Veteran Kiwi country lads The Warratahs prefer their musical bursts to be succinct, writes Shane Gilchrist.
And though he has had some fine times, he's a little more discerning these days.
Gone are the days when the band would tour for several weeks.
Now, he and his band-mates prefer to operate in small bursts, such as The Warratahs forthcoming visit to the South, which includes shows in Oamaru, Hawea and Queenstown.
''Five or six days are enough now,'' the singer-songwriter said from his Wellington home earlier this week, adding such an approach preserves the health of band members as well as the equilibrium of internal relationships.
''Touring for five or six weeks, it doesn't become music anymore - it's survival.
''I won't say I didn't enjoy every moment of it, because it produced some wonderful moments and songs, but I think everyone just gets to a point where they don't want to do it any more.''
On the subject of succinct musical bursts, The Warratahs' seventh album, Runaway Days, their first studio release in more than nine years, was a wham-bam affair.
Recorded in two days at a Devonport studio and recently released on Southbound Records, it entered the top 10 of both the New Zealand album charts and country music charts.
The Warratahs, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary next year, have earned a reputation for strong songwriting.
And Runaway Days is no facsimile of p
revious efforts; it encapsulates both Saunders' insightful lyricism as well as a band in tight-yet-loose form.
''We weren't doing anything at the time so I suggested we do something out of Wellington. A couple of the guys live in Auckland anyway, so we whacked the songs down.
''It was not meant to be an album, but when we listened back we thought the songs really talked and there were some good performances.''
Such an approach was not without its pressures: it put heat on Saunders, as main songwriter, to have his material well-honed before recording begins; and on the band, which was required to build steam fast.
''That's what I think people have liked about this album. It sounds like it was meant to be,'' Saunders reflects.
''I know that sounds a bit high and mighty, but it's better than labouring over something.''
One recent review noted Runaway Days was an exercise in ''plain-ness''. Certainly, there are no frills as Saunders' band-mates, Nick Theobald (bass, backing vocals), Mike Knapp (drums) and Nick Brown (violin, mandolin) largely focus on building grooves (albeit in a country/folky/bluesy way) to preserve the heart of the song.
'' A lot of the songs are tied up with the biography of the band, really,'' Saunders explained.
''Runaway Days is about ... well, they're burying Graham Brazier today,'' he said, referring to the recent death of the Hello Sailor singer.
• His point is, no-one is getting any younger.
''It's about getting a band together to play a few songs and, almost 30 years later ...'' the 64-year-old trails off.
''I think Mt Victoria Rain is the most 'felt' track.
''We had some good times there - good and bad,'' Saunders says, referring to the house he shared with former band-mate and pianist Wayne Mason, with whom he wrote Hands of my Heart.
That song earned the pair a Silver Scroll nomination and, with Maureen, was one of two hits on The Warratahs' 1987 debut album, Only Game in Town.
''I didn't try to do anything with this album, really. It was just a bunch of songs, but they seemed to fit.
''The kids are in there, too, with Little Flame. I wrote that when my daughter Sarah was a young thing. She's 15 now.''
Among the examples of strong lyrical imagery, Day In A Million stands out as a poignant personal reflection on the Christchurch earthquake of February 22, 2011. Saunders was staying in Lyttelton at the time.
''We got hit by the quake and I gave a lift to a young woman. She was from Governor's Bay and was looking for her son. I dropped her off in Sydenham and never saw her again.
''It was a pretty devastating day, you know? That song came out a while later. I'd written it down somewhere.''
The stripped-back nature of Runaway Days has its benefits.
When The Waratahs take the album on the road, they don't need to reinvent themselves in order to replicate the album's songs.
''I can play those songs solo or with the band. They all sit up by themselves. They are fairly lyric-driven and don't require too much playing.
''When we first started, we performed pretty straight country music and that required us to play our instruments a lot. Now, the nature of the songs opens up more space. It's quite a good place to be.''
The shows
The Warratahs play the following dates in the South.
• Brydone Hotel, Oamaru, Friday, September 18
• Lake Hawea Hotel, Saturday, September 19
• Sherwood, Queenstown, Sunday, September 20
• As part of The Church Tour, Barry Saunders also plays with Delaney Davidson, Tami Neilson and Marlon Williams at Knox Church, Dunedin, on October 10.
• The Warratahs' Runaway Days is out now on Southbound Records.
