For a guy who's made his career out of singing about "going bush", Neil Murray's been stuck a long time in the Big Smoke. Regular pub gigs over the past 12 months to promote his debut solo album, Calm & Crystal Clear, have kept the former Warumpi Band singer/guitarist away from the outback.

But not for much longer. Sydney fans of Neil's self-styled "outback rock" have little more than a month to catch up with him and his band, the Rainmakers, before he shoots through at last to the Northern Territory.

"Living in Sydney's fine, as long as I think I'm not here permanently and I can get away," Neil said last week. "I'm going up to the Territory at the end of March for three months, so that'll be a good break. I'm heading for Central Australia, then the top end."

Naturally Neil will be dropping in on his mates from the Warumpi Band. He first met up with them while teaching at the Aboriginal settlement of Papunya in Central Australia.

For those who missed seeing their inspirational concerts, the Warumpi Band's recording include two great albums, Big Name No Blankets and go Bush! - both worth tracking down. Nowadays, Neil usually includes at least a couple of Warumpi Band songs in his live shows.

He'll probably join the guys from the Warumpi Band for a couple of gigs while he's in the Centre. "They're all mainly doing things other than music," he said. "They do the occasional gigs around the settlements and various line-ups often turn up in Alice Springs on a Monday night for a jam but they're not doing much more than that. I might do a couple of shows with them just for the hell of it. But mainly, I desperately need some time away to write some more material for another album."

When he returns, the Rainmakers will get back together - but perhaps with line-up changes.

The song Ocean of Regret will this week be the third to be released from Calm & Crystal Clear as a single. This touching ballad comes with a 'bonus single", Clever Man, also from the album. The flipsides, Silver City and seven Days of Rain, are both previously unreleased out-takes from the album.

Perhaps the choice of Ocean of Regret was to counter-balance the predominantly bush-orientated themes of other standout songs such as the title track and Wilderness. But, apart from that, it is a beautiful song.

"Ocean of Regret makes the observation about relationships that it's better to try and be truthful than operate on levels of deceit because you're trying to keep something going," Neil said. "Even if the truth that arrives is a sad truth, that ultimately has a restorative effect."