John Williamson may be winding down touring after 52 years but he still has a lot to say

The iconic 75-year-old singer-songwriter with 52 years in the entertainment industry under his belt is busier than ever. This 40-date national tour will continue into 2022.

Williamson's wife Meg answers the phone and says he is working in the shed down the back of their Springbrook property on the Gold Coast hinterland, and she calls out for him to hurry up.

"I'm not looking to retire just yet, but once my Winding Back tour is done I'll be scaling down my live appearances and just popping up here and there," Williamson says, settling into a chair.

"Winding back means I'm looking forward to spending more time in the garden and less time away from home."

In theory, anyway. Last year's pandemic-driven lockdown of the entertainment industry forced him to "wind down" a year early. Now, he jokes, he has to "wind up again".

"I wound down during COVID whether I liked it or not, but I'm paying for it now though. When we had to cancel shows last year they were crammed into this year."

When Williamson wandered into Richmond's GTV9 studios in 1970 with a guitar under his arm to perform Old Man Emu, the Mallee-born farmer never thought he'd make a career out of performing.

He certainly didn't think he'd still be performing five decades down the dusty track.

"Both of my grandfathers died of old age before the age I am now," he muses.

"It's kind of hard to imagine that they would have been out doing what I'm doing because they were really old buggers, but then again everyone is younger these days.

"It's all in the mind, really. But physically, the old lungs are getting sore and so are my joints, from years of tapping my foot on the box I have on stage. As soon as I start a show I forget all about the pain though."

He admits he's not match fit but likens performing to riding a bike. You might be a little rusty, but you never really forget how.

Williamson has made an art of expertly capturing Australia in song. He paints lyrical pictures of our unique fauna and flora, landscapes and people, and has encapsulated the beauty, wonder and, sometimes, heartbreak of life Down Under.

From boabs to billabongs and snowy mountains to sandy beaches, his songs span 52 albums and have earned him honours including a spot in the ARIA Hall of Fame, an Order of Australia, 28 Golden Guitar awards and an Australian Roll of Renown induction.

Last November Williamson's song True Blue was inducted into the National Film and Sound Archives "Sounds Of Australia", recognising its significance as an iconic Australian song. He is known for giving a voice to the Aussie battler through his songs while shining a light on issues affecting the Australian community.

In 2017 Williamson released two singles that tackled timely social and environmental issues within Australia: Pigs On The River and Love Is The Word.

Pigs On The River was inspired by a story he watched on Four Corners about irrigators in the Murray-Darling river system. Love Is The Word was his stance against a perceived lack of love in the world, where he expressed his feelings towards marriage equality and the ongoing debate about it.

"Any irrigators along the Murray-Darling River System who are using water that they are not entitled to should be brought to justice," Williamson said in 2017.

"They are thieves and should be ashamed of themselves.

"I hope Pigs On The River encourages true blue Australians to stand up to these bullies. The perpetrators give other irrigators a bad name, and cause people down the river to suffer."

Of Love Is The Word he says: "I feel very sad for my grandkids while there is a lack of love for the Earth in the world. Hate and extreme nationalism are on the increase."

In 2020 he wrote another protest song, this one called The Great Divide.

"It's funny how you wanna go, When they say you're gonna stay at home, We're a land of nomads, Born free to roam, I thought we were a country, But it seems we're three or four, Can't go back to my home town, 'Cause it's against the law."

He says the song was about how Australian had been "cut up during COVID".

"In my business it's very much about being wholly Australian ... I was born in Victoria and developed my career based in Sydney and I'm retiring in Queensland. I've never really liked the idea of borders anyway."

Talking about the country he loves gets Williamson fired up. As a memory of him walking around a football field playing his guitar and singing Waltzing Matilda prior to a Wallabies match springs into my mind, I mention that if anyone can pull Australians together at this time, it could well be him.

"This country beats in my heart. I love every state. There's so much countryside here that you can love that is completely different to the next. You've got the Kimberleys and the Pilbara and the tropical parts of Queensland, they're all so different.

"We're so lucky, you know? I hope COVID has made people realise you don't really need to go anywhere else to have a great time. We're all Aussies and maybe we can appreciate what we've got now a little more."