AFTER 40 years of touring the world, rock icon Jimmy Barnes hunkered down at home last year like never before.
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Living in the Southern Highlands of NSW, Barnes and his wife Jane tended to their garden and fully experienced the four seasons.
Barnes stopped to smell the roses - literally.
"We've got a beautiful rose garden and a vegetable patch," he said.
"I'd get out of bed and pick a bunch of flowers for Jane.
"I found I was really quite good at arranging them; I did that most days."
During the national lockdown amid the coronavirus crisis, Barnes and Jane won friends and influenced people with their heartwarming music videos filmed live in their home.
Jane learnt to play the guitar and Barnes channelled Doris Day: "we played the songs we grew up with".
"Humans need contact," Barnes said.
"With people doing it really tough locked in their homes, particularly in Victoria, we just thought we'd do something to let them know they're not alone.
"It actually helped us too; it ended up being a carthartic experience.
"Jane learnt the guitar from the ground up and I learnt a lot about music; who would have thought I'd be singing Doris Day?!"
Barnes said each day they would plan their meals, inspired by what was growing on their property.
A beyond capable cook, Barnes said he had a reasonable repertoire.
"I cook a lot of things with Japanese charcoal like pork, chicken and vegetables," he said.
"Jane's an excellent cook but I do a lot of Thai, Japanese and Sicilian pasta dishes.
"We've got a cook book coming out this year; Jane is doing the recipes and I'm writing the stories."
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Barnes said 2020 had taught us to go with the flow.
"We've just got to roll with the punches," Barnes said.
"The world is very fluid; you've just got to take things as they come and enjoy each day; now I'm quoting Doris Day again!"
Together with Daryl Braithwaite and Deborah Conway, Barnes will perform at All Saints Estate at Wahgunyah on Monday as part of a 2021 Sounds Better Together concert series.
Barnes said he relished the chance to return to the North East after Cold Chisel's gig last January was cancelled due to the summer bushfire crisis.
"In light of that I'm really pleased I can get back there," Barnes said.
"I said at the time we'd make it back to Rutherglen and even though it's just me this time, we'll play some Cold Chisel."
Gates open at 5pm with Deborah Conway and Willy Zygier from 6.45pm, Daryl Braithwaite from 7.45pm and Jimmy Barnes from 9pm.