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Half way through 2018 and it's been a busy year. March was particularly busy as it's the most popular month for festivals and other music events, but the expected slow down still hasn't arrived yet.
We've had some tremendous shows with Tidal Moon. Many of the places we've performed at this year were either filled to capacity or over 90% full. In particular we've enjoyed playing in several venues in Gippsland including Mount Best and The Paynesville Wine Bar. My collaboration with Barbara Jeffrey continues to grow and increase in success and I especially enjoy the Celtic flavours we have been producing in our music. This Winter we're slowing things down a little to allow for Barbara time to relocate to Queensland. Don't worry, we'll still be performing. It's just that rehearsals will be slightly more difficult. Check out the band website: http://www.tidalmoonmusic.com. We enjoyed a recent performance at the Peninsula Folk Club (July). We're looking forward to playing again in Frankston at the Frankston Library who has been hosting us over several years. We are particularly looking forward to the Irish & Celtic Festival in Yass (September) and we're already looking forward to 2019 supporting the Ringwood Highland Games in both performing and managing their music. The jam sessions I convene at Jammalong in Melbourne keeps on going with new faces appearing all the time. In July, I'll be running a series of workshops on jamming. Whilst having a bluegrass flavour, it will focus on participation, utilising traditional jam techniques. This means it will contain the common elements found within jams in genres such as bluegrass, old-time, Celtic and folk. Thanks go to the City of Casey who funded these workshops as part of their Art budget and to Folk Uniting Night who are hosting the event in their hall. This year the Dandy Mountain Rangers has started up at Upwey RSL and I support that when I can. It's a great jam session which in some ways is a continuation of the previous sessions run there by Mountain Pickers Association. It runs parallel to the jammalong sessions at Jells Park and its first session was actually a combined Jammalong/Dandy Mountain Rangers jam. It's convened by Michael DeValle who I've played with many times in the band Jose & The Amigos. Jose & The Amigos continues with gigs, small and large, often presenting members from the jam sessions up on stage. We've enjoyed our recent gigs at Folk Uniting Night in Cranbourne, at Make Music in the Hills concert at Emerald (June 21) and the Newport Folk Festival. Our next performance is in Cranbourne on the 21st of July, supporting the efforts of jamming workshop participants. A great surprise this year has been my involvement with Lentil as Anything, Thornbury. I've been organising music there every Thursday evening, initially as a pilot for a couple of months but now we are continuing for the whole year. It's an awesome social enterprise and we enjoy playing music there. With support from Community Music Victoria, Music Mission, Emerald Community House and the wider community of Emerald, including secondary and primary schools, I spent a lot of time on "Make Music Day". This is an in international event which Australia has only just taken an interest in. June 21st saw a large number of different activities taking place throughout Australia and in over 120 countries around the world. I'm happy to have played a part in this, organising events in the Hills of Melbourne (Dandenong Ranges) called Make Music in the Hills and to a smaller extend in Thornbury. Involvement with the Sandford Bush Festival in March was a real highlight for the year. I am delighted to be included in the 2019 event in a much larger role - looking after one of their stages as well as performing. My involvement there will of course mean that I will promote jamming and grassroots musical participation and will encourage as many of you as I can to get up on the stage and play. You can expect to hear more about Sandford and it's associate town of Casterton in the future. I have continued association with the Cockatoo RSL. This year's ANZAC Day celebrations went very well and it's a privilege to play music there, particularly on special days like ANZAC Day. I really enjoyed performing there in June with Belinda Anderson and look forward to performing there again soon. For the latest details, please go to my Facebook page which is updated much more regularly than this website. Jose Garcia July 2018 |
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For the most up-to-date news, and all gig news, please go to my Facebook page.
Clicking on one of the four pictures below will take you its related link.
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Jammalong in Melbourne
Music lovers gathering together in Melbourne's Jells Park every month to share music in a friendly environment. Unplugged, raw and fantastic. 12pm, on the 2nd Saturday of each month, near Madeline's Cafe. 
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Jose & The Amigos
A performance group born from the friendships ignited at jam sessions such as Jammalong in Melbourne. Bluegrass foraging and raiding led by bandito Jose. |
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The Butcherers
Bluegrass with chops and gravy!
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Tidal Moon
"Acoustic ripples upon a sea of imagination." Jose Garcia with Barbara Jeffrey. Classical/Celtic meets Country/Folk to produce a combination that has soaring, siren-like qualities tempered with the low tones of tectonic plates moving, blended with guitar, flute, Celtic harp, djembe, harmonica and charango. |
Welcome!
G'day and welcome! This site's aim is simple - to provide an on-line interface between myself and anyone "out there" who may be interested in my music. I'm involved in a few different projects including convening the group 'Jammalong in Melbourne', various collaborations with different artists such as the fabulous Barbara Jeffrey as well as playing in my bluegrass bands Jose & The Amigos.
Whilst my primary focus is on performance, I do provide custom guitar tutoring, pitched at basic to intermediate levels. Contact me to discuss your requirements, if this interests you. If you've got any comments, want to see me play, listen to who I'm listening to, see if I'm available to play for an event, you can use this website to find information and to contact me.
Facebook is the most up-to-date online source for information and most of my gigs are now listed on Facebook as it's easier to maintain. I'd rather be playing music than conducting administration!
Cheers!
Jose
[July 2018]
Whilst my primary focus is on performance, I do provide custom guitar tutoring, pitched at basic to intermediate levels. Contact me to discuss your requirements, if this interests you. If you've got any comments, want to see me play, listen to who I'm listening to, see if I'm available to play for an event, you can use this website to find information and to contact me.
Facebook is the most up-to-date online source for information and most of my gigs are now listed on Facebook as it's easier to maintain. I'd rather be playing music than conducting administration!
Cheers!
Jose
[July 2018]
A short promotional video for Make Music in the Hills
Where is Jose?
If you find out, please let my wife know. But seriously folks, please don't ask me to play in Colombia, next week 'cause I live in beautiful Melbourne, Victoria, Australia - Home.
