“Living and Working on the Land Brings Family Bliss!”

Interview with Australian country music icon James Blundell

Born and bred in Stanthorpe, Queensland, James Blundell believes that happiness and personal freedom are inextricably linked with building a connection to the land. This month James talks candidly with Ben Sorensen about his blessed country lifestyle and the joys of family life.   

There’s a sense of calm in James’ voice as he talks about moving back to regional Queensland after living in Sydney’s busy metropolis for the last twenty-two years. It appears that getting back to basics is not only agreeing with him but it’s also benefiting his music, creativity and family dynamics.

“Relocating back to the farm is something I wish I’d done in hindsight a decade ago but circumstances didn’t permit it.” says James. “It’s amazing, I’ve just spent the last 48 hours working on a bull dozer, so there’s a great diversity of day to day occupations and everything in my life is flourishing as a result. I’m just about to go back into a recording cycle at home, so I’ve given myself 4-8 months to record, rather than the usual 4 weeks. This is great because it’s more important for me to make a great record rather than just make any record and then go on tour.” says James.

Being close to amenities and living in the big smoke seemed an almost unavoidable part of being involved in the music industry. Although, James notes the world has changed and providing you have good internet reception, there is no real necessity to live in the city. James says, “For a long time, with the evolution of technology, I’ve been advocating for people to get out of the city, particularly kids. When I have my two boys with me, the difference I see in their day to day perceptions and enthusiasm is incredible. They go to bed early, they sleep soundly and wake up ready to rip into the next day and by the end of the day they are content and happy. It’s a healthier life style for young people. They get away from dependency on peer to peer social interaction on a computer or gaming and just get back to using their hands and minds.”

James’ family values are evident when he talks about life with his partner Jess and the joy this has brought him and his family. “From the first time I met Jess, we spoke a lot about the boys and obviously after a fractured relationship you hope that both your children and your new partner have some degree of affection for each other.  But in fact the boys just adore Jess and they pay more attention to her than they do to me now. James laughs, “I actually love that, I think it’s really good. The boys can also be themselves when we are all travelling together.”

Music is a big part of family life but James says they still honour each other’s individuality and interest in other areas of life.

Apart from music, James is also passionate about living a healthy life. He believes there are a few key ingredients for maintaining a healthy, holistic and happy life. “I’ve done both ends of the spectrum fairly well. I wouldn’t have realised at the time during the mid to later part of my heavy touring, I had a fairly addictive personality and was drinking way too much, by the same token after getting back into the bush and working hard again and being away from the heavy social environment, I’m living a very clean life. You can’t work hard and compromise yourself with recreational drugs or excessive alcohol. I prefer a healthy lifestyle. I don’t like being unfit and I don’t like being lethargic so that all adds up to eating less and moving more.” says James.

Although he had a religious upbringing, James says he has a fairly pragmatic view of what is means to live an holistic and spiritual life.  He says, “My spirituality as an adult is far more influenced by my connection with the land. I think spirituality and nature are very closely combined and if you divorce yourself from one or the other you lose your sensitivity. If you lock yourself away in a concrete jungle you’re probably going to lose touch of the bigger picture.”

James has a simple mantra when it comes to life and this is something he tries to teach his boys, leading by example. He says, “Be honest and live your life with integrity, stand by your word and be fair and reasonable. Stand your ground when you’ve got to and don’t worry too much about the things you can’t control.”

Edited by Vanessa Finnigan

To listen to the full interview between Ben Sorensen and James Blundell go to: www.RealCountryMix.com