Submitted by Paul Duff of BGP
Bluegrass Parkway returned to the Merry Muse on Friday 10th December, to perform at the club’s annual Christmas celebration. After our last performance there we were really looking forward to returning and we weren’t disappointed. This is a great club and their new venue works very well for both the audience and the performers. Wayne Perry took over the guitar role once again and did a great job. His vocals are proving a real asset to the band’s sound also.
The night was kicked off by Julie Barnes and the Barnestormers who performed some wonderful old time/bluegrass classics around a single mic. They sounded really authentic and got the audience involved straight away.
Bluegrass Parkway followed and we had a wonderful time playing to a full house who were ready for some fun. Last time we were at the Merry Muse, BGP presented our Grand Ol’ Opry Radio Show but this time we performed a straight concert. This was a great night which gave us the opportunity to present some of our new material. Hopefully we’ll be able to come back again next year, we love the Muse.
The next morning we were up early and on the plane to Adelaide. It is an amazing thought (and somewhat embarrassing) that in the 23 years the band has been together, we’ve never had the chance to play in South Australia. Well now we’ve broken the drought. I’d like to thank Tamarra, Dave, Verity, Kim and John from the SA Folk Federation who worked so hard to get us there, picked us up, drove us around and let us invade their homes.
The Folk Centre in Adelaide is a wonderful venue for live music and we were very excited at the prospect of performing there. Unfortunately, the Federation will be losing this space because the council is selling it and they are looking for a new home. So, if you know of a venue that would work, please contact these folks! They do great work for live music in Adelaide.
The concert was a lot of fun and the audience showed their appreciation with applause after breaks as well as at the end of the songs. These folks know their stuff. We have already made contact with people who have suggested other possible venues we could link up with the SA Folk Federation to help get us back to Adelaide a lot sooner. Thanks to you all, we’ll work on it because we can’t wait to get back.
The next morning we held a harmony workshop at the same venue and spent a few hours showing d ifferent styles of singing as well as teaching the participants a couple of great old bluegrass standards. By the end we had everyone in there raising the roof with great harmonies.
After missing Harrietville this year, it was so nice to have so many folks come up and offer their best wishes to us. It’s been a tough couple of months and to have people let us know they were thinking of us was warming to the soul. We thank you all for your kind thoughts.
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