Steve's travels

Hi All,

sorry I missed out on the September meeting and NOSH for October. Ann and I were on holidays in Broken Hill and the Flinders Ranges, and yes! I took my bass with me. Echuca is the furthest it has travelled, so it was keen to come along, plus I could have some practice to avoid getting too rusty.

Towards the end of our travels we arrived for a night at the Prairie Hotel, Parachilna, which is on the edge of some real outback country. Ch 7 were doing some filming there that night with Ernie Dingo and John Williamson. Socky (one of the locals) started playing guitar out the front of the pub around sunset, so I joined him for a play, and soon we had a bit of a session going.

Once the filming was finished, Ernie Dingo borrowed the guitar and we started to reel off a huge variety of songs - he is quite a singer, and they went down very well with the locals. Then as Ernies voice started to fade, John Williamson graciously took over, and reeled off Old Man Emu and a few other requests. By this time, the whole pub was dancing and whooping it up. What a night!

The publican Jane has asked that if anyone from the NFFC comes up to Parachilna, be sure to bring an instrument!

Steve Martin

The BO at the opening of Gov. Latrobe's Cottage

Bush Orchestrarians
The Latrobe Cottage event was a success all round.
present: Annette, Kathryn, Rhonnie, Mike le Valle, Pam, Marilla, Wendy, Alasdair, Greg, Dave.
The performers dressed in an amazing panoply of equipage and frippery of the period and this was really appreciated by the organizers.
We rattled off our collection of tunes, coaxing applause from the snooty gathering for a couple of hours, interspersed with speeches (mumble,mumble) from the re-enactors. The sun shone and birds twittered, curious bystanders noseyed around and all in all it wasn't a bad day.
The original brief of the BO from the Victorian Historical Society who funded the first year was to teach the orchestra authentic Australian tunes and to perform them in public. Well it couldn't get any more appropriate than this. The original opening of Victoria's first Government house had music provided by a party playing jigs and reels. 170 years later we did the same thing at the re-enactment with a repertoire as close as possible to the original.
Thanks to everyone and well done!
greg

Bush Orchestra Monday 5/10/09 Like the man said - Back to Work!

Present: Greg O, Bruce, Mary-Anne, Annette, Alisdair, Christine  x 2, Simon, Marilla, Pam, Nancy, Rhonwyn, Katherine, Michael, Wendy, Leonie. 

Well, the hols are gone and we're all back at the coalface! Greg started the session by handing out a list of 81 tunes we know (or have known) and play, rated into the following categories: 'core', 'ok-sort of', 'dodgy' 're-teach'! One goal for this term is to get some of the lesser played tunes on the list up and running again. Another goal is to broaden our tune and song base.

We also discussed the possibility of the group attending and playing at the Fiddlers Convention next year. 

Both the rhythm and melody groups worked on that wonderful old Hank Williams tune 'Jambalaya' in D and it went down a treat once we found the right pace.

We then had a session free for all with members performing the following tunes/songs:

Lonesome John - A

Clinch Mountain Backstep - A

Planxty Irwin - G

Inisheer - G

Wind that Shakes the Barley - D

Bonaparte's Retreat - D

Marie's Wedding - D

Blowing in the Wind - G

Come Over the Sea Charlie - G

Lord Let Me See - D

The Old Schoolmaster - D

Cock of the North - D

All in all, a great night was had and we're all quite happy to be working on this particular coalface!!

Newport Bush Orchestra - Term 4 2009 - Back to Work!

The Newport Bush Orchestra is back at work on a Monday Night for Term 4. Last Saturday was another triumph for the NBO - this time at a celebration of Australia's History at La Trobe's Cottage. All in costume, and the music made the day. Tonight though they are all playing along and having a great time. The pictures tell the story! Its always fun and if you are interested in joining the group come along - 7.30 Monday night to the Outlets Newport COmmunity Centre 45 Mason St Newport. Bruce will keep you posted as to what they are playing and Greg will be reporting on the gigs that are coming up so come and drop in to the blog each week and see how the story goes.

Bush Orchestra Monday 14/09/09

Present: Greg, Michael, Annette, Kathryn, Pam, Rhonwyn, Marilla, Rob D, Wendy, Christine, Lynne, Neil, Chris, Simon D, Mary-Anne, Alasdair, Dave, Bruce, Nancy.

We had a great turnout for the last Bush Orchestra meeting for the Term. The melody crew worked on Captain Pugwash (the Trumpet Hornpipe) and the reel Wind That Shakes the Barley. The rhythm group worked on the 4 brackets that we'll be playing at the High-Vibes festival next Sunday (see info below). After the break, we ran the entire set for the dance again with all in. From where I was sitting it sounded pretty good!

High Vibes Festival Info

NBO playing the Northcote Town Hall

189 High St, Northcote

Sunday 20/09/09

7.30-8.30pm.

More details: 

www.northcotetownhall.com.au

 

Firday 11 September - NBO plays at the opening of 32'nd Annual Hobsons Bay Art Exhibition

The Newport Bush Orchestra had them waltzing among the watercolours at the Rotary Club of Altona Inc. 32'nd annual art exhibition and sale on the weekend. The event was held at Seaworks in Williamstown and a great time was had by one and all.

Here's a short message from the Bush Orchestra's Grand Grump Greg O'Leary regarding the event:

I think the organisers were happy, we provided the perfect vibe for the eating areas and got a few ears to prick up, particularly the Gervasoni waltzes, Watching the Cattle and Capt. Pugwash. Again we coped well in a difficult environment for sound. Sorry about insistently insisting we get closer together, but at one point we had 2 orchestras, one on either side of me! Thanks Rhonwyn for having the bottle to perform with me as a duet, naked and out front so to speak. Thanks mightily for the members who dressed up. It makes such a difference to our overall presentation. Next time we will try to put the rhythm players in the centre and split the melody players either side so we keep better time. I will look around for a sensitive bodran player to help keep the beat. Thanks heaps to Neil who had the unenviable job of singing un amplified in a huge space. We will try to fix that next  time.

Signing off

Grumpy Greg O

Bush Orchestra Monday 07/09/09

The Bush Orchestra group had a great turnout this evening. 

Present were: Greg O'L, Michael S, Michael (from Selby), Chris, Pam, Annette, Rhonwyn, Marilla, Greg Hammond, Kathryn, Rob Durbridge, Wendy Love, Simon Dew, Nancy, Mary-Anne, Leonie, Bruce and Alisdair.

The rhythm section group worked on Loch Lomond and Rd to the Isles and did a quick review of the jig set: Clare Jig, Herb's Jig and Cunnamulla Jig.

Greg's group worked on a new tune: The Wind that Shakes the Barley in D

After the break we all got together and played the following:

The Wind that Shakes the Barley D

Captain Pugwash (also known as The Trumpet Hornpipe) G

Blow the Man Down G

Loch Lomond and Rd to the Isles G

Bonaparte's Retreat D

We then jammed on the following tunes:

The Swimming Song G

She'Beg She'More   D

Whisky Before Breakfast D

Clinch Mountain Backstep A

Hard Times D