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

August Club Night

Before we could start the music we had to get the formality of our AGM out of the way. It didn't take long. Our Committee was elected unopposed, as follows:

President: Michael Stewart
Vice President: Alan Davies
Secretary: Alison Dew
Treasurer: Sue Davies
Ordinary Members:
Christine McDonald
Rick Sidgwick
Steve Martin
Greg Jenkins

Sue Davies presented our financial report, which shows a healthy bank balance.

Then it was time to start the music.
(Here's a slideshow of photos, just click on it if you want to see larger pics.)



Bruce got things going with Bob Dylan's You Ain't Goin' Nowhere, a good singalong song. This was the first of a few echoes from the highly successful Bobfest at Breizoz a couple of weeks ago.
There were lots of first-time performers (first time for the NFFC, anyway) and the first of them was Shane who gave us a lovely classical piece on the guitar. We folkies tend to forget that the guitar has a long classical tradition too!

Michael had travelled all the way from Selby so we gave him a go early in the piece. He wasn't too keen to be a solo artist but of course there were plenty of others ready and willing to join him in The Black Cat Piddled in the White Cat's Eye, Rita Baker's Polka and The Railway Hotel.
After his excursion to the exotic East last month with Omar Khayyam, Dave returned to the Australian bush tradition with Henry Lawson's The Fire at Ross's Farm. Greg J reprised his brilliant version of Dylan's Leopard-skin Pillbox Hat that went over so well at the Bobfest. Raymond (another new face at the NFFC) gave us an original, Who Needs Reality?...good question! Dave (another one) sang Lee Kernaghan's A Bushman Can't Survive followed by Christine with yet another Dylan song, the great classic Blowin' in the Wind.

Simon probably blew his chances of admission to the priesthood after belting out the satirical Jesus' Brother Bob to the amusement of all...well I think so!
Norm and Jordan (surely our first grandfather/grandson combo?) teamed up to give us Don McLean's Wonderful Baby, followed by our old mate Frank, back again this month with The Sun is Yellow, requested by Michael last month and Frank did not disappoint, with one of his finest songs. Georgina gave us a sneak preview of her support spot at next month's Breizoz gig with You Belong to Me.

Then it was time for everyone to get stuck into a gigantic chocolate cake to celebrate another significant event - our fifth birthday! As somebody remarked, after we had all had a slice or two of this decadent treat, the remains looked like yesterday's battlefield!

The fiddlers (Michael, Moira and Nicole) along with Richard on cello and Steve on double bass ushered in the second half with a bit of Mozart, played with lots of energy and flair, and in typical NFFC fashion little or no rehearsal! Very enjoyable, especially the facial expressions as the performers tried furiously to keep up with each other.

There was so much more but I will have to continue this another time as I am about to turn into a pumpkin when the clock strikes midnight. Please leave a comment if you were there, or even if you weren't...

Mondays in Newport - Music of Course!

Every Monday night in Newport there is the sweet hum of Australian folk tunes being played by the Newport Bush Orchestra. When I was passing by last night I was drawn to the sound of music - lovely sweet melodies played by fiddles, flutes, whistles and mandolins, backed by a strong rhythm laid down by guitars and ukes. The group get going at 7.30 and except for a short break at 8.30 they concentrate on playing music. The Newport Bush Orchestra, under the direction of GReg O'Leary and Bruce WIlliams, is focussed on preparing for their next gig at the Northcote Festival and then they are playing all weekend at the Maldon Folk Festival. Both gigs should be lots of fun and if you are there make sure you go and have a listen to the NBO - if you are a local with a yen to play music on a Monday night call in and check it out - very friendly people who love playing music together. The photos show the reverie that comes from playing a 20 minute bracket of tunes!

Annual General Meeting

Committee nomination form available for download, see below.

As we are now an Incorporated Association, we need to hold our first AGM and formally elect a Committee. The AGM is expected to last only half an hour and will coincide with our usual monthly club night.

Date: Friday 28 August
Time: 7:30pm
Venue: Newport Community Hall
15 Mason St
Newport 3015

Agenda: 1. Election of Committee

The following Committee positions will be filled by election:

• President
• Vice-President
• Secretary
• Treasurer
• 4 ordinary members

2. Financial Report

Nominations for Committee

Any financial members can nominate for a Committee position.
Nominations must be received in writing by Friday 21 August.
Nomination forms must be signed by 2 Club members and the nominee.

Download nomination form.

If you need to have one mailed to you, please call Alan Davies on 9391 1103.
Please mail or deliver the nomination form to:

9 Anderson St
Newport 3015

If there are insufficient written nominations to fill all the vacancies, additional nominations may be received at the AGM.

Voting
Only financial NFFC members are entitled to vote.

Lots of Festival Photos

There is now a big gallery of photos from the Newport Folk Festival available for viewing on Picasa.
Thanks to photographers Kevin Dunn, Nancy Belyea, Christine McDonald, Michael Reynolds, Zoe Davies and one anonymous person, if you see your photos leave a comment to tell us who you are...

See the photos
.