While many groups and individuals will feature in this site in years to come, we cannot go on without acknowledging the foundational contributions made by the Hayes Brothers in the early 1960′s.
There is little documented on the Hayes Brothers, but we have turned up the following information:
Mike and Pete Hayes were born in Henley-on-Thames in England in the early 1940′s. They moved to Australia in the late 40′s, and lived in Melbourne. By the 1960′s the brothers were performing together as The Bluegrass Ramblers. Shortly after that the couple
Hayes Bros Album Notes
expanded the band to become the Hayes Brothers, a bluegrass band which performed together for many years. They released 2 albums and are widely recognised as the first bluegrass band to perform in Australia.
Another family band at the time, The Hawking Brothers featured Russ and Alan Hawking. Pete Hayes also sang with the Hawking Brothers band for around two years, after the death of Russ Hawking in 1976.
Pete Hayes settled in Melbourne in 1978 and he and his brother were inducted into the Country Music Hands of Fame.
Pete Hayes continued to record with a range of local and international artists including, The Hawking Brothers, The Howie Brothers, Saltbush, Lee Conway, Lionel Rose, Johnny Chester and Charlie Pride. Mike Hayes was also an ABC journalist.
Mike Hayes passed away on the 10th of February 2003 and that same year his brother Pete passed away on the 1st of December.
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