Retired accountant Neil Anthony says most of his former number-crunching colleagues prefer to avoid the limelight but the evergreen songwriter has always done things a bit differently.
Since retiring, the 67-year-old, from Mortdale in Sydney’s south, has thrown himself into his passion of writing, recording and performing country music.
Neil has built a strong reputation as an entertainer of Sydney’s seniors scene – performing two to three times a week at RSL clubs, bowling clubs, retirement villages, community centres and other venues for seniors.
He has also recorded more than 200 songs, released three albums, seen several of his songs in country music charts here and overseas, released his own music videos and amassed more than 60,000 views on YouTube.
In May, he released his newest song, Small Town Ways (inspired by his childhood in Orange), which has already been viewed almost 30,000 times on YouTube, has received widespread airplay by country radio stations and will feature on his upcoming fourth album.
Neil said his love of writing music dated back to the end of high school, when he would write rock music for his band.
While he continued to perform throughout his accounting career, his songwriting became more and more sporadic before his retirement and a subsequent decision to focus on music more seriously in retirement.
Subsequent songs he wrote and recorded including Peanut Butter on Toast, Tamworth Country Gold and The Grey Nomads have proven to be popular with audiences.
Something of an all-rounder, Neil taught a music business course at TAFE from 2000-07, which he said taught him about a different aspect of the industry, as did a sound engineering course.
He said he was now virtually his own “cottage industry” writing, recording and engineering his own songs and also serving as his own manager.
Neil’s videos can be found by searching his name on YouTube and his music can be ordered via his website and is also available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify.
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