The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #136900   Message #3295352
Posted By: Sandra in Sydney
24-Jan-12 - 07:06 AM
Thread Name: Long-lived folk clubs? 70 yrs?
Subject: RE: Long-lived folk clubs? 60yrs?
forgot to say we are currently working on the extravaganza we will be producing at the National Folk Festival at Easter. It will include songs of the period (1954-64), tunes, dances (sometimes different to the ones we do today) & lots of photos & oral history & more!

Last night we sorted the format, now we need to do a bit more research, type it up, inform the performers, send it out, meet & discuss it 18th Feb, rehearse 24th March & present it at Easter! Easy! Our mentor does such shows each year using those of his friends who are on the program, normally with no rehearsal as they come from all over Australia, but it works for him & a good time is had by all. Next year & 2014 I'm sure we will be as comfortable as he is!

Description of our workshop in the program -

Celebrating the birth of Australian Bush Music with a concert that revisits history in the making.

Join the members of Australia's oldest (and possibly the world's second oldest) folk club, the Bush Music Club in a musical celebration of their roots.

In the lead up to the Bush Music Club's 60th Anniversary in 2014, we take you on a trip down memory lane to the days when the Australian folk song The Drovers Dream was on the top of the Hit Parade. It all began in 1952 when John Meredith and several friends (aka the Heathcote Bushwhackers) started performing the songs they remembered from their earlier years. In 1953 they joined the cast of 'Reedy River' and contributed to the great success of it's Sydney run. By 1954 The Bushwhackers were so popular that they founded the Bush Music Club to cater for all the aspiring "Bushwhackers", with the aim of re-popularising Australian folk songs and encouraging the composition of new songs contemporary in theme & traditional in style. Within a few years there were Bushwhacker-style bands across the country and Australian Bush Music was born.