Xavier Rudd, the musician, the "bare-footer", the Australian-who-married-the-Canadian, the aboriginal, and the vegetarian....will, for me, be forever known as the guy who blows out of those long wooden pipes. They are actually called didgeridoos and Xavier learned to play them by practicing on vacuum cleaner hoses. He has been described as a "one-man band for the modern age", and after seeing him perform last night at NY's Nokia theater, I could see why. Sitting on a bench in front of his didgeridoos, Rudd managed to go back and forth between the pipes, harmonica, guitars of all kinds, Burton's Yirdaki's, lapsteels by Tim Kill, Djembe drums, shakers, a stomp box, banjos, bells and vocals. The New York Times has said:

"...Xavier Rudd plays jazzy, syncopated guitar as he broods, something like Dave Matthews with an occassional toot of a didjeridu.

And of course, he has quite the popular fan base including bongo lover Matthew McConaughey. Last night's show was full of crazy Aussies who respectfully swayed their lighters while Rudd played out his tribute to Heath (the middle song in video above). Rudd was probably in town for Australia Week and will most likely be leaving soon for a sunnier scene to frolic around bare foot in.

[Happy Australia Day!]