Paul Kelly's long-awaited memoir has its genesis in a series of Spiegeltent concerts first staged in 2004. Over four nights Kelly performed one hundred of his songs in alphabetical order. From the anecdotes he told in between songs grew How to Make Gravy – a memoir like no other.

Paul Kelly is a born storyteller. For the past thirty years he has written songs inspired by everything from cricket to religion, from social issues to literature, and of course the land and the history of Australia. His songs have the power to connect people of all generations and favourites such as Before Too Long, Dumb Things From Little Things Big Things Grow, How To Make Gravy, Leaps and Bounds and 'To Her Door' are included in this fascinating musical memoir.

How to Make Gravy's four sections mirror the four nights of the A-Z shows. Each chapter starts with a song lyric followed by a story. Some stories tell Kelly's personal and family history, some take you on a road trip with the band, some form an idiosyncratic history of popular music, others offer insights into the songwriter's art – from the point of inspiration to writing, honing, collaborating, performing, recording and reworking.

Playful and honest, insightful and intimate, How to Make Gravy is an irresistible reflection on the big and little things in life.

How to Make Gravy is also available with a companion CD boxed set entitled The A-Z Recordings that includes a 64-page booklet of photos (RRP $125).

Paul Kelly has recorded seventeen studio albums as well as several film soundtracks and live albums, in an influential career spanning more than thirty years. He was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame in 1997. His prose has appeared in Meanjin, The Monthly, Rolling Stone and The Age.

In conversation with Bernard Zuel, senior music writer for the Sydney Morning Herald.

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