Geoff Morris Bluegrass Radio. Could this be Australia’s best-kept bluegrass music secret?
Geoff Morris sits in his lounge-room at home in Bendigo, Victoria, Australia, playing and talking about bluegrass music to listeners around the world.
For over four years now, Geoff – who has been totally blind since birth – has hosted a weekly bluegrass show on Central Victorian FM. In addition, for the past twenty months Geoff has presented a show twice a week on worldwidebluegrass.com, for four hours on Friday nights between 8:00p.m. and midnight and for two hours on Tuesday afternoons 1:0pm to 3:00pm. “Not that I always stick to time, often I get carried away with the music and next thing I know we’re twenty minutes over time!” Geoff says.
Geoff is always extremely keen to promote and foster Australian bluegrass recordings and he states “I always play Australian content on every show and therefore always in search of new Aussie material as long as it’s fair dinkum, genuine, authentic bluegrass”.
Geoff comments: “It’s how radio used to be. I make a point throughout each show of greeting everyone personally in the chat room and listeners logged on to both streams and I know, from all the email feedback I receive, that people really appreciate a personal greeting or message. I think it’s what real human communication is all about. I often find myself saying that bluegrass music heals your body, mind and spirit; it’s richness and sheer beauty of harmony singing carrying with it, down-to-earth personal and family values make it a joy and privilege to present.”
By being awarded an I.B.M.A. grant, bluegrass has also taken Geoff and seeing-eye dog Milo to America for seven weeks last year. Geoff tells us that “it was a never-ending road of rich experiences without pause”. “From spending a few hours with Tom T. and Dixie Hall to a few glorious seconds with Doc Watson, the amazing experiences just kept happening. Thankfully I took a little digital voice recorder everywhere and still play snippets of interviews on the show.”
Geoff concludes: “I’d like to have many more Aussie listeners tuning in, especially on Friday nights. Perhaps this is partly through just sheer lack of promotion on my part or knowledge that an Australian-based bluegrass show like this one exists!”
Geoff Morris on Tuesday afternoons 1-3 or Friday nights 8 ’till midnight – Eastern Australian Standard Time.
Wall-to-Wall Bluegrass on worldwidebluegrass.com
Submitted by Geoff Morris for the Australian Bluegrass Blog
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