Hi Guys.
Just a little and probably too late reminder that the Nash is about to happen! If you happen to be a travelling Box player in Oz, or a Folk/Trad Music Affectionardo, Canberra is the place to be over Easter!
To us Aussies, no matter what tradition we are bound to, this is surely the Festival that allows us all to get together and celebrate, compare notes, swap tunes, insult one another, and play our squeeze boxes, even with those who play other instruments. It is the only healthy sessioning festival left in the country (can I elicit a response??) as far as I can tell. I don't go to South Australia any more though as they don't give you free beer for playing there!!!! Queensland, WA & NT are just too hot.
Um Yes. Maybe we could all get together and hold an extraordinary meeting about the dire situation that the 'Ye Olde Australian Melodeon Tradition' has somehow got itself jammed into. Could the likes of Peter Ellis and Jim Moir present themselves in a positive and accessable light perhaps??? Guys, us other Aussies would love to learn the real Australian ways of playing too. Soon we'll all be too old to be bothered. Or is that the general idea?
I always try to enjoy myself (with varying degrees of success I might add). And I challenge you all to come and enjoy your selves too. With cheeses if you so desire. We used to play Cajun dances with a specially selected cheese platter on stage, but the truth was that we had to play too hard and never got near the cheese, or the wine for that matter! The dancers never understood us either!
So now we just session, play tunes and talk rubbish...... hope to see some of you there.... remember if you see a lefthanded player, there is a very high likelyhood that it'll be yours truely!