At a glance the schedule for twelve months of Mick's professional life could seem an unholy mess.

There may be a season of The Tank (the theatre show he wrote with his brother), into a solo tour of Europe or North America, studio production work, soundtrack work, not to mention his obligations to Croxton Records or gigs with his fine band The Sure Thing. Hell - Weddings, Parties, Anything might even do the odd show or three these days.

But somehow it all seems to come together for the very reason that at the centre of it all lies a simple regard for music - for the performing of it, the nurturing of its potential and the simple human virtues of playing it alongside other equally enthusiastic people. It's the simple regard for the song in its pure form and the genuine feeling of being grateful for the opportunity such a varied schedule affords in terms of the potential for experimentation that fuels the whole process.

Receiving the Artist of the Year Award at the 2008 Port Fairy Folk Festival was certainly a memorable moment in Mick's recent history - but maybe it was hearing Memphis luminary Jim Dickinson release a version of a song Mick penned for the Weddings all those years ago that was the sweetest thing (No No Never - from the 2007 release Killers From Space), or perhaps it was the plain joy at getting back out on the road with Weddings, Parties, Anything and selling out a whole load of rooms to people who just wanted to hear all those songs, ten years after the band's demise. But these are by no means the only accolades in a career that seems to be intent on taking its own quietly anarchic course.

Stay tuned for details as Mick Thomas and a small group of dedicated accomplices plot the next installment in an intriguing cultural journey that no GPS could hope to follow.