Firestorms, illness and family trauma, David and Merelyn Carter’s life sounds like a country music song. No wonder they keep topping the charts.
David and Merelyn Carter appear to be in a shared state of nirvana. They have temporarily transformed the lounge room of their Kinglake Central home into a rehearsal room, couches pushed aside to make way for multiple musicians and their medley of instruments.
The windows provide glimpses of their 9.3-hectare property, an idyllic setting that holds a wealth of material for the singer-songwriting team. No wonder they look so happy with their lot.
The husband and wife, better known to country music fans as award-winning duo Carter & Carter, are rehearsing for a four-week state tour with fellow country singer-songwriter Tamara Stewart and four-piece band Jetty Road.
Before taking a break for our chat, David belts out the Dingoes’ signature song, Way Out West, and everyone chimes in for Eddie Rabbitt’s hit, I Love a Rainy Night.
A list on the kitchen bench reveals the original songs Carter & Carter will perform on this tour, including several of the hits they’ve enjoyed since their breakthrough number one single on Australia’s country music chart, Dance Away the Night, in 2001.
There have been eight more since – not bad for a self-managed, independent partnership whose highs and lows have not only been documented in song, but shared with others in the form of books and workshops.
This desire to give back is just one of the reasons they are respected in country music circles.
David and Merelyn, both in their 40s, moved to Kinglake Central five years ago, falling in love with the property during a statewide search for a new home base.
“Just look out there,” says Merelyn, gesturing past their mud-brick house to the surrounding Kinglake National Park and Toolangi State Forest, countryside that’s a source of beauty and songwriting inspiration.
“Plus, this was smack-bang in the middle of the fires, so if that’s not inspiration for a while . . .”
During the Black Saturday fires in 2009, the couple chose to stay and defend their home, which was spared when the wind changed direction.
That life-changing event sparked the song Surviving Black Saturday; the lyrics describe wind howling “like a freight train running wild” and “fire raining down like a million falling stars”.
Another, Please Come Home, stems from Merelyn’s pleas for David to return from helping neighbours as the fire front approached.
This was her second terrifying confrontation with bushfire, having lived through Ash Wednesday as a teenager.
“We’re storytellers,” she explains. “Our songs are about family, life and people’s stories. The story behind the song is as important as the song to us.”
The couple met about 20 years ago, when Merelyn hired David to be her guitarist for a three-week tour. Back then, their musical tastes were poles apart.
Merelyn grew up listening to “fluffy gospel pop” and idolising Amy Grant, embracing country music in her 20s.
She was a single mother with two young daughters (now in their 20s, one with two young daughters of her own), working seven jobs to make ends meet. David, musical from the age of 10, was a diehard Bon Jovi fan and told Merelyn in no uncertain terms, “I don’t like the music, but I need the work, so I’ll do the tour”.
One gig led to many more, and eventually their partnership changed from professional to personal.
They married in 1997 and Carter & Carter was born, spawning five independently released albums (despite offers from numerous labels, they say their independence guarantees them control) and nine number one hits on Australia’s country music charts.
Their joint career has been blessed with a string of accolades, the most recent for Duet of the Year at this year’s Victorian and National Country Music Awards for their song Keep Getting Better.
They won a Golden Guitar, for best group/duo at the 2003 Country Music Association of Australia awards, and the following year won a peer-voted APRA Music Award for their song Lead Me Home.
“The APRA one’s a big one for me, because it’s a songwriting award,” Merelyn says.
David also lists tours of Western Australia and New Zealand among his memorable moments. “But really, anywhere you go where people want to listen to your music is fantastic.”
They have toured frequently since they met, spending an estimated eight months of the year away from home entertaining crowds in regional cities, pubs, sporting clubs and RSLs.
“I love that people actually pay to come and watch me sing,” says Merelyn. “That still blows me away every time.”
Merelyn and David offer mentoring workshops for aspiring independent musicians.
“One of the things we found hard when we first started was getting information and the skills, because people were a bit tight-lipped about things,” Merelyn says.
“What we wanted to do was share everything that we know with other people. If you build the industry from the base up, it’s a win for everybody. That’s our motivation and it’s such a joy to watch people achieve their dream, whether it’s to sing at the Christmas party or be a superstar, it doesn’t matter.”
Merelyn added women’s workshops to her repertoire at the beginning of the year. “It’s about women finding themselves, having the courage to follow some of their dreams,” she says. “We as women, particularly with families, tend to over-give ourselves and put ourselves last. [The workshops are] about encouraging women to have a day or two for themselves to nurture and regroup their energy. A happy woman is a happy family, really.”
Last year, Merelyn shared her story in her autobiography, The Deepest Part of Me. What started as a post-Black Saturday debrief turned into a debrief of her entire life.
The book charts her survival through two firestorms, life as a single mother, David’s surgery to remove a tumour on his spine and the family surviving a major car accident.
“Like most people, I’d gone through a lot of hard stuff and when I was going through those times, I really wanted to hear other people’s positive stories,” she says.
“Everybody’s journey is not the same, but we all have similar ups and downs. If you can strengthen somebody by letting them know it’s OK and they will get through the other side, that’s my motivation.”
Another book, Carter & Carter: The Stories Behind the Songs, was released in July and as the title suggests, gives fans a deeper understanding of how the lyrics came to be.
The Carters will take a break before they go back on the road next month, this time touring interstate. It’s a cycle they’re more than happy to continue.
“I’m definitely not one of these people who wants to be world famous,” says David. “We just want to make music that brings people together and makes them happy.”
This humble ambition reflects the couple’s strong views on Australia’s music culture and their hope that their contribution will help generate change. “Music is really part of our souls and in Australia we’ve sort of lost that,” David says.
“We don’t sit around at a party and pull out a guitar and sing as a group. We find that when you’re together with a group of people and everyone’s having a sing, there’s a vibe and energy in the room that is what we’re meant to have.”
“Music needs to be brought right back into our culture,” adds Merelyn. “It’s not just another form of entertainment. This is actually how we tell stories of Australia and the stories of our life and community. That’s really important for us to keep that going.”
