Singing workshop with Zerafina Zara - 2 June

The workshop was well-attended, with 18 people gathering in the Scout Hall for 3 hours of singing with experienced voice coach Zerafina Zara. We had a range of choral singers, experienced soloists and beginners.

Zerafina encouraged us to talk about what we wanted to get out of the workshop, and who our favourite singers are. Then it was into the warmups  and voice training, with lots of peculiar noises and funny faces, and quite a bit of technical information about how the human voice works. Zerafina has  a great way of passing on lots of information, making you work hard, but still making it fun.

After a tea break we moved on to the “stagecraft” aspect of singing. Many participants had expressed interest in improving their stage presence and countering nerves, so Zerafina led a discussion about what makes a great singing performance, which really made us think.

Then she led us into the most adventurous part of the workshop - a “silly-off” where we learned a simple song and then competed to be the “silliest” performer, with the most exaggerated and outrageous gestures and movements. The amazing thing was, after doing this for a while and then reverting to a normal performance style, we all found we had become more expressive and comfortable with being a performer. A wonderful learning experience!

Sibelius Workshop - Joining the Dots ...

The Folk Club's Sibelius Workshop was held at Outlets on Sat June 9.  Annette Fechener, a local composer ran the session and there were three very keen students of Sibelius ready to learn the skills.

Alan Davies purchased a copy of Sibelius for the folk club and we had three computers to use.  This meant that it was very hands on and most engaging.  Fran had downloaded a 30 day trial version of the program – for future reference this is something that could have been publicised beforehand and may have encouraged others to come along. 

Annette was a fantastic teacher.  We provided her with a data show projector and she brought her own computer and this was a really effective way of introducing people to the basics of the program and providing them exercises to follow.  Annette had prepared a folder of information, short-cuts and exercises for people to work on and to take home, and the group was duly impressed by this preparation and her insight into the program.  As a result people quickly gained the skills, and this lead to a sense of empowerment which stimulated quite an exciting vibe (Whoo! I can do this!) as people learnt and were able to show off their accomplishments. 

The value of the workshop? 

-          We have three people in the club who have developed their music writing skills and can use Sibelius to write melodies, chord charts, and parts for groups.  This is a significant achievement. 

-        The folk club has a registered copy of Sibelius that we can use in the future

-          This was another opportunity for Outlets, and Therese to again support the aims of the folk club (thanks Therese)

-        We have tapped in to the talents of a local composer - Annette

-        The session was a really social learning environment – this is one of the great benefits of the folk club in that it provides people with a place to come together, socialise and learn within the context of a shared interest in music.  

So despite not pulling a big crowd the workshop was successful.  It will be interesting to see the fruits of the learning over the next twelve months. 

Michael Stewart

 Annnette (left) shows Fran the shortcuts for writing tunes on Sibelius

Vale Doc Watson

Arriving home from work last Wednesday I got online as usual to cruise the newspaper websites and was saddened to see that one one the great folk musicians had passed away. Arthel 'Doc' Watson was a legendary performer and one widely credited as being a key driver of the American folk music revival in the 1960's. He won seven Grammy Awards and was officially regarded as an American National Treasure by the US government.

I first heard Doc's wonderful guitar and rich baritone voice in my early teens and was immediately entranced. I remember catching the train from Lilydale to the city to pick up some of Doc's records from the great and now defunct shop 'Folk'n'Word' in Fitzroy. I (and countless other young guitarists around the world) spent the next few years trying to emulate what Doc was doing on guitar.

I was lucky enough to meet and interview Doc prior to a show he did in Carnegie Hall, Lewisberg, North Carolina in 1998. He was generous to a fault and invited me to pop back to see him for a chat after the show. We had a great time and he told me how as a child he often used to use his ham radio to listen to broadcasts from Australia. I treasure the memory of that chat (as my long suffering friends know) and still raise a smile when I think of it.

Doc lived a rich and long life, although he was touched by tragedy in the mid 1980's when his son Merle was killed in a tractor accident. He was married to Rosa Lee Carlton whom he told me was his 'Shady Grove' for 66 years. He bought joy and finger-busting challenges to myself and probably millions of others. Whilst I only met him the once, he had a major impact on my playing and life, and he will be missed.

Bruce Williams
Newport Folk and Fiddle Club

Angelicats Live@Newport

Another fabulous night of music at the Newport Bowls Club. 

The show kicked off with singer/songwriter Rose Eden, performing her first local gig.  Rose, who hails from Cairns via Brisbane, took us on a world tour of places she’s been that have inspired her to write her songs.  She sings passionately and writes insightfully about the cultures and experiences she has encountered, accompanying herself on guitar and uke.  Rose will be appearing at the Festival in July – keep an eye (and ear) out for her. 

After a short break and the sorting of some technical issues by our unflappable mixer, Alan (DI-why?) Davies, the Angelicats took to (well, overtook really) the stage.  Formed from some members of local a capella choir Willin Wimmin, together with other friends, the ‘cats have been treading the local tiles for a while now, and have built up a large and varied repertoire of songs ranging from folk to jazz to soul, to the Beatles ! 

Chris Phillips, their expressive and accomplished lead singer, was joined by Laura Sheridan (cello), sisters Fran (guitar) and Mary Callahan (banjo) and Lyn Dudley (percussion) with harmonies that warmed the whole room.  The instrument line up complemented the singing beautifully, and allowed for some imaginative and creative arrangements.  The ‘cats had us all singing heartily by the end of the night, and the encore was inevitable.  Go ‘cats !!!

Old Timey Workshop - Music By the Fire

This old Timey Workshop was conducted by Bruce Williams who had researched and planned his presentation extremely thoroughly. It ran from 1 pm through to 5 pm with several breaks for tea, coffee and an informal chat about the music.

We had a total of 11 participants for the workshop – 9 of whom were NF&FC members and 2 non-members.

Amongst the participants we had a good cross section of ‘old timey’ instruments –              5 guitars, 2 banjos, 3 fiddles – and one dexterous player who jumped between fiddle and guitar (Simon Leverton).

Bruce himself had a range of instruments set up and also moved between fiddle, guitar, mandolin and banjo to demonstrate various aspects of the tunes that were played. He had also gone to the trouble of preparing 3 different tune booklets for banjo / guitar / and fiddle - mandolin players which was appreciated by all.

Bruce commenced with a brief overview of the history and development of ‘Old Timey’ music and was able to demonstrate the beginnings of the genre by playing several tracks recorded in the 1920’s and 1930’s through his laptop computer. As the workshop progressed he broke the players into groups and they moved away to practice a particular tune and then return to play en masse. Playing through each tune slowly to begin with, the majority of players seemed to pick them up quickly and increase the tempo up to a reasonable playing speed – most of the players appeared to me to be well

In summary this was a well planned and interesting workshop enjoyed by all who attended – thanks to Bruce for all the time and effort he put into it – and thanks also the Ted for stoking the fire and keeping us warm throughout the afternoon.

Rick Sidgwick – Workshop Facilitator

Vale Terry Blacket

This week we received the sad news that club member Terry Blacket has passed away.
Terry was a regular at Club Nights and other NFFC events. Despite severe health problems over the last few years, he alway turned up when he could, and put in an apology when he could not.

Terry with NFFC Treasurer Sue Davies

Terry loved the Club Nights and as always, he wanted to 'give back' for the enjoyment he got from the music. Terry's way was to take charge of preparing the supper. At about 9pm he would be seen heading purposefully to the kitchen, tea-towel in hand. Only when the last dish was washed and put away would he return to his seat in the circle.

Terry's health had declined even further recently, and at the April Club Night he seemed to know it would be his last. His favourite song was The Parting Glass and we sang it specially for him that night, and then again in his memory last night.  We remember him fondly for his gentle sense of humour, his generosity of spirit and his calm courage in the face of adversity.

Terry's widow Moira says she will be back at the Club Nights soon, not to mention playing with the Ukulele Dolls on her very special new ukulele - a gift from Terry.

NBO Session 3 and 4 term 2 2012

These 2 sessions were used to learn two marches which we will be workshopping and performing at the NFFC Festival in July. We reverted back to the ear traning technique which worked well for most participants. The 2 tunes and audio will shortly be up on the BO tunes site accessed from the NFFC site.
participation was down  so we will cover those 2 tunes again next session. At this eseeion we need to get a photo for the Album. it will probably be of a pile of instruments unless someone can come up with an easy alternative.
attendees for session2  and 4 were;
7/5/12
Alasdair McCallum, Bruce Stanbury, Christine Hemphill, Greg O'Leary,
Helen Cahun, Kathryn Tomkins, Kerry Duke, Marilla Hawkins, Simon Levington, Trevor Hawksworth.

14/5/12 (didn't take a role, sorry, done by memory, hope I havn't missed too many people)

Alasdair McCallum, Bruce Stanbury, Bruce Williams,  Christine Hemphill, Greg O'Leary,
Kerry Duke, Mira Madzunarov, Rob Richmond, Simon Levington, Wendy Love, Trevor Hawksworth.
 thanks to christine for keeping tabs on the roll.
greg