Paul Kelly Confirms A 'How To Make Gravy' Sequel Song Is On The Way

Paul Kelly has confirmed that he’s written a sequel to his iconic single, How To Make Gravy.

Discussing the huge news with Henry Wagons on Double J, Kelly revealed that the forthcoming song is called Rita Wrote A Letter.

Rita is one of the main characters in the story of How To Make Gravy (the song and 2024 film). She’s married to Joe, who’s incarcerated and writes to his brother, Dan, ahead of the family’s Christmas meal—Joe traditionally makes the gravy for Christmas, but in the song, he makes it in prison.

“There’s a song; there’s a sequel to How To Make Gravy called Rita Wrote A Letter,” Kelly told Wagons in a recent chat during the Tower Of Song segment.

After Wagons quipped that “It’s like a Marvel franchise that continues” to laughs from Kelly, and that people are waiting for part two of the song, Kelly continued, “I had the idea for that song for quite a while. Rita Wrote A Letter – it’s been in the notebook for a while.

“Dan Kelly, my nephew, had a piece of music that he’d written on piano, sort of New Orleans-style piano, and he said, ‘Put some words to that.’ And that was… that’s the name of the song, Rita Wrote A Letter.”

Kelly concluded, “I always wanted to sort of have more, I guess, her point of view in that whole situation. It took a little dark turn, but I can’t really say much more about that.”

While Kelly didn’t share a release date for Rita Wrote A Letter, knowing there’s a sequel to How To Make Gravy is exciting enough for us. You can check out the interview here and watch a snippet below.

Paul Kelly caught up with Double J ahead of his forthcoming arena tour across Australia and New Zealand, where he’ll be joined by special guests Lucinda Williams, Fanny Lumsden, and Reb Fountain.

One Melbourne date on Kelly’s upcoming tour has sold out, with the second not far behind. The tour features ten arena dates in August and September across Perth, Brisbane, Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide, Melbourne, Christchurch, Wellington, and Auckland. You can find tickets via the Frontier Touring website.

Kelly is touring with his impressive live band, including Peter Luscombe (drums), Bill McDonald (bass), Dan Kelly (guitar), Cameron Bruce (keys), Jess Hitchcock (vocals), and Ash Naylor (guitar).

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