cassar-Daley has been entertaining audiences as one of Australian country music's biggest stars and nicest blokes.
He's won 40 Golden Guitars, five ARIA Awards and notched up 32 No.1 country singles.
But even the most ardent Cassar-Daley fans have never heard the proud Gumbaynggirr-Bundjalung man as raw and personal as he is on latest album Between The Fires and its centrepiece, Some Days.
The album was written in the aftermath of the death of Cassar-Daley's mother Irene while he was touring with Cold Chisel's Ian Moss in Perth in 2022. Irene's passing also coincided with a strained period in Cassar-Daley's marriage with Brisbane radio personality Laurel Edwards.
To process the grief Cassar-Daley returned to his childhood home and where his mother lived on a 109-acre property at Halfway Creek, south of Grafton, and converted it into a makeshift recording studio.
Every morning Cassar-Daley would light a fire and let the smoke waft through the home before setting up the instruments and recording equipment in various rooms.
"I don't think I'll ever top it, to be honest with you," Cassar-Daley says of the experience.
"I don't know what I'll do next. I'll probably do a song and dance record, because I'll never beat the emotional and personal nature of this record ever."
What made the experience even more heartfelt was the sense that his mother was there among Cassar-Daley and his band.
I'll probably do a song and dance record, because I'll never beat the emotional and personal nature of this record ever.
- Troy Cassar-Daley
"They put me in mum's art room to use as a vocal booth and that's where mum did most of her Indigenous art," he says.
"A screen print frame fell down behind me and hit me in the head before we even did the first song.
"I'm not going to get all creepy on you, but I thought it was Mum saying, 'What are all these people doing in our house?' It felt like she was there."
Cassar-Daley has been touring Between The Fires heavily since its release in May and says it's had an emotional impact on his audience, as losing a parent is a universal experience.
"The album made me feel so much lighter when I recorded it," he says. "I think what people will see at the shows will be a person who's learnt to smile again and the music has been a big part of that for me.
"The other night in Adelaide I didn't know where to look because there were some people who were really starting to cry.
"There's one particular tune that does it to people all the time and it was very difficult to play when we first started touring.
![Family grief ignites Troy Cassar-Daley's fire on most personal album Family grief ignites Troy Cassar-Daley's fire on most personal album](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/E9srhG6YCw3ZDt9UDADP4R/b5e71182-3be0-4265-b496-79899adf204a.png/r0_0_1490_972_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I didn't know where to look, to be honest. It was the weirdest thing I've had happen in a while without losing it myself."
While Cassar-Daley has been mourning the loss of his mother, the next generation has been a rich source of pride.
In 2019 his then 19-year-old daughter Jem Cassar-Daley spent her gap year travelling around Australia supporting her father at 78 shows, which included a performance at Lizotte's.
Since then Jem has become an indie-pop darling in her own right and enjoyed extensive airplay on triple j with her singles King Of Disappointment, Slow Down and Texas Ain't That Far, Is It Dear.
The 23-year-old is on tour with red-hot Northern Territory rock band King Stingray, which includes a show at Newcastle's King Street Bandroom on August 15.
"She chose to spend a year on the road with me and it just formed her as a musician and she came home and said, 'Dad, now when I get on a plane and I sit down and put my headphones on going to a gig, I feel like I'm living my best life'," Troy Cassar-Daley says.
"When you hear that from your kid, you feel like your job is done as a parent.
"I reckon she's a great songwriter. Much better than I was at 23."
![Jem Cassar-Daley is building her own music career in the indie-pop world. Picture supplied Jem Cassar-Daley is building her own music career in the indie-pop world. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/E9srhG6YCw3ZDt9UDADP4R/5c3981e7-2db3-47e4-8d5e-0de8514407b8.jpg/r0_422_8256_5504_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
The proud father says Jem regularly calls him on FaceTime from her Melbourne base seeking his advice on various parts on the industry such as dealing with publishers.
However, he's careful not to overstep the mark.
"I feel I can be a little part of that, but I don't wanna stifle her growth by being opinionated," he says.
"If I was going to be opinionated I would have said, 'Come along and be in the country family like me'.
"But she didn't want to be compared [to me], she wanted to cut her own path and she's doing that so well."
Troy Cassar-Daley plays Flamingos Live (formerly Lizotte's) on August 1 and 2 with support from Duncan Toombs. To purchase tickets you are advised to call the venue on (02) 4956 2066.