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The Yinnar Hotel’s reputation as a bluegrass and old-time friendly venue took on international proportions on Wednesday evening with a sold-out performance by Canada’s Hungry Hill.

With the full-house sign going up several weeks ago, and the band refreshed from several days of good old southern Victorian hospitality provided by The Stringbusters, Hungry Hill continued on from their well-received Australian debut at Harrietville with an intimate performance for 250 people.

The night kicked off with the Strzelecki Stringbusters warming up the crowd with their unique, large ensemble sound. The boys have worked hard this year to establish a Bluegrass & Old Time savvy crowd by inviting other acts to appear at their monthly pub gigs. With this night being the last for the year, something special was called for, and Hungry Hill provided the show of the year!

The large crowd jostling for drinks at the bar was silenced by the stunning vocals & harmonies, intricate arrangements, and the fluid dance of the members weaving in and out of the central microphone’s range. Those lucky enough to get a close-up seat were treated to a full display of the attributes that make acoustic music so pleasurable to see & hear.

With their regular banjo player Ross Nickerson on leave in Queensland, local banjo player Greg McGrath was invited to fill the void, and with little time to rehearse, did a marvellous job. Local up and coming mandolin player, Lachy Davidson joined them all in for their 2nd set, trading fiery solos with Bob Hamilton, and also gave Jenny’s fiddle a good work-out too. The night concluded with the Stringbusters squeezing on stage for two last songs.

Performing tunes from their recent CD Ride along many old favourites, Hungry Hill’s time on stage was all too brief, but they leave the Yinnar district with no doubt as to their popularity amongst the locals. This affection was reciprocated, with Jenny publicly thanking all involved in making their 3 day stay enjoyable and relaxing, including a heartfelt thank you to their ‘new best friends’, The Stringbusters, for affording them such a wonderful reception.

The Yinnar Hotel and the local community’s reputation for providing a hospitable mid-week gig for touring artists continues to increase. With the Whitetop Mountaineers slated for March 31, and a few more international irons in the fire, 2010 will be even bigger.

Artists, Bluegrass News Hungry Hill, Yinnar

Pigeonwing Strings – 28th Nov 2009 – 7:30pm

The small community of Yinnar in south-east Victoria is fastly gaining a great reputation amongst the bluegrass fraternity as the number of appearances by bluegrass and Ol’ Timey performers continues to grow.

The cross continental duo, Pigeonwing Strings, represent the novelty and organic nature of American old-time music from the 1920-30s. From Australia, Pria Schwall-Kearney on vocal, fiddle, banjo & feet, teams up with Greg Fair from upstate New York, USA, on voice, mandolin, guitar, banjo & percussion.

Pria and Greg capture the mystery, joy, grit, and sorrow that is at the heart of traditional American music. Their sensitivity is a testament to their maturity and accomplishment as musicians, both have toured internationally.

Supporting Pigeonwing Strings will be The Strzelecki String Busters, Gippsland’s finest string-band ensemble, performing tunes from their new CD Arnie’s Barn. Lead by Yinnar’s Ray Negro, the Strzelecki String Busters perform a wide variety of Country Blues, Old Time & Bluegrass music.

Bluegrass News, Events Pigeonwing Strings, Yinnar

Hungry Hill will be performing at the famous Yinnar Community Hotel this Wed 25th Nov 2009 at 8:00pm
This great band from Canada, have just wound up their hugely successful festival appearances at the Harrietville Bluegrass and Ol’ Timey Convention in northern Victoria.
If you plan to eat then has it that meal bookings are essential – Yinnar Community Hotel 51631263.

Bluegrass News, Events Hungry Hill, Yinnar

Having already endeared themselves to many Australian audiences last year, The Whitetop Mountaineers, Martha Spencer and Jackson Cunningham from Virginia, USA,  are set return to Australia by popular demand. This year they are taking in a host of Australian dates and festivals courtesy of their Australian agent, Across the Borders, based in Melbourne.

At the 2008/09 Woodford Folk Festival, unknown and unheralded, the duo stunned and delighted audiences with their performance of American mountain music and song and dance. The group also performed to audiences in Gippsland, taking in the region’s famous Yinnar Hotel a popular acoustic music venue.

Both musicians are skilled multi-instrumentalists – Jackson plays guitar, mandolin and clawhammer banjo, while Martha plays fiddle, guitar and banjo and dnaces. They are both strong vocal performers and their close harmonies are indicative of the old time and bluegrass traditions from which they draw their repertoire.

Martha and Jackson will be appearing at the following confirmed destinations in 2010:

• 5th – 8th March – Pt Fairy Folk Festival, Vic
  
• 12th – 14th March – Blue Mountain Festival, NSW
  
• 18th March – Brunswick Music Festival, Vic
  
• 19th – 20th March – Yakandanda Folk Festival, Vic
  
• 25th March – Bendigo Folk Club, Vic
  
• 26th – 28th March – Apollo Bay Folk Festival, Vic
  
• 31st March – Yinnar Hotel, Gippsland, Vic
  
• 1st – 4th April – National Folk Festival – ACT

Artists, Festivals National Folk Festival, Whitetop Mountaineers, Yinnar

Arnie’s Barn – Strzelecki Stringbusters

News from Gippsland’s Strzelecki Stringbusters is that they have just spent the past weekend recording tracks for their new CD. This project follow their 2008 album, the highly successful, Scrubby Forest Run. Prior to this they released their 2007 debut album Somethin’ To Crow About.

The recording sessions took place in a loft, over the barn owned by Stringbuster fiddle player Arnie Young. Arnie owns a farm in the  flats of the rural town of Yinnar. The sessions were punctuated by random gunfire at pesky wildlife,  turkey gobbling and a huge BBQ that kept the boys well fueled.

Band leader, Ray Negro, was the only casualty from the weekend with a broken tooth after biting into a tic-tac which showed a sure sign of approaching old age.

The tracks compiled for this CD includes new tunes learned during the year, a few old favourites which were given the once-over and also features country music stalwarts Neville and Aileen Boothman, both in their 70’s. Local banjophinist Greg McGrath also joined the Busters on several tunes. All added their own flavours to the rich Strzelecki Stringbuster tapestry - John Werner, Stringbuster

The Strzelecki Stringbusters were formed in 2004 and are continuing to gain notoriety as a highly entertaining 13 piece String Band across Victoria. The busters are scheduled to appear at the 2010 Beechworth Festival  and recently performing at Melbourne’s regular Pickin’ at the Piggery.

The Stringbuster’s latest album Arnies Barn will be released in early December. For those wanting to order your copy early, contact Gary White on ph: 0427 631 217 or email the Stringbuster’s publicity agent  Gary White.

Bluegrass News Strzelecki Stringbusters, Yinnar

Born To Play – July 2009 Release

Tamworth, 2009 Golden Guitar winners, the Davidson Brothers are about to release their new CD. Recorded in Nashville in April, the new abum titled, Born To Play features some great surprises along with some new songs. The album will be released on 11th July 2009.

The band will debut the new material at the Redland’s Bluegrass Festival this month, and then will be doing 3 release performances in Victoria early August at the East Brunswick Club, Shamrock Hotel in Bendigo and Yinnar Memorial Hall.

The first single to radio is a Jesse Winchester song called A Showmans Life which displays Hamish’s and Lachlan’s talent and ability to sing a great country song. The recording will be distributed on NFS 133 country singles for radio.

Country Update Magazine has invited the Davidson Brothers to write a regular feature in their quarterly magzine. The column Bluegrass Truth will appear in each issue concentrating on the Australian and overseas Bluegrass Music scene. The first article features in the May issue and is available at newsagents now.

Artists, CD Release Davidson Bros, Yinnar

Yinnar Hotel – Victoria

The past few months, The Strzelecki Stringbusters have been introducing a range of guest artists at their local haunt, the Yinnar Hotel in South Eastern Victoria. The busters generally play their style of bluegrass there to a packed house on the last Wednesday of every month.

This month they have announced the appearance of a relatively new band on the bluegrass scene, Fat Chance and the Bluegrass Playboys.

The Playboys comprise, Monty Oliver (Dave Aumann) on mandolin and vocals. Snuffles Beddoe (Andrew Barcham) on 5 string banjo, Jet Laurell (Blair Webb) on guitar and Rolf Rosshire (Don Gula) on double bass and vocals. If your in the area, you can catch them at the Yinnart Hotel Wed 24th June 2009.

Artists, Events Bluegrass Playboys, Yinnar