WHY SHAWL IS THE NEW SLEEP(WEAR) FOR BEN LEE AND WIND BACK WEDNESDAY

Mid-ARIAs Ben Lee. Favoured shawl not pictured.

In a month, Ben Lee celebrates/commemorates/has us adjudicate the 20^th anniversary of his career-changing (again) album, Awake Is The New Sleep, with a national tour. He’ll be doing the shows with opening acts, Sally Seltmann, who has a new single out this week and was on the original album tour in 2005 (more on her in coming weeks), and on most shows, Huck Hastings.

That will be nice, sharing the load – you could say, we’re all in this together. So, I will.

But when it comes to the main event, there’ll be no one else to praise/blame than the man himself, which is how it’s always been. And haven’t people found cause to blame him! Why are people so unkind?

None of that here as Wind Back Wednesday takes a very quick run through the Lee mind as it was in 2005 and says, why? And, how? An explainer, if you will. How much different is that mind today? Ah, well, you’ll be able to answer that yourself soon enough.

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A PRECOCIOUS BONDI boy, a good Jewish boy, a smart alec Australian and a musician loved and loathed seemingly in equal measure in his hometown. Ben Lee was many things for such a small package.

He had made nearly half a dozen albums before he was old enough to drink in many of the American States he toured his folk-ish, rock-ish pop songs. Then there was the celebrity pairing with actor Claire Danes, the association with hip hop kingpins the Beastie Boys (who signed him to their Grand Royal label when he was 14) and a self-confidence which was positively awe inspiring.

In retrospect here was a candidate for either a breakdown or a personal and spiritual revelation. He chose the latter. He told one Australian magazine earlier this year that his "spiritual journey" was a case of letting go of control, of the idea that he knew the how and why of everything he was experiencing.

"At some points I've been through things in my life that people are like, ‘How would you go through that? That's so awful.’ We've all been through this. I went through that with breaking up with Claire [Danes] and then my dad dying… all these things happening, leaving Grand Royal… and everyone was like, ‘Oh my God, it's so awful.’ And I was, like, ‘Awful?’

"These were the most liberating things in the world because they gave me the inspiration to go deeper and work out who the hell I am."

If the result brought derision from the sceptical or the fearful, Lee seemed unaffected. "Know your truth," he would say to anyone who asked, and several who didn't. "And you will succeed. No one can take that away from you."

And more? Get closer.

“My most treasured possession would be a red shawl given to my by my spiritual teacher, Narayani Amma. She gave it to me about 2 years ago. I was leaving India after a particularly intense period, getting ready to go to Los Angeles and make Awake is the New Sleep. Amma wrapped herself in this beautiful shawl and sat and meditated for a few minutes.

"I sat in front of her savouring my final moments in this divine setting. She then wrapped the shawl around me and said ‘this shawl now contains Amma's strength and love’.

“The two years since that night have been an amazing journey. As I no longer have any kind of fixed home, and I’m always on the road, the shawl has become my home. I wrap myself in it when I’m tired or depleted and remember the reasons why I am so passionate about the work that I do.

"When I am wrapped in that shawl I remember the lessons I learned with Amma in India, about the importance of service, and about her instruction to me to help people feel more joy in their lives through my music. And suddenly, everything is ok.”

SEE MORE

Ben Lee plays:

UC Refectory, Canberra, September 25

King Str Bandroom, Newcastle, September 26

Liberty Hall, Sydney, September 27

Beach Hotel, Byron Bay, October 2

Princess Theatre, Brisbane, October 3

Miama Marketta, Gold Coast, October 4

Theatre Royal, Castlemain, October 9

Torquay Hotel, October 10

Northcote Theatre, Melbourne, October 11

The Gov, Adelaide, October 17

Fremantle Arts Centre, Front Garden, October 18