Why Wauchope holds a special place in David Bridie's heart

The master musician, who has gently and sometimes almost imperceptibly left his stamp on the Australian music industry, is getting back out on the road. But it's not a tour as such.

He explains it this way: "I'm playing little gigs at places I've played before where it's felt right."

And that is why he's arriving in the very familiar surrounds of Wauchope on the NSW Mid North Coast on October 15.

The gig at Wauchope Community Arts Hall will be his fifth but unlike the others, it will be a solo affair.

"I love Wauchope for so many reasons," Bridie says from Alice Springs.

"It's a performance space with a wonderful piano; the people there have a take on art that I agree with; and from the moment I arrive there, to the gig, to the next morning, it's always a special experience."

So, not a lot to live up to, right?

Things is, Bridie can't wait to sit at Wauchope's Kawai piano again.

"A totally solo gig with such a great grand piano - I know it will work."

And it's not as if he'll be short on material. Beyond his most recent solo offerings, Bridie will dip into the archives of his bands and collaborations.

That means the evocative sounds of Not Drowning, Waving; the chamber pop of My Friend the Chocolate Cake plus any number of cross-cultural partnerships are there for his taking.

It is, by any reckoning, a substantive body of work. And Bridie, with a touch of humility, knows it.

"Playing something from every album isn't feasible but looking back through the archive is revealing.

"For instance, I look at Brood (the Cake's second album) and there literally are seven songs that could be included - easily.

"So curating a retrospective set list is a challenge," he admitted.

The one song from Brood the Wauchope crowd can expect is The Pramsitters.

It's your archetypal Bridie song - essentially, a story presenting as one thing but scratch the surface, and it's quite another.

It's about the cycle of life and, after visiting his aged mum recently, Bridie vowed to play the song at Wauchope.

"Just the thought of it makes me tearful," he said.

But then, moments later, recollections of his aunt - Port Macquarie's Joy Stiller - surface and that prompts a stream of fond memories.

"She was in the Army in World War II and called a spade a ... well, you know."

"She was amazing - lived to be 99 years and eight months, but at 93 came to a show and was just so proud.

"She also made me play a song for the people in her nursing home, insisting that I was really famous.

"No one had any clue who I was."

It's safe to say that won't be the case on October 15 when Bridie knows he'll be among friends.

David Bridie will play "Following the Geography" at Wauchope Community Arts Hall on October 15. Tickets are available online here