BRUTHEN
BLUES
BASH
2002

The 7th Annual Bruthen Blues Bash was another huge success, cementing itself as Australia's biggest little blues festival. The Bash is a celebration of the Bruthen Blues Jammers and it was they who kicked off proceedings on the Friday night. The weather was overcast but that didn't stop some great blues. Some fantastic local artists were joined by visitors like Skip Sail and Terry Lockwood throughout the night. Some great harp players, some impromptu performances and a lot of fun was had by all.

A few bleary eyes awakened to a town abuzz. Street stalls, buskers, activities for the kids like the Flying Fruit Fly Circus and garage sales meant many people were out getting a bargain or having fun. After last year's disappointment in not being able to have music in the main street, everyone was delighted to see its return there. It's wonderful to sit under one of the big elm trees, have a bite and a drink and doze off to some wonderful music. Unfortunately the rain put an end to the Circus (never seen a circus that doesn't have a tent before!) but they rescheduled for Sunday so no one missed out.

The weather stayed clear for the music and what a wonderful array of local and visiting muso's. Gippslander John Mazur kicked off with a set on slide with backing tapes. John had car trouble and had to get on his motorbike, so we didn't get to see his usual array of instruments, but none the less gave the audience a wide range of blues to feast upon. Debi Candlish was up next, last year's Bash was her first solo gig and since then she has been doing more of it, including a well received gig at the Memphis Minnie Tribute night in Melbourne. Debi seemed more confident this year and there was a lot of good feedback about her voice, her wonderful slide playing and her welcoming stage presence. I wish she would do a solo album so she can get to all the Blues festivals, more people need to see this aspiring artist and she needs to be doing more gigs! Debi was joined by Skip Sail for a few numbers, this not only gave Debi a bit more space musically but also made her more relaxed and this came over well (perhaps she could get Skip on her solo album!). Next up was Terry Lockwood with Damien Neal. Terry is also a regular and his booming voice is now a looked forward too event by Blues Bash punters. He didn't let anyone down and played a set of standards mixed with some good originals, with Damien being more than adequate on acoustic guitar. Last act up was Hot Wheels Blues with Tony Luke and Jim Hermal from the USA. These guys rocked with everyone enjoying the only band for the afternoon.

Another new idea for this year's Bash was a Old, New, Borrowed and Blue Exhibition held in a beautiful house in the main street (the one everyone drives past and says "geez, I'd love to live in that house!"). This showcased how music has played a role in people's lives. It featured some fantastic instruments, some home made, some gathered from overseas, many photo's, paintings, record covers and videos. It had had a great launch the week earlier and was visited by most people on the day. The thing I liked about it most was that it allowed people who are into blues music, but not musicians (like myself), to feel part of the festival and that those people who make instruments, take photo's or buy albums are just as much part and as important as those that play the music, a really great idea and well presented.

Well the Blues returned to the mainstreet and was enjoyed by all, shall it never have to move from there again! During the day also saw a return of workshops, the first being Geoff Achison, to an expected full house of 60 (the Retro Room only seats about 35!). The Retro Room is a small room inside the Bruthen Inn Hotel, that provided a very intimate setting for workshops. Now how does a person do a workshop that caters for musical goofs (like me) but also cater for established musicians, it's a hard call and Geoff did well. He gave a background to his own playing and difficulties he had learning, then what helped him learn and then showing us stuff that he has come up with. The things that stood out for me was picking up sounds you like and learning them so you can use them in solo's and that it's no use learning a solo off a record, especially with blues, because they probably don't know what they are gonna do or what they did, so it's no use trying to copy!

This year the Saturday night had two events, the usual Blues Party at the Bruthen Inn Hotel and new this year was the Blues Café, a retreat or anyone who found it hard to cope with the intensity of the Blues Party. The Blues Café worked well for its first year, with around 80 punters attending. It was a nice laid back atmosphere, with coffee's available. I didn't get down there myself but all reports were good, although the sound in the hall may need addressing. The Serious Jims, a local outfit started off proceedings. They are a talented duo, last time I saw them they were playing some rag time tunes and another 12 months on they were obviously more experienced. Skip Sail followed some fire twirlers and played some great blues and originals. Skip played everywhere which was fantastic and obviously shows he has a confidence in his material and so he should, his last album "Deal Go Down" was highly acclaimed by not only the blues scene but the music scene in general. So it was great that most people got to hear him. GIT headlined the night and their harmonies went down a treat. Their blend of Country, Western, Gospel and Blues covers everyone's tastes and the harmonies are fantastic and hard to resist, they also have a lot of fun with each other and you can't help but enjoy yourself with them.

The Blues Party continues to be the Festival highlight and we were lucky enough to be able to record again this year. Sound recording maestro Rob Harwood not only produced great sound for the audience and the artists, but also managed to get it all down on tape and if there is enough material that satisfies all the requirements there will hopefully be a CD produced as a follow up to the much acclaimed 2000 CD (also recorded by Rob). Jay Wagstaff kicked off proceedings and after a day of working his guts out and having to rush to the stage, then the anxiety about being recorded, Jay did well to play anything! Jay has progressed every time I see him and tonight was no exception. He has been recording some of his own material and I'm sure this experience has helped him mature as an artist. His version of "Don't Play Guitar Boy" received accolades from Mr Harwood and I just loved his tribute to his dad, Wags, the very relevant "Orio Cookie Blues". The Broccoli Brothers were next up and played a variety of material that got the foot tapping.

To say Collard Greens and Gravy are Bruthen's favourite Blues band is an understatement. They've been at the Blues Bash every year for the past six year's, except for last year when they were conquering the USA (coming second in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis), so they had an excuse. Ian Collard's harp playing and singing have never been better, James Bridges on guitar is as solid as ever and no doubt one of the finest traditional blues players in the land and Shorty is, well, Shorty! Shorty plays his drums to an inch of their life, then kills them gruesomely all the whilst shaking and moving his head in a fashion that even Angus Young would be proud of. Their long set went down a treat with many a fan sitting on the floor in front of the band, or getting up and dancing their heads off. For those fans who did dance their heads off they were lucky because they were gonna die dancing to the next act anyway.

Geoff Achison and the Souldiggers were a real coo to have at the Bash and they didn't disapoint, a seriously great band. Mal Logan on keyboard, Roger McLachlan on bass and Gerry Pantazis on drums all played great and it was amusing to see a group of drummers standing around like kids in a lolly shop, so excited over Gerry's playing, but also a group of bass players and piano players doing the same, not to mention the guitar fans! I haven't seen Geoff's band for year's and it is obvious that the year's of playing and touring have had a great impact on him. He, as was his band, are very professional, react very well to the audience and are spot on with their playing, but not clinical where you might as well listen to a record, they play great but are also spontaneous, so if someone is hot they give them their head. John on bass was a perfect example, he did a brilliant bass solo and just kept on going, everyone was getting into it so he kept going. The pub was full to capacity, with many saying it's the best blues bash ever, this is said every year but I think this year they really meant it!

Sunday is usually a recovery day, so we called it just that this year. The gospel service started in the main street around 9.30am and featured local and visiting artists, again great to have it in the main street. The Flying Fruit Fly Circus made up for lost time on Saturday, so people were not only singing to the skies, but also jumping through them! Rob Harwood did a workshop on the Sunday morning and had one very interested punter who had converted his old man's dairy into a band rehearsal room! Only in the country folks. Nicky Moffat did a workshop on the didgeridoo and had heaps of people blowing up a storm. Nicky went through reciprocal breathing, making a sound, then doing animal calls, a very good practical workshop. Nicky then followed up with a set at the Bruthen Inn Hotel, showing not only how to play didge, but also sing and play guitar. Nicky was joined by Shorty and Nicky rose to even further heights. Nicky has some great originals as well as covering some classic Koori songs from the likes of Archie Roach. Skip Sail then joined Nicky and Shorty for a brilliant version of "Who Do You Love", with Skip playing real dirty, pumping guitar, Shorty rollicking on drums and Nicky playing awesome didge, mumbling in the background then piercing with dingo like calls (hope it gets on the CD!).

Lloyd Spiegel followed and he is another who has benefited by doing lots of gigs especially in the USA. Lloyd works well with the crowd and has become a good entertainer, along with being a wonderful guitar player and singer. His acoustic set went over a treat, as I'm sure his original material would have. I've really enjoyed Lloyd's 5 original songs on his first solo album, but he felt that he needed to play blues at a blues fest. I think music fans, blues or otherwise like good music and I recon people would have loved his originals. So if you see Lloyd ask him to do some originals, Jeff Lang used to do blues standards a lot, now he does entire shows of originals, and I think Lloyd's ability to write shouldn't be seen as a less important thing than his guitar or voice, so hassle him to do em! The highlight of the set for me was Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" where Lloyd encourages the audience to get Phil Binotto to play the "shuffely thing" on drums, faster and faster, the amazing thing though is that Lloyd keeps up on vocals, amazing stuff and a great crowd pleaser. It was really good to see Lloyd bring the old Midnight Special crew of Phil and Dave Macnaughton, all have matured into very good musicians and good blokes too!

The Mojo's need no introduction, but I'll give one anyway! One of Australia's truly great blues bands. Not only do they provide the whole array of blues but also splash in with zydeco and latin grooves. I don't want to bore you with the usual, Fi's a great entertainer, Kaz is brilliant on harp, Gina fantastic on keys and accordion, Paula wonderful on drums and Robbie Hornbuckle amazing on 8 string bass, so I won't! They are certainly a band that the whole family gets into and with the demise of many gigs in Melbourne that can afford a five piece it is becoming, unfortunately, a common thing that you can only see this quality of band at festivals, thank god for festivals!
Well another Blues Bash survived, a great weekend of blues music, money raised for the local community and hopefully enough recorded material for a CD release. See everybody at the 8th Annual Bruthen Blues Bash in 2003.

....Rooster....

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