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'Around the Traps' in May 2011
Darn.. missed the Peninsula Folk Club Shanty night.. got my dates wrong. Nevermind, I sang some specially prepared songs in some other places instead. At the "Mountain Pickers" night at Burrinja Cafe, I was privileged to have Maggie Duncan accompany me with some fine fiddling on 'Lord Franklin's Lament'. Violinist Will played along with some more seafaring songs (including Stan Roger's 'Northwest Passage') and a bluegrass number. Listened to the Appalachian Heaven old time string band - the feature act, and enjoyed their lively fiddle tunes. See the links page for more details on this band. Played at Selby Folk Club for the first time and it was intimate. I don't know how many were there that night in the small community house but it felt like I could reach out and touch them all. The cosy venue was packed, the audience drawn in by the featured support act Nick and Liesl and the main act - RANT. Nick and Liesl hail from NSW and are currently on tour - bringing a great mellow indie folk sound. RANT brought with them a varied blend of instrumentation to produce a modern Celtic sound, including: harp, whistle, keyboards and double-neck guitar. I liked their song about Gavin and the Dragon. Their CD has Ted Egan's 'Arnhem Land Lullaby' which Carrie Young sings beautifully.
More new venues: GEMCO Hall in Emerald, Ringwood Folk
The very pretty town of Emerald, up in the hills near Puffing Billy, is very fortunate to have Carol McCoy hosting their monthly concert at GEMCO Hall every first Saturday of the month. An unplugged venue, it's pure acoustic, informal, very friendly, fun with a glass or two of wine and highly interactive. Alex and Gayle kindly invited me to the Victorian Folk Music Club, otherwise known as Ringwood Folk for a fine evening, again an unplugged venue relying on room acoustics and talent rather than electronics. I must thank Mick for backing me up with his bass vocals. The featured act was Dave Clark, Kathy Townsend and Dave's son, Woody. The South Australian background was evident in the music which featured colonial and celtic influences, even in the modern originals they performed. The combination of accordian, guitar and double bass worked well with Woody using a classical guitar at times. I can't remember the names of the songs, but some of their duos between Dave and Kathy were very nice. I recommend anyone heading out South Australia way to drop by and visit Dave's "Singing Gallery" which amongst other things is used as a concert venue every first Friday of the month for their Music Club. You can find more details on the links page under "Dave Clark".
Fathers in the Chapel
What can I say about this place? It never fails to surprise! Acts for May's concert included Fat Chance playing bluegrass, Ian Castles and his country music, Chris Newman with some Neil Diamond songs and Pat De Leo who is just a "one-of-a-kind" original.
Caulfield RSL
Jan Dandridge "Little Miss Country" put in a great effort to help organise the Country Music night for the Caulfield RSL and I was fortunate to be in the line-up of performers there. Not only did Jan help organise the night, but she also performed with her band "The Kick Ass Cowbows" (not the Kiss Ass Cowboys Chris!) and did some dancing as well. It's an old RSL with a large stone fireplace, a roaring great fire and a tiny stage, so you've got to watch your step. Chris Newman and his band 'Yesteryear' performed some lively songs, including some tunes by Steve Earl. They made the most of their wireless guitars by running around the audience while playing.
Aged Care Facilities
I hope the residents at Trewint enjoyed their afternoon concert in May. There was some good backup singing there John!
Pittwater Bluegrass Retreat
If you want to get involved in real jamming, you won't find a better place than Pittwater in May each year. Great job Mark and Laura for organising this blossoming Bluegrass event. Pittwater is the place to be inspired, to have fun and to perhaps even learn a thing or two from some of the more experienced bluegrass players in Australia. Dave Hellens made a welcome appearance and impressed with his banjo as always. I particularly enjoyed jamming with Judy and Rod Jones and later with Hunter and Suzy. Who knows, next year I might even be able to play a few more breaks on all these new tunes I'm learning. Sarah and Michael, the hostel managers were very welcoming and even managed to get me onboard Tim's 8m 'Balthazar ' in a local yacht race. What a weekend!
Click on the video below left, to sample one of the sessions I captured on the porch. Here's a test for you - see if you can tell how everyone knows when to finish, there is a signal from one of the players. Jams just don't get much better than this. There is no MC, no music sheets, no sound system, no stage, no choreography, just music, intuition and collaboration. The second video is that of the fantastic cooks: Laura and Kate. Without exaggeration, their food was totally scrumptious and their guinness steak pie was the best I have ever eaten... ever!
Darn.. missed the Peninsula Folk Club Shanty night.. got my dates wrong. Nevermind, I sang some specially prepared songs in some other places instead. At the "Mountain Pickers" night at Burrinja Cafe, I was privileged to have Maggie Duncan accompany me with some fine fiddling on 'Lord Franklin's Lament'. Violinist Will played along with some more seafaring songs (including Stan Roger's 'Northwest Passage') and a bluegrass number. Listened to the Appalachian Heaven old time string band - the feature act, and enjoyed their lively fiddle tunes. See the links page for more details on this band. Played at Selby Folk Club for the first time and it was intimate. I don't know how many were there that night in the small community house but it felt like I could reach out and touch them all. The cosy venue was packed, the audience drawn in by the featured support act Nick and Liesl and the main act - RANT. Nick and Liesl hail from NSW and are currently on tour - bringing a great mellow indie folk sound. RANT brought with them a varied blend of instrumentation to produce a modern Celtic sound, including: harp, whistle, keyboards and double-neck guitar. I liked their song about Gavin and the Dragon. Their CD has Ted Egan's 'Arnhem Land Lullaby' which Carrie Young sings beautifully.
More new venues: GEMCO Hall in Emerald, Ringwood Folk
The very pretty town of Emerald, up in the hills near Puffing Billy, is very fortunate to have Carol McCoy hosting their monthly concert at GEMCO Hall every first Saturday of the month. An unplugged venue, it's pure acoustic, informal, very friendly, fun with a glass or two of wine and highly interactive. Alex and Gayle kindly invited me to the Victorian Folk Music Club, otherwise known as Ringwood Folk for a fine evening, again an unplugged venue relying on room acoustics and talent rather than electronics. I must thank Mick for backing me up with his bass vocals. The featured act was Dave Clark, Kathy Townsend and Dave's son, Woody. The South Australian background was evident in the music which featured colonial and celtic influences, even in the modern originals they performed. The combination of accordian, guitar and double bass worked well with Woody using a classical guitar at times. I can't remember the names of the songs, but some of their duos between Dave and Kathy were very nice. I recommend anyone heading out South Australia way to drop by and visit Dave's "Singing Gallery" which amongst other things is used as a concert venue every first Friday of the month for their Music Club. You can find more details on the links page under "Dave Clark".
Fathers in the Chapel
What can I say about this place? It never fails to surprise! Acts for May's concert included Fat Chance playing bluegrass, Ian Castles and his country music, Chris Newman with some Neil Diamond songs and Pat De Leo who is just a "one-of-a-kind" original.
Caulfield RSL
Jan Dandridge "Little Miss Country" put in a great effort to help organise the Country Music night for the Caulfield RSL and I was fortunate to be in the line-up of performers there. Not only did Jan help organise the night, but she also performed with her band "The Kick Ass Cowbows" (not the Kiss Ass Cowboys Chris!) and did some dancing as well. It's an old RSL with a large stone fireplace, a roaring great fire and a tiny stage, so you've got to watch your step. Chris Newman and his band 'Yesteryear' performed some lively songs, including some tunes by Steve Earl. They made the most of their wireless guitars by running around the audience while playing.
Aged Care Facilities
I hope the residents at Trewint enjoyed their afternoon concert in May. There was some good backup singing there John!
Pittwater Bluegrass Retreat
If you want to get involved in real jamming, you won't find a better place than Pittwater in May each year. Great job Mark and Laura for organising this blossoming Bluegrass event. Pittwater is the place to be inspired, to have fun and to perhaps even learn a thing or two from some of the more experienced bluegrass players in Australia. Dave Hellens made a welcome appearance and impressed with his banjo as always. I particularly enjoyed jamming with Judy and Rod Jones and later with Hunter and Suzy. Who knows, next year I might even be able to play a few more breaks on all these new tunes I'm learning. Sarah and Michael, the hostel managers were very welcoming and even managed to get me onboard Tim's 8m 'Balthazar ' in a local yacht race. What a weekend!
Click on the video below left, to sample one of the sessions I captured on the porch. Here's a test for you - see if you can tell how everyone knows when to finish, there is a signal from one of the players. Jams just don't get much better than this. There is no MC, no music sheets, no sound system, no stage, no choreography, just music, intuition and collaboration. The second video is that of the fantastic cooks: Laura and Kate. Without exaggeration, their food was totally scrumptious and their guinness steak pie was the best I have ever eaten... ever!
