bringing bluegrass music news from all over downunder
The next MountainGrass Festival is scheduled for 17-19 November 2017 in Harrietville Victoria.
As always, the MountainGrass committee remains dedicated to bringing together the best bluegrass and old-time music from across Australasia. If you are making excellent bluegrass or old-time music, then the festival organisers are keen to hear from you.
Artist applications are now open via the MountainGrass Website.
The second Bluegrass and Old Timey Campout weekend at Fat Wombat Farm in the Central tablelands 10 – 13 March.
Jamming all weekend with blackboard concerts in the afternoon and evening campfire.
Basic camping: bring your own tent, chair, stove, food and torch etc.
Rain water and toilets available. There are 3 cottages available for accommodation at Clonturkle Sanctuary next-door. Contact clonturkle@westnet.com.au. Caltex garage Yetholme on highway plus many hotels/motels in Bathurst.
Applications are now open for this year’s celebration of Bluegrass, Old Time and other acoustic music at Wirrina South Australia.
While organisers are wanting to hear from prospective artists, their website (and web email) are subject to ongoing gremlins and somewhat inoperable.
If you are interested in performing at this year’s Wirrina this year, please send your expressions of interest to their email address – wirrinabluegrass@gmail.com.
Organisers would also love to hear from you if you’d like to volunteer to assist in any of the many festival operational tasks or indeed have questions about, or suggestions for, the festival.
If you sent organisers any emails in the past few months chances are that they have been undelivered due to the ongoing problems with their website.
You can use this email address to contact organisers – wirrinabluegrass@gmail.com.
You can also find them on Facebook.
Two of Australia’s most highly driven and well-respected bluegrass musicians – Lachlan and Hamish Davidson – have literally and figuratively cemented themselves in the Australian country music scene early this year. The Davidson Brothers were invited by the Australian Country Music Foundation to leave their hand prints on this iconic Hands Of Fame monument during the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
The prestigious induction recognises the time, energy and passion the Davidson Brothers have given to country music in Australia.
It’s an absolute honour to be permanently recognised along side some of the most influential artists in Australian music history – Hamish Davidson.
While this was happening, the Davidson Brothers officially announced details of their eighth studio album, All You Need Is Music.
Hamish and Lachlan returned to Nashville Tennessee in December last year to record the new material which will be released on 7th April this year.
Recording this time around has been a particularly exciting process, getting to work with a wider group of musicians which allowed us to cover a broader range of styles that we haven’t attempted on previous albums – Lachlan Davidson.
Canadian roots music sensation and former boxer Gordie Tentrees is no stranger to Australian shores with 2017 clocking up his third visit in as many years. He is joined again by good friend and fellow Canadian roots singer Jaxon Haldane. This time the pair are exploring the West on an epic 17 date tour across Western Australia including a spot at the Nannup Festival and shows in Perth, Geraldton, Margaret River, Bunbury, Warwick and many more.
Fresh off a 200-date world tour that started a year ago here in Australia before snaking its way around the world hitting UK/Ireland, Europe and North America, Tentrees and Haldane will be performing with 9 instruments (banjo, mando, dobro, cigar box guitars, harmonica, musical saw, acoustic guitar, porchboard bass) brotherly harmonies and skilful storytelling.
Gordie Tentrees sixth album “Less is More” brings together his knack for melody with his amazing ability to hold an
audience in the palm of his hands (both during and between songs!) and is a deeply personal, moving, melodic
and sometimes humorous look at life through the eyes of a unique and infectious personality.
The new album was produced by Juno award winner Bob Hamilton who also contributes textured beauty with tasteful tones, the album features Tentrees blend of folk, roots and blues sounds on which Tentrees plays Dobro, guitar, harmonica, porchboard bass with stellar accompaniment from Aiden Tentrees on upright bass and Fabian Brook on guitar and fiddle. The album also includes guest appearances by Patrick Hamilton, Annie Avery, Lonnie Powell and the voice of east coast darling 2015 Juno winner Catherine MacLellan.
Majestic songwriting, genuine authenticity, incredible insight – Americana UK.
Very superior songs on a terrific album, heartfelt and hysterical – R2 MAG (5 Stars).
Sounds like an album Woody Guthrie or Bob Dylan might have done if they were starting out today – Irish Post (4/5 Stars).
Tour Dates:
For more information visit Gordie Tentrees website.
Folk By The Sea, 22-24 September 2017.Here is an intimate folk festival style event featuring the sounds of folk, world, roots, Celtic, bluegrass and gypsy music to be held over 3 days in the picturesque seaside town of Kiama, famous for its blowhole.
Online applications are now open for interested artists. Artists should read through the information page before applying.
Unlike the Illawarra Folk Festival, Folk By The Sea is a smaller, more intimate featuring 6 venues, 50 acts, 120 concerts.
Performance fees are low to modest and cover expenses essentially so please do not go past this point if you have expectation of a large fee.
The festival is presented by volunteers the Illawarra Folk Club, a non-profit incorporated association. Many of these volunteers are performers themselves and are providing their effort to promote, share and enjoy folk music.
The Stetson Family’s latest album True North has once again been included in the Top Americana Country Chart 2016 on America’s Roots Music Report – second year in a row. The album comes in at #41 thanks to the ongoing support from the many US radio stations who’ve had The Stetson Family of their program rotation.
The Stetson Family is based in Australia, but the rugged, down-to-earth charm of their music is universal. True North is a ‘must-have’ album – The Music Shelf, Wisconsin USA.
The group has also been nominated for Best Group 2016 at the Australian Independent Country Music Awards last September and booked to play some amazing festivals around the country.
As a self-managed, independent band it’s gratifying to be acknowledged by our peers, audiences and radio, so thanks to all the people who keep coming along to our shows, buying our music and spinning our tunes – The Stetson Family.
Each January/February musicians from throughout New Zealand converge at Niagara Falls Cafe for a weekend of music.
While it’s business as usual indoors for the cafe, a nominal cover charge gives entrance to the grounds where Bluegrass musicians take centre stage from midday Saturday ‘til late Sunday.
This family focussed event has something for everyone – food stalls, on-license beer and wine – and children’s activities. For a small donation freedom campers can set up home at the adjacent Niagara Hall and make a weekend of it.
Niagara Falls Cafe lies within the Mataura Licensing Trust catchment. No BYO liquor.
The Pipi Pickers have announced that they will be heading to the Auckland Anniversary Weekend at the Auckland Folk Festival in Kumeu. The Pipis will be there with their notorious Pipi Pickin’ Parlour.
All are welcome for a pick or just to chill out with the super friendly bunch of pickers.
As always, they will be at the Leigh and Matakana markets on a regular basis. Check their website if you’re going to be in the area.
Elsewhere the Pipis will be playing 24-25 February 2017 at Aongatete Folk Festival. Tauranga/Katikati. This is yet another first time festival for the Pipi Pickers.
Terry O’Riley with a 1934 Martin D28.
When in South Australia, earlier this year a friend and I stumbled across one of the finest music stores I have ever seen outside the USA. I was in Adelaide for the week between the Quorn Jam Camp and the Wirrina Bluegrass Festival weekends with my friend Ed Lowe from Western Australia. He and I had just completed hosting the jam camp in South Australia and were hanging around Adelaide, awaiting the start of the Wirrina Bluegrass Festival the following weekend. We spent our days sampling the various food outlets – breakfast, lunch and dinner – and the occasional lunch-time wine bar, while spending the rest of our days in search of Adelaide music stores, just for something to do.
On our last day in Adelaide, Ed and I found a shop called Twangcentral, in Gilbert Street, south-west Adelaide. It was not a huge and elaborate marketplace for all things music. In fact it was quite the opposite; one of those plain, very much old-style shops with loads of vintage aroma and reeking of old-world musical charm. It was a small, compact, surprisingly well-stocked shop, offering some of the finest stringed instruments we had ever seen anywhere in Australia.
Twangcentral is run by Terry O’Riley who has the most amazing collection of vintage acoustic and electric guitars that I have seen in this country. I have not made searching for vintage instruments a habit in Australia, although, I have been to a great many music shops across the country during my 40+ years of playing guitar and banjo. This for me was a great find.
Terry O’Riely with a wealth of vintage guitars.
My music companion Ed Lowe is a banjo and mandolin player. He (from Western Australia) and I (from Queensland) have played together on and off for some years at bluegrass festivals in Australia. It is worth noting that Ed’s abilities rate in the highly advanced to well-rounded category when it comes to mandolin. Ed owns one of the late John Liddy’s fine “F Style” mandolins. Imagine our surprise when we entered the store to find John Liddy’s first ever commercially released mandolin hanging on the Twangcentral wall – F-Style mando #1.
Ed was beside himself with excitement and itching for pick on this original instrument from one of Australia’s most respected mandolin makers. He was in a state of advanced emotional upheaval and I had to seriously consider administering drugs to calm him down. Terry invited him to have a play on the original Liddy mandolin.
After we had broken Ed’s emotional attachment to the #1 Liddy, Terry kindly invited us to grab our respective instruments and have a pick with him. We headed out to the hire-car and returned with my banjo and Ed’s mandolin post-haste. Terry was in the process of re-stringing a beautiful vintage D18 Martin. When he’d finished we had a jam together with guitar, banjo and mandolin.
Terry then told us how John Liddy had ventured into the world of luthierie by building his son his fist guitar. After delivering fine piece of work for his son, Terry (John Liddy’s neighbour at the time) greatly encouraged John to continue building and specifically to look at building mandolins. John continued to build a guitars and many mandolins during his time. No doubt many folk in Australia are glad he did. Liddy mandolins are considered some of the finest in the country today.
We played for another 30 minutes or so when a couple of rock-heads (with their Fender electrics) entered the shop for a chat. Terry apologised to them; he invited them to set their electric guitars down on the floor and noted that we were all busy in acoustic mode right now.
Ed Lowe with his and the first Liddy Mandolin.
Up until that point Twangcentral had been the most amazing find for us both. We were more than satisfied and prepared to return to our hire-car and head off to the airport to continue our home-ward journey. Terry asked us to wait; he went off to his “vault” – as he called it – and returned with a surprise. We were presented with a Martin D28 – from the 1930’s as I recall. An amazing instrument which was valued at some $140,000. We each had a play on it while Terry told the following story: Noam Pikelny (banjo player for Punch Brothers) had been to the shop the week before us. He spent time looking around and having a pick on several of the many vintage guitars – including the old Martin that we had seen. Noam was in town for the Adelaide Guitar Festival that week prior.
I could not help be in awe as I looked around the room with a large number of both electric and acoustic instruments hanging on the wall. These were instruments ranging in price from thousands of dollars to many, many thousands. Some of those instruments we had seen – and played – are since being considered for purchase internationally. What a great shop.
Some of the instruments we enjoyed looking at, playing, hearing and drooling over were a:
Contact Twangcentral:
Thanks for such a warm welcome Terry, and I wish you and the team at Twangcentral all the very best in your future endeavours.
Folks if you are in Adelaide in the near future and play an acoustic or electric instrument then do yourself a favour and head to Twangcentral.
