Went to the Singers Club (@ Bull & Mouth) when I was in London in '77; they were both polite. I did my song in the floorspot but didn't have a chance to chat with them afterwards because, when I sat down, the guy in front of me turned around to ask me if I was from Sydney ("Melbourne" I said) and whether I knew Sedenka; I knew I'd found Linsey Pollak and we were sidetracked into gasbagging when the evening formally finished.

I saw Peggy and Ewan when they visited Melbourne and they were again, polite and interested in what I was doing; Peggy was kind enough to offer a suggestion about my concertina playing. She was concerned that, by resting it on my knee I might wear a hole in the bellows. I took the hint in the spirit it had been been offered and declined to point out that it was only one endframe that had been resting against my thigh (unlike the more commonly seen - among English players - middle of the bellows across the top of the thigh) and therefore the bellows had no contact with trousers' fabric.

A friend of mine taped Ewan's voice projection workshop, given also on a visit to Oz, and Ewan's presentation was informative and helpful. My friend lived at Wyong at the time and practised the diaphragm 'grunts' in the bathroom in syncopation with Ewan's versions of the same grunts on the tape. This caused a treefrog, resident in the tree outside the bathroom window to join in, adding yet another level of suncopation to the experience. I don't know if Ewan ever found out he'd instigated a frogs' chorus.

All positive encounters.

Cheers, Rowan