Hello, I think this is the first time I've dropped in here - well actually I've been lurking in the corner listening to the conversation all along. What brought me here now is that I just heard strains of John Warner's song "Murrumbidgee Water" It is indeed a beautiful song!

John and I live in a little house in Earlwood, in Sydney Australia, with two black cats, lots of musical instruments, a vegetable garden, a large BBQ area with coloured lights that has often been the scene of get togethers and sessions with all kinds of folks, including a growing number of visiting mudcatters (frinstance there are a few pictures on Charley Noble's website), and of course a kitchen table - a round one, my favourite kind.

Lately my kitchen table has seen a lot of action, cos my brother and his family have been visiting from France. I love to see them, but it only happens about once every 5 years. The table has gone a bit quiet again - they are touring other parts of Australia for the next few weeks - and I will only see Graham once more before they leave - at the airport in a couple of weeks. I'm missing them already :-( and I thought it might be nice to sit at your table for a while. It seems nice and friendly. Mmm. Is that coffee I smell? Don't mind if I do!

Getting back to John's song - as freda said, it is part of a song and verse cycle that he wrote a few years ago called Yarri of Wiradjuri, the story of the disastrous Gundagai floods of 1852 which claimed the lives of many people who had built the original town on the river flat despite warnings from the local indigenous people, and of a local hero, Yarri, who with two others, made a lot of trips back and forth in a bark canoe to rescue dozens of people who would otherwise have drowned. There's more about it here. Now, I've seen John and his group, The Roaring Forties, perform this a a number of times, but it had never been recorded. It doesn't need to be seen, as it is not a play as such, although when they perform it at festivals they often dress up in suitable period clothing. It's all done with word pictures and song.

The reason I am really excited about it now, is that they have just recorded it, with some additional instrumentals and sound effects, and it has never sounded so good! The flood sequences are downright chilling! Nobody else has heard it yet - not even freda, because the final mix was only done a couple of days ago. Starting next month, they will be doing a series of CD launches, one of them at a festival in Gundagai - The Turning Wave Festival.

I'm currently working out a date they can have a CD launch at my folk club. I'm booked up for the rest of the year for our normal Thursday nights, but I want to do it on a Sunday afternoon. We've had a few successful special concerts on Sunday afternoons with people like Les Barker, and our own El Greko and Cloudstreet. This will be another great one, I'm sure.

So now that I've broken the ice, I might keep popping in here sometimes, if you don't mind. You can be sure that even if you can't see me, I'll be lurking somewhere not far away in the corner, listening to the conversation. It sounds like you lead an interesting life, Jerry!

Jenny