ALL it took was one run through Launceston's Cataract Gorge for Xavier Rudd to realise how special the area actually is.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
That feeling is sure to resonate from the singer-songwriter when he headlines the Basin Concert in the Gorge on New Year's Day.
It will be a partnership between a man who has a deep connection with the environment and the natural beauty of the Gorge, one that is set to be a fruitful one.
"I really love that area," Rudd told The Sunday Examiner this week.
"It is obviously ancient, you can feel that as soon you go in there, that there has been a lot of activity in there for thousands of years and I'm impressed by the preservation of it, I think that has been done really well.
"'Seeing that it is right on the edge of the city and the way it has been looked after is very impressive.
"With this in my mind, I reckon it is going to be very powerful when I play there.
"There's a lot spiritual activity around my music and there's a lot of activity that goes on with it that I don't really understand, and I respect it and don't judge it with my ego or try to change it, I just let it be what it is.
"That always brings a lot, and I can stand outside of that and feel it just as other people do.
"There's a lot of spirit that travels with us, and with the Gorge being a sacred site, I feel like there will be a council of ancestors that will be gathering and hanging around while we're all there busy with our ceremony of music.
"That spirit will flow through every individual that is present and will effect people in various ways, even people who don't feel that way or are conscious to that, they will be affected."
The multi- instrumentalist, who has skills playing the guitar, the didgeridoo, stomp box, harmonica, several types of drums, the dobro and the trumpet among others, said there would be a "bit of everything" on offer from his musical catalogue.
"It will be groovy and funky and I'm sure people will be up and dancing to it.
"It will be about giving thanks to being there in this sacred place in a time where everyone is shifting gears (heading into the new year)."
The Basin Concert will be Rudd's first appearance in Launceston since the release of 2012's Spirit Bird.
That was the seventh studio album from this folk-blues man from Torquay in Victoria.
"Because we didn't do Tassie on the Spirit Bird tour, that's why we have chosen to do this show.
"We love it in Tassie, but it's always a bit hard to get to and to do logistically, but this show is perfect for me.
"Tasmania is so special and so overlooked by the rest of Australia when you consider the things that go on in Tassie which go unnoticed to the rest of the world, but slowly there are those changes being made.
"Music is very powerful and important and I always feel extra special going to a place like Tassie.
"For me, going to Tassie is like going to visit your great, great grandmother who is 135, as there is that respect, nervousness and I feel the power and the pain (of the state) when I am in Tasmania.
"I don't plan too much with my music, I just let it come through and be what it is and then watch it unfold.
"It has been a powerful personal and spiritual journey and it (Spirit Bird) was a hugely powerful record for me in a lot of ways."
While Rudd isn't sure whether the smaller "boutique" type festivals such as the Basin Concert were the way of the future in an era where bigger festivals are falling over, he is hopeful that they are.
"While the big festivals have a lot of impact, and it feels a lot like with all the big sponsors that they have, there's not a lot of good that comes from them, and there's more that could be done. Festivals like that turn over so much money, but aren't really looking more into the impact that they are having, be it with local Aboriginal communities or the local environment.
"I find smaller gatherings are more passionate, more family oriented and good things can be borne from them."
Rudd said his next album, Xavier Rudd and the United Nations, which features a nine-piece band and touches on cultures from all over the world, would likely be released in March.
■ Less than a month since going on sale, about half of the 2500 tickets for the Basin Concert have been sold, says promoter Clint Pease.
"That is a really good figure this far out," Pease said. "It's a boutique festival at limited capacity."
More details of the event, which so far has a line-up of Xavier Rudd, Ash Grunwald and Younger Dryas, are expected to be released in the next month.
Tickets cost from $79 and $179 for the VIP option.
They are available from www.basinconcertseries. com.au and Oztix retail outlets.