Bush Orchestra at Iramoo Open Day

Our first outing for the 2104 Spring/Summer season went over well at the community day at Iramoo Community Centre in Wyndham Vale.
I rolled in with a relaxed attitude and a sore back to find the Ukelele Dolls starring onstage. We followed with a set of good old BO favorites. Present were: Rosaleen,Dennis,Maryanne, Neil, Katherine, Mark, Annette, Mira, Alasdair, Christina, Trevor, Kerry, Rhonwyn and me. As is now usual, an amazingly coherent and vibrant sound emanated from our somewhat haphazard group. Our traditional good vibe added to the open day and our second bracket bush-danced our way into the hearts and minds of the 6 totally enthusisatic dancers that Neil coaxed up to dance in 30C heat. Amazingly the change came just as we sped the Troika up to our traditional 200bpm. Had it not arrived the dancers would have had heart attacks.
Annete bought me a lovely sausage on bread with yummy onions. Rhonwyns' flute stopped working (this was not a good thing), Mark's new tamborine minus cymbals  was a hit. Dennis , Trevor and Kerry shone sartorially. Rosaleen  and her Vielle had to be kept away from the mike  as it was SOOOOO loud!  Katherine held it all together as usual and it was a great start  to our summer season.

Pics on the Facebook page.

Greg.

Artists, farmers and musicians

NFFC musos were both inside and out at the Substation on Sunday. Inside at the Artists Market it was a great lineup with Newport Strings, Paisley and Plaid, Angelicats, Bruce Williams and Friends and then Great Minds. Outside at the Farmers Market, Folkus were keeping the customers entertained. It was a beautiful day with lots of music.

Timbers/Angelicats Live@Newport

We had a great afternoon at the Bowls Club on Fathers Day with The Angelicats and The Timbers. What a great lineup! The Angelicats are becoming multi-instrumentalists - Lynn brought out the bass guitar for a couple of songs and Fran showed her skills on the mandolin - and their vocal harmonies just get better and better. Then the Timbers gave us a couple of fantastic sets, with everything from sweet 3-part harmony to high-energy dancing music. See photos for the result! (If you can't see the slideshow below, you can view the pics on Picasa.

Photos from 10th Birthday

If you can't see the slideshow below, you can view the pics on Picasa.

New logo

Here's our new logo, designed by Megan Slattery. We launched it at the 10th Birthday dinner on Saturday night. Over the next few weeks we'll roll it out to the website, emails, banners and publications.Keep your eye out for the new look!

Stories by the Fire at the Newport Folk Festival 2014

OK I'm a festival tragic, I admit. But this one is my favourite. This is my local and with my community we plan this party for months. My friend Gerry Nelson took these exquisitely expressive photos at the storytelling event that I host every year. I added a little video and friend Bruce Williams gave me permission to add an instrumental piece form his CD 'Me and the Walls'. It all started 7 years ago.

Come and join us at the next one July 2015.

Jackie K

Bruce and Friends at the Substation Market

Some Cajun Fun  Bruce Williams with Greg and Helen play some Cajun tunes at the Substation Market