SILVER MOON performed by The Stereo Stories Band.

A few weeks before our show in early January 2022 at the Memo Music Hall in St Kilda, Mike Nesmith died. Initially known for being part of The Monkees, he was also a fine songwriter, with Silver Moon amongst his credits. (Joanne, Some of Shelley’s Blues, Propinquity, Different Drum, Rio…).

He toured Australia way back in 1977, recording a concert album at The Palais in St Kilda, just a block from the Memo.

So it seemed appropriate to perform one of his songs at that January gig.

But, of course, Nesmith was not the only musician to die during 2020 and 2021, the peak years of Covid. To name just a few: Charlie Watts, Stephen Sondheim, John Prine, Mary Wilson of The Supremes, Nanci Griffith, Chris Bailey, Doug Parkinson and Mark Gillespie.

We dedicated Silver Moon not just to musicians who had died in that period but, given our show is mostly performed at writers’ festivals (the Memo a rare exception), to recently deceased writers – especially Australian authors, including Clive James, Frank Moorhouse, Ania Walwicz, Kate Jennings, Bruce Dawe and Aidan Fennessy.

After the Memo gig, Silver Moon became part of the set list for shows that year at Williamstown, Mildura, and Albury (where the above footage was filmed).