G'day,

The Bush Music Club was founded in Sydney in October 1954 by the members of the first band to consciously think of themselves as a "Folk Band" - The Bushwhackers Band ... the members of which had already founded the (short-lived) Australian Folklore Society as an 'academic' body to 'collect, study and publish' Australian folk songs (as well as associated material like poetry, stories and dance).

The distinguising purpose of the Bush Music Club was that it was founded by the Band members to deal with the great number of people who wanted to join The Bushwhackers Band ... Obviously, a band can't expand indefinitely, so they offered to join in practicing the music - and teach the songs, tunes, instrument-playing techiques, &c to people who could go off and form their own bands - and take possession of their own "folk music".

There were, at that time no comparable organisations (certainly not around here) so there was no need to coin a "generic" term for such a group - but the later emergence of other groups with similar aims ... in other states, then around Sydney itself ... took up the name, by now being used elsewhere around the English-speaking world (and, possibly, America...) "Folk Club".

We certainly claim to be "Australia's oldest Folk Club" (and celebrated our Golden Jubilee some 2½ years ago) ... but we didn't (to our knowledge) coin the term!

BTW: This original group had no connection with the Original (sic) Bushwackers (sic) & Bullockies Bush Band of a decade later, down south in Melbourne - who went on to be a widely known Rock/Folk fusion band ... rather less devoted to the folkloric aspects or accuracy of local folksong.

Regards,

Bob Bolton