When The Going Gets Tough: Guitarist Nick Raschke turns virus isolation into a viral smash

And, as Newcastle guitarist, and a melodic charmer if ever there was one, Nick Raschke has discovered, music can also settle a family argument.

Having entertained crowds as a performer since he was a teenager, Nick Raschke was aware of the power of music. But on April 4, he discovered the peace-making qualities of rock music.

With COVID-19 restrictions having shut his main workplaces - the pubs and clubs around town - Nick had not been playing any music. His guitars had stayed locked away in their road cases.

But then he heard his neighbours across the road debating who had written the song, The Loved One. Was it INXS, or someone else? So with the sound and fury of a rock and roll argument brewing, Nick picked up his 12-string acoustic guitar, sat in front of his mobile phone camera, and pressed "record".

"I did it to settle an argument," he explains.

Nick posted his bluesy version of The Loved One on his Facebook page, with the words, "Lockdown fun".

He settled the argument. In the process Nick began a local must-see, must-listen phenomenon that has become part of the daily routine and coping mechanism for hundreds of people in these times of no live music.

"It just went mad," Nick said of that first song. "And someone said, 'You should do one of these every day'. And being me, I went along with that. And here we are!"

So far, Nick Raschke has recorded and posted 38 songs. Each begins the same way. Nick is in his lounge room, he does that cheeky little boy's smile of his to camera and announces what number song it is, but no mention of a title. Then he launches into it.

While the format is set, the songs are astonishingly diverse. With his virtuosity on twelve strings and his baritone voice, Raschke wanders far and wide across the landscape of rock, and back in time.

He has served up everything from the Rolling Stones to 90s Britpop, from The Velvet Underground to Bowie and the Beatles, from Australian classics to songs you just don't hear coming, such as The Buggles' Video Killed The Radio Star and Crash Test Dummies' Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm.

"There's that surprise about what I'm going to play," he says. "And I definitely do that. It's a surprise! I don't know what I'm going to play!"

No, he doesn't take requests.

"It's about me really," Nick says. "It's about me enjoying a song. And then people get to see me enjoying it."

In turn, people are really enjoying it. The comments of appreciation have come from as far afield as Italy and the United Kingdom. So why does he think a guy sitting in a room playing a guitar has managed to connect with so many people at this time?

"I think it takes them away from their worries for four minutes," he replies. "It's as simple as that.

"I think that's kept me doing it. It's a good distraction for people."

It has been a good distraction for Nick Raschke as well. Usually, to have a break from music, he kayaks and takes exquisite photographs of birds. But with little chance for photography and no gigs to play, he's enjoyed the lounge room performances.

"It definitely dominates a couple of hours of my day, while I worry about what I'm going to play and then learn the damn thing," he says. "And then try and find a happy way to do it.

"So this is definitely a great time-killer for me too."

While Nick's music restored the peace across the road, he reckons the songs have probably been causing a disturbance for his next-door neighbours. Because, he reveals, it's never just one take of recording, and then the song is ready.

"Some songs, it's three takes," Nick says. "But one song took nine hours, with breaks, and about 50 takes to get right! You think, 'Hang on, I can do that better, I can do that differently.' There's a microscopic bad note. I'm a perfectionist."

"It's not like a gig. At a gig, you've got people to show off to. So you get things right. You just nail them because you're showing off. But when there's just a telephone looking at you and a dog glaring at you, there's not a whole lot of adrenaline involved."

But that dog, Bindi, has been an another reason for people to click on Nick's performances. The rescue dog is an unseen, but occasionally heard, performer.

"She's actually learning to be quiet during takes, which is amazing, because she never does anything she's told - ever," he says. "She's been amazing. She's only barked over a few takes of the whole thing."

The virtual audience has also loved the ever-changing bric-a-brac in the background, and Nick's seemingly endless supply of T-shirts, carefully "curated" by his partner, Clare.

"Who knew I had so many T-shirts?!," he laughs. "I haven't run out yet!"

Most days, Nick heads out of the lounge room, just after he has recorded his performance. He works part-time as a cleaner, a job that has taken on extra pressure in recent months.

"At first, it was quite scary," he says. "I don't think enough is made of cleaners, we don't hear about them. But you can't get more front-line than cleaners."

With Nick having been a band member and leader for more than three decades, I wonder how these solo performances in isolation will change him as a musician, especially when he returns to his group, Milestones.

"It's an interesting question," he replies. "I've pondered that. It [performing in a band] is an old suit, and I think I'll just put it back on.

"I'll probably consider doing solo gigs after this, and I've never been able to face that concept. This has forced me to learn to put a song together, and I think I can do that now."

Nick will be posting his performances each weeknight for at least another couple of weeks. He intends to do 50, "then I'll review it".

Anyway, Nick has returned peace to his street, now that the neighbours know who wrote The Loved One. It wasn't INXS but a 1960s group, The Loved Ones. One of the kids got it right. The parents were wrong. For the first time ever in human history.

Strange times, indeed.

To watch more of Nick Raschke's performances, go to: https://www.facebook.com/nick.raschke.71

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