Info from Mr Blues – 1/12/1998
As promised here is the report on the Inagural Hawkesbury Blues Festival and 5th Annual Australian Blues Music Awards, and apologies for not getting this email to you sooner.
Also I have had enquiries regarding if I mind if my newsletters are forwarded on to other friends and so on. GO FOR IT…the blues needs recognition on the information superhighway and the more people any info reaches then the better it is for the blues scene.
Saturday 18th November 1998 in the town of Windsor NSW Australia, saw a gathering of blues fans and musicians for the Hawkesbury Blues Festival.
Traditionally this weekend has been the setting for the Lithgow Blues Festival which sadly did not eventuate, instead a great band of enthusiasts, some involved with the Lithgow team, organised a day and night of blues grandeur at the Fitzroy Hotel which also included the Australian Blues Music Awards, usually held at the Lithgow Festival.
Armed with a video camera, I set off for the 2 hour drive hoping I would not be disappointed and believe me, I left 14 1/2 hours later astounded.
For those who were not there..you missed a sizzling day and evenings entertainment. Those who attended are most probably feeling like me, simply buzzing with renewed inspiration and blown away by the atmosphere inside this little hotel at the foot of the mountains.
Derwin/Jones opened the festival with a rousing display of acoustic blues.
Derwin on guitar and Jones on harmonica. Patrons were treated to the awesome sounds of harmonica and acoustic guitar as the arrived, Derwin/Jones letting it be known that they were worthy of being selected to open the festival. That Jones fella really knows how to blow that thang.
Next up was The Chicken Pickers, featuring Tony Perry on harmonica and the uninitiated could be forgiven for wondering if this was a harmonica based festival. A great set followed as friends met up again and aquaintances renewed their yearly meetings, but then Steve Edmonds arrived on stage and demolished the airspace. This was The Steve Edmunds Band’s debut live performance, and with a selection of acomplished musicians (names I don’t know) gave Steve the free reign up front to give the patrons what they wanted, a dose of that distinct uncluttered Edmunds style. Steve’s guitar style is one that many could learn from, allowing the feeling to flow through and complement the other instruments within his band. Watch out for the Steve Edmunds Band at a venue near you soon.
The legendary Mal Eastick powered in next up and for the next 40 to 50 mins, spun up a typhoon of guitar licks and great ballsy blues.
Mal’s current band of John Mackey-vocals, Ian Lees-bass and Rudy miranda on drums have been running on nitro lately and this performance was no different.
Patrons who had not seen the band in action for a lengthy period of time were speechless.
Next was the 5th Australian Blues Music Awards, where emotions flowed and cheers abounded as the nominees and winners were announced.
Just in case I forgot you on my previous mail out here are the winners again.
- 1998 Best New Female Artist……………Kerri Sweeney
- 1998 Best New Male Artist……………..Matt Corcoran
- 1998 Best New Band……………………Papa Lips
- 1998 Best Harmonica…………………..Kenny Sutherland
- 1998 Best Guitar……………………..Jeff Lang
- 1998 Hall Of Fame…………………….Dutch Tilders
- 1998 Song Of The Year…………………Throw It All – Jeff Lang
- 1998 Album Of The Year………………..Cedar Grove – Jeff Lang
- 1998 Band Of The Year…………………Bondi Cigars
- 1998 Female Artist Of The Year…………Michelle Van Der Meer
- 1998 Male Artist Of The Year…………..Ray Beadle
Congratulations to all the award winners, I am proud of you.
By this time the buzz around the Fitzroy Hotel was that many were eager to see Third Degree and also Matt Corcoran. Having never seen Matt Corcoran live before I too was also hanging for the main event. Along came a band from the south coast town of Batemans Bay with a simple name of H30, but simple their style was not. Featuring a father-son blending on bass – guitar and vocals and also a 14 year old drummer, these lads and the Billy Thorpe lookalike dad amazed all with a brilliant set of great electric blues. These guys have a great future ahead of them, as long as the dad doesn’t grow too old too quickly.
Third Degree had arrived earlier in the evening, having played at Junee the previous night after a heavy schedule touring South Australia and Victoria.
The lads may have been totally exhausted but it sure as hell did’nt stop them from exhausting the fans with a sheer display of high energy power blues also featuring an addition to the line up in Lachlan Doley on the grand old Hammond B3. Poor young Matt Corcoran was out the back saying how the heck was he supposed to follow such sheer energy, Mal Eastick was seen shaking his head in amazement and fans were about 10 seconds away from a mental orgasm.
Next up was a local acoustic guitar duo to cool things down a minimal fraction…named Buffalo Creek or something similar, then Hurricane Corcoran hit. The Matt Corcoran Band proceeded to infect the crowd with a pleasurable illness which happens to be incurable. Sitting on stage with his guitar on lap (ala Jeff Healey style) young Matt broke just about every sonic range known to mankind. Suitably backed by Ron Hilla (ex Turning Blue) on bass and Sandy Orro on drums, Matt Corcoran gave fans 60 minutes totally commercial free. Included were some hilarious highlights where Matt’s vocal mike decided that if the guitar could spend the night on
Corcoran’s lap then it too was doing the same. Fortunately these spontaneous incidents were handled in a manner befitting a veteran. Those who saw this show will never forget the night in a hurry as The Matt Corcoran band gave everything, from humor to sadness, from sutle dynamics to crescendo’s befitting a flyover of Lear Jets doing musical rollovers.
Finally the encore, and Matt invited Michelle Van Der Meer (buzzing after being awarded best female artist) and Jacko from Third Degree, onstage for a jam session. After having most of my intelligence blown away, this became the mother of all jams. I think that after Michelle left the stage, Jacko and Matt traded guitar licks (with Matt also having a brief blow on the harmonica) for around 10 to 15 minutes, and believe it or not at that point the video camera ran out of tape. After all of this, the few hundred legendary festival fans and myself began heading home to wherever and here I am writing this 3 days later and still buzzing.
The Hawkesbury Blues Festival was a mega success and I congratulate all involved from Stan ‘The Man’ Little right through to the Hotel management and staff. It was also a personal festival in that due to the smaller venue, artists and fans were able to rub shoulders, chat and basically get to meet everyone there.
It looks like it could be on again next year.. I damn well hope so.
So wherever you are, in Australia or worldwide, help keep the blues alive because the blues is life and life is the blues.
cheers
Mark ‘radar’ Watson (Mr Blues)
Bye–
QUOTE OF THE MOMENT
**”As a matter of fact” is an expression that precedes many an expression that isn’t.**
MR BLUES POSTAL ADDRESS:
Mark ‘radar’ Watson, PO Box 411, Corrimal, NSW, 2518, Australia.
Lithgow Blues Music Festival 1997 – Media Release
1997 LITHGOW BLUES MUSIC FESTIVAL AND AUSTRALIAN BLUES MUSIC AWARDS
The Lithgow Blues Festival went well although slightly down on numbers due to the road being cut by bushfires. The performances and sound production were however brilliant as usual.
A freak gust of wind destroyed our main outdoor stage on the Saturday afternoon. So the Outdoor programme was transferred to our indoor venue. Thankfully no one was seriously hurt. The programme still ran to schedule and no band missed out on their performance.
Some memorable performances on the weekend.
Friday Night Highlights:
Nathan Cavaleri performed brilliantly with a sea of young bodies trying to crash the stage. (fun for the security with a lot of body surfing hee! hee!). Nathan’s 12 year old brother Josh was invited up to play drums (very talented young drummer). What a top young ‘International Star’.
Jeff Lang followed what can I say ‘awesome performance’ (literally had patrons spellbound). Jeff invited Marco Goldsmith, followed by Hatz Fitz and then Nathan. During the set Jeff was performing dual guitars and on top of the shoulders of Hatz Fitz . Fantastic night.
Saturday Highlights:
The patrons danced under the sprinklers in front of the Main stage (bloody hot weekend). The sound was superb.
Muddy Puddles and Big Al & the Vibrolators stole the afternoon session with their antics and colourfull attire. Big Al & the Vibrolators is certainly the band to keep on eye on from WA.
Marco Goldsmith followed and showed us all why he has been award winning material for some years now and superb as a solo act.
Jeff Lang was just getting into his set at around 6.30pm when he announced jokingly as he looked at the sky that he was feeling ‘God Like’ ‘let their be rain’ within minutes the roof was literally lifted from the main stage with a freak gust of wind bringing Jeff’s crystal clear performance to an abrupt end.
The programme was quickly transferred to the indoor auditorium with the 1997 Australian Blues Music Awards presentation starting off the evenings performances at approximately 7.15pm.
The 1997 Australian Blues Music Awards were presented. Congratulations to the following Performers and Bands who received awards for Best Blues of 1997.
- New Female Artist – Elise Field
- New Male Artist – Ray Beadle (Foreday Riders)
- Female Artist – Jan Preston
- Male Artist – Damon Davies
- Harmonica – Scott Bird (Pale Riders)
- Guitar – Jeff Lang
- Song – “Guess I’ll Find Out Later” – Mighty Reapers
- Album – “The Hurt Is On” – Mighty Reapers
- New Band – Pale Riders
- Band – Mighty Reapers
- Blues Radio Programme – Stormy Monday – 2MBS FM
- Toohey’s Hall of Fame Award – Chain
The evening sets proceeded with the Pale Riders and enthralled the crowd with their rockabilly, country blues style, Scot Bird showed us all why he was awarded the Best Blues Harmonica of 1997. Third Degree, Foreday Riders, Turning Blue followed and kept the crowd jumping till the last set winding up with Kevin Borich Express another Australian legend. The evening wound up at 2.30am Sunday Morning following very memorable night. The indoor venue even though slightly overcrowded proved to be very popular with the sound acoustics superb.
Congratulations to Jeff Lang and Stan Little and all the other performers for reorganising the programme to indoors and keeping pretty well to the original programme and a magnificent job with an average of a 15 minute set-up time while the alternate stage was in operation. A Big thank you.
Sunday Highlights:
Unfortunately the 2 Indoor Workshops had to be cancelled due to both stages working on band performances. The crowd did not seem to mind as Big Al & the Vibrolators again showed how it done in WA and woke the patrons at around 11am. The Mighty Reapers absolutely superb, and winners of 3 Awards this year. Jeff Lang and Marco Goldsmith wound off the festival at approximately 7.30pm after once again leaving the patrons spellbound and not wanting to leave. Jeff lang – what can I say, even though absolutely worn out after a full weekend of performances turned his tiredness into passion and his love of the art and truly the most brilliant performance I have ever seen – an international quality performance.
Debra Morris
Tourism Officer
Lithgow Blues Music Festival – Media Release 2
Lithgow Blues Music Festival 1997
The Lithgow Blues Music Festival Committee would like to express their appreciation to the following organisations who assisted the Festival during the year.
Sponsors:
Greater Lithgow City Council, Greater Lithgow Tourism Association and Greater Lithgow Visitors Centre, Tourism NSW, Blue Mountains Regional Tourism Organisation, Lithgow Tyre Service, C & W Printing, Wreckair Hire, Lithgow Mercury, Prime TV, Brian Hustwaite, Ten Capital TV, The Drum Media, On the Street Magazine, Beat Magazine, Live to Ride Magazine, Blues Societies Nationwide, Blues Programs on FM & AM Radio Stations Nationwide (147 Radio Stations), Tooheys, D’Aquinos, Lithgow Valley Springs. Zig Zag Joinery, Richmond Kristen Couriers, and Ted Anderson from Ted’s Top Tune South Windsor.
Others who have assisted in staging the 1997 event:
Greater Lithgow City Council Staff, Lithgow Community Nurses, Win TV, Lithgow Police, Lithgow Taxis and Stan Green’s Boxing Team, Scott Groves Electrical, TNT Express Couriers, Australia Post (Lithgow), Twylite Dog Security (QLD), K A Productions (Lithgow), Roan Watt Audio (Newcastle), Caradel Hire (Goulburn), Butler’s Hire (Bathurst), Industrial & Gold Plating Co (Sydney), Atlas Copco Hire (Sydney), Terrace Screen Printing (Newcastle), Beccatone Promotions (Terrigal), Mountains Top Trike Tours (Mt Victoria), Coates Hardware, Basil Lemke, Wallerwang Tilt Tray, McFadden Ice (Bathurst), Mobi Fridge Hire (Sydney), Wizard Security Armbands (Sydney), Colemans Office Products (Bathurst), Sunrise Products (VIC), The Alexanda Hotel (Rydal), Tattersalls Hotel (Lithgow) and the Commercial Hotel (Lithgow), No 1 Ferro Serviced Appartments, Elliot Hayman, Staff of the Commonwealth Bank, Lithgow Show Society.
Our Internet Blues Community especially Glenn Nelson from Highway 49 who has promoted the Festival all year from Victoria.
The 140 musicians who performed during the weekend.
The Lithgow Businesses who voluntarily put posters in their windows and are proud to support Lithgow Community Events. Bathurst, Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains Businesses who happily put the Festival posters in their windows. University Campuses Australia-wide.
A special thank you to all our volunteers (37 volunteers in 1997) and those who have assisted all year you know who you are.
To our hard working volunteer committee who meet weekly all year:
- Vanessa Corcoran – Office Administration, Stalls, Accommodation & Ticketing
- Wayne Morris – Security Coordination
- Don Green – Bar Management – On-site Management
- Rob Holmes – Bar Management
- Dale Brown – Volunteer Coordination and Bar Management
- James Glenndenning (Richmond) – Media Liaison & Stage Management
- Stan Little (Richmond) – Media Liaison & Stage Management
- Glenda Phipps – Ticket Sales
- Debra Morris – Festival Coordinator, Band Liaison, Media Liaison and Licensee
- Trevor Evans – President Greater Lithgow Tourism Association – Souvenir and Refreshment Ticket Sales.
The Blues Festival Committee will be meeting this Friday night to appraise this years event and start planning 1998. Any organisation, business or helpers who would like to join our team you are more than welcome. (a further report will be forthcoming in the New Year.)
A sincere thank you to all for another memorable Lithgow Blues Music Festival in 1997. For further inquiries Please Contact me on 02 63 531242.
Debra Morris
Coordinator
Lithgow Blues Music Festival Committee 1997