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We are very proud of our first Folk Festival. The inaugural Boolarra Folk Festival was held on March 22, 2003 at the Centenary and Railway Parks in Boolarra Victoria. The theme for our first festival was "folk and drums". The theme incorporated traditional and contemporary folk music with Latin and African percussion groups. Nineteen acts from Gippsland and Melbourne performed over the 8-hour daytime event. In the evening at the Boolarra Memorial Hall, the fabulous Boola Boola Band and Lauren Taylor wound up the festival with their unique brand of folk music. The Boolarra Club Hotel was buzzing, with fantastic performances by Danny Boothman, Danny King and Working Class Ringos. We also held an Art and Craft Festival in Railway Park , which showcased some of our talented, local artists. This was a resounding success as visitors and locals joined together in friendly banter and serious barter. We are very grateful to our sponsors Vic Health, International Power Hazelwood, TXU and the Baw Baw Shire who provided funding for this event. 2003 PerformersMolly Maguires The Molly Maguires are an Irish Folk Bank from Latrobe Valley. The Band has been in existence for over 10 years. Their music is mainly Irish Folk music, which includes contemporary and traditional songs and instrumental jigs, reels, hornpipes and aires. They cover songs and instrumentals from bands like the Fury’s, the Dubliners, The Bothy Band, Christy Moore and many others. They also enjoy playing a small selection of songs by modern day Irish; Scottish bands and include Australian, American, and Galeacian tunes in their repertoire. Danny Boothman Danny Boothman is a guitarist and singer from the Morwell and Traralgon area. Danny has been performing in around the Latrobe Valley for around twenty years as a soloist and in bands. Danny plays a variety of music from bluesy folk as Neil Young to a more country Eagles sound. Danny also plays original music from his vast repertoire. Phil Beggs Phil Beggs plays guitar, mandolin and mouth organ. Phil has a range of 60 original songs plus 100 of covers. Wendy Reed Wendy Reed and Michael Warner are a duo that play music from the 70's and 80's and includes artists such as the Eagles and Linda Ronstadt. Michael Warner's experience in music is both extensive and diverse, covering jazz, contemporary and light rock. Michael is an innovative and talented musician and also features on the "South Gippsland Uncovered", not only as an artist but also in the arranging and recording of a number of tracks on the album. Look Out Look Out is a local Gippsland duo hailing from Gippsland. They have played many gigs around the local area, and are actively involved in the Gippsland Acoustic Music club, playing regular support gigs. They have played at many other folk festivals including the National Folk Festival and Maldon Folk Festival. In 2002, Look Out won the Monash Gippsland – Open Mike Night, which included the prize of recording time enabling Look Out to record their first EP/Demo. The style of music that Look Out play is contemporary folk. They are young performers and they enjoy playing lively songs and believe that if they are having a good time so will the audience. HoneyCane HoneyCane started out as a duo with just Stephen (guitar and vocals) and Dean (guitar and vocals). Since then they have wecomed three new members, Olivia, (flute) Danna (violin) and Leigh (viola) and in the process, have taken their sound to another level. Their first EP is still moving towards completion so hopefully in the near future they will have a CD.
Soar Point Soar Point is a three-piece band from Buffalo and Mount Best in South Gippsland. The play all original Australian blueys folk music. The band consists of Pete Snell on rhythm guitar and vocals and he is the writer of their songs. Mario Polletti plays the slide guitar and mandolin and provides backing vocals. Ross West is the backbone of the group playing the tea chest bass, didge, spoons, wash board and can the dance the "pance off a kangaroo. The band plays on a regular basis at the Fishy Pub at Fish Creek and has played at Carino’s Café in Leongatha and the Dutch Iris in Korrumburra. Lillico Road Lillico Road are an acoustic trio from the Warragul area. They play a wide range of traditional Celtic and Folk material, both vocal and instrumental. They also perform acoustic interpretations of contemporary tunes. The line-up consists of Alan Tatlow on guitar and blues harp, Emma Runciman on tin whistle and recorder and Leigh Bechaz on guitar, mandolin and bohran. Lillico Road are committed to the concept of live acoustic music as a vital part of the community and would take pride in supporting any local events of similar philosophy. Boola Boola Through their music, Boola Boola reflect with both seriousness and humor Australia’s social and political landscape. Peter, Ruth, Strat and Lyndal are great travellers and the roots music they experience along the way flavours their own music giving them a distinctly Australian sound. They are also pivotal members of the National Folk Festival hit "The Great Southern Band".
Clayton, a local of Gippsland has been been writing music and playing guitar since he was 14. While still in his teens he fronted local eclectic grunge band Big Black Guts. After they disbanded Clayton continued to write music and perform original music, mostly around Gippsland, both solo and with friends and family. For the listener it can sometimes seem as though Clayton is "purging his soul" through his music which is not only beautifully constructed but also brimming with emotion and intensity. In his own words he says "my music is dedicated to all lost souls out there that wish to be found".
Lauren is a local Boolarra girl and very talented performer. She has performed various chorus and solo parts in musical theatre productions with the Latrobe Theatre Company as well as competing in various Eisteddfords in the Latrobe Valley. She has performed at the ARC Yinnar Switchroom on numerous occasions. Lauren enjoys singing songs by Jewel, Michelle Branch, Alanis Morrisette and others. When singing she is usually accompanied by dad Andy Taylor on guitar.
Detour is a West Gippsland folk group comprising of bass player and vocalist Terry Cupples and guitarist/vocalists Treacy Dunkley and Dave Hocking. They perform both originals and covers which have a folk/country feel and enjoy performing the songs of Fairport Convention, Steeleye Span and Neil Young. Detour has the ability to rock and roll and to play an airy mellow tune. A particular highlight of their performances is the sweet three part harmonies. Frances Groen Frances has been reading Bush Poetry throughout Gippsland and Victoria for 6 years. She performs original works as well as those written by other Australian Poets and loves mostly to perform "the ones with a bit of humor in them". Although she lived much of her life in Europe she says she has enjoyed embracing the Australian way of life. The Land The Land is Gippsland locals Chelsea Stewart and Aaron Cupples. They compose, produce and perform original music as well as arrange and perform Traditional Folk songs. Inspired by many different musical artists and styles, the Land music is hard to define. For the Boolarra Folk Festival 2003, they will be accompanied by local guitarist David Parkin who performs in several Melbourne based acts including The Redresser. Sue Lester I have loved folk singing since the 60’s performing on and off since I was a preschooler. Inspired by Joan Baez and Joni Mitchell, I have always loved classical and folk music, and attended folk clubs weekly in England before migrating here in 1975. I have performed at Meeniyan Tavern nights and Elderly Citizens Clubs and love singing with friends at home. I mostly play contemporary Christian music but would love to play more folk music with a group. I am really excited by the great musical talent in South Gippsland at this time! Darly & Danusha Daryl Hewitt is a local artist performing Bluegrass, blues/folk music. Past performances include "Fairweather Friends", "The Plan" and as a solo act at local venues playing Banjo, Mandolin and Acoustic Guitar. Danusha Kosakiewicz provides harmony and backing vocals as well as poetry recitation and past performances include Gippsland Acoustic Club/Canberra Folk Festival/Woven Threads. Hans Visset (Acoustic Guitar/Banjo/Mandolin) and Wilfred Laaks, (Bass Guitar/Harmonica) also local artists, will be performing with Daryl & Danusha. Danny King Although from Melbourne now, I grew up in Gippsland moving between Bairnsdale, Traralgon and Warragul. I taught myself to play using my grandmothers guitar which she bought in the 20’s whilst living in Boolarra. In the 50’s, my Mother and Aunty won a talent contest playing piano duets in Boolarra. As well as playing covers, I write a lot of original material. My influences range from Leadbelly to Led Zeppelin and Radiohead. The festival will be my first and am eagerly looking forward to it! Working Class Ringos 10 years down the track for Maurice Frawley & Working Class Ringos. Formed by Frawley (vocals & acoustic guitar) as an outlet for his song writing he joined up with Shane Walsh on double bass, Des Hefner on drums & features Charlie Owen (Tex, Don & Charlie) on dobro, banjo & lap steel. The Ringos have recorded 3 albums, Whoop Whoop, a raw, acoustic album of soul and beauty. Livin’ Lazy, a more electric album adding Spencer P Jones on electric guitar. Their most recent album, Triple Skin Marquee can still be heard on ABC radio. Maurice was born in country Victoria and moved to Melbourne in the early 80’s and teamed up with Paul Kelly and the Dots. He has remained a close friend with Paul Kelly and they sang a duet, Would You Be My Friend on Triple Skin Marquee. Set to record a new album in March, Frawley describes the new songs as strong in country images, but not necessarily in its style. Yakshidera and Omfella Yakshidera (Catheryn Thompson) and Omfella (Peter Corser) perform songs and spoken word with classical guitar improvisations. Yakshidera’s spoken word spans raw political commentary, homespun philosophy and rhapsodic romance. Yakshidera began performing with the Melbourne street poets in the mid 1980’s. Her performance art piece " A Dead Clear Fell and Radiated Geisha’s featured at the Qxcart Gallery, Melbourne Fringe Festival in 1997. Omfella and Yakshidera perform regularly at the Art Resource Collective in Yinnar ProgramCentenary Park - Outside Performances
Memorial Hall - Inside Performances
Boolarra Pub - Inside Performances
Folk DanceThe climax of the festival was the Folk Dance on Saturday night at the Boolarra Memorial Hall. The main feature of the evening were the performances by Boola Boola and Lauren Taylor. This was a great night, with patrons spilling out onto the lawns, and dedicated folk dancing 'til the wee, small hours. Accommodation
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