|
Hi everyone. Hope you are all surviving the
silly season. It's been a big year for us.
First, we changed our name, then put out our new CD Frenzee, (given a four
star review by the SMH, against a lot of overseas acts!), one track (Eine
Kleine Nutmusik) is being played on the QANTAS Classical music station as
the moment!
Then, we started a fiddle school, see
http://www.myspace.com/southerncrossfiddlers
The tour to Brittany in France with Warren Fahey and John Williamson was
extraordinary.
Next was the tour to Japan for the inaugural Japan Australia Fiddle Festval...
now Tamworth and heaps of recording gigs etc.
Thanks to one and all for the support.
Here's a list of our gigs at Tamworth. A full list and printable poster is
available on the site
www.fiddlersfestival.com
Sunday 21st 3pm
Diggers Auditorium
Bookings 02 67657588
Tuesday 23rd 2pm
Scully Room, Southgate Inn
Bookings Tamworth Info Centre 02 67675300
Wednesday 24th 3pm
Diggers Auditorium
Bookings 02 67657588
Thursday 25th 2pm
Scully Room, Southgate Inn
Bookings Tamworth Info Centre 02 67675300
Friday 26th 11am
Scully Room, Southgate Inn
Bookings Tamworth Info Centre 02 67675300
Friday 26th 2pm
Scully Room, Southgate Inn
Bookings Tamworth Info Centre 02 67675300
Saturday 27th 1pm
Regent Theatre
(Finals No Holds Barred Fiddle Competition)
Bookings 02 67663162
Tickets $20 concessions
If you would like some material for press or interviews please
More fiddling than you can poke a bow
at!
First off, our performance dates for Tamworth are
listed on our site and also below
You can also download a pdf of the poster for your bulletin board! from the
site.
www.fiddlersfestival.com and follow the news and gigs
links.
All tickets for FF shows $20 and concessions
Check papers or the web for details
Friday 19th Opening Concert
Bi-Centennial Park 7.30 to 8.30 (approx)
Sunday 21st 3pm West Diggers Auditorium
The Fiddlers Feast has just received a Glowing
Four Star (described as HOT STUFF) Review of their new CD FRENZEE from
Critic John Shand in The Metro section of the Sydney Morning Herald today
(13/10/06). You can read the review at
http://search.smh.com.au .
John says "I defy anyone not to like this CD. This beats the socks off the
Syndey Band's previous releases on all levels."
The Fiddlers Feast is also featured in this month's (October) CAPITAL NEWS.
In a glowing article by Sue Jarvis, the group's recent CD release and tours
to Japan and Brittany are hightlighted.
Sue says "Frenzee is a superbly crafted, brilliantly performed and
energy-packed album that captures everything that makes the Fiddlers Feast a
special group".
You can listen to tracks from Frenzee and the other FF CDs at
http://www.fiddlersfestival.com/shop
While you're there, have a look at our Japan, France and other blogs,
reviews, press kits, downloads and photos on the site as well.
Fiddlers Feast will appear in Tamworth for the Country Music Festival in
January, 2007.
Tickets for their shows are available from usual outlets and a full lists of
performances will be available on the website in a few days.
Tickets for Southgate Inn (Scully Room) shows are on sale through the
Tamworth Tourist Information Centre and shows for Diggers are on sale at
West Leagues club.
You can view the blogs at
www.fiddlersfestival.com .
Just go to the news page and look for ...er......."lost in train station"...
it's a joke! right?
Clare's helped with this one as well.
Hi there...Just to let you know about a couple
of bits of news
The Concert Hall channel on QANTAS airlines will be featuring EINE KLEINE
NUTMUSIK (a decomposition of Mozart's famous piece) by Fiddlers Feast in
their December programming. Thanks for that guys!
So, if you're flying around the place don't forget to listen to what happens
when a bunch of crazy fiddlers get hold of a beautiful classic piece of
music and run over it with a stream roller!
You can also hear this looney tune streamed at
www.fiddlersfestival.com
On October 20th Marcus (Holden) will be appearing in concert with Jane
Rutter, Sean O'Boyle and the Queensland Orchestra at the QPAC.
He'll be presenting his new work for solo violin and orchestra, a medley of
Irish fiddle tunes as well as some other peices in a Galah concert.
http://www.thequeenslandorchestra.com.au/asp/index.asp?pgid=10692
Back in Marcus' Bloody Dog Studios, award winning group JIGZAG is recording
their fourth CD this month.
It'll be out in time for the Woodford Folk Festival. You can conatct the lad
and lashes at www.jigzag.com.
The Southern Cross Fiddlers has a new website at
www.myspace.com/southerncrossfiddlers .
In case you're a budding fiddler and want to get some group lessons , we get
together at the Uniting Chrcuh Hall, Paddington (Eastside Arts) every
Wednesday.
For enquiries ring Anita 0405 053744 or email scfiddlers@unwired.com.au
Hi there. We just returned from a week in
Japan.
Our first performance was at the inaugural Japan/Australia Fiddle Festival
in Osaka.
You can read the article from the site or buy the paper!
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,20468747-16947,00.html
Our other concerts at O'Carolan's and the JT Hall in Tokyo were also well
received.
I am blogging the trip and we will have some information and photos up on
the site asap!
If you are interested in hearing more, please email me!
Is there more to violin playing than
the classics. Want to learn how to jam
along with other musicians. Want to be a able to play by ear, pick up a tune
and play it? What about learning how to play tunes from all over the world?
Well, this is for you!!!
The newly formed Southern Cross Fiddlers are
looking for both youth and adult fiddlers for ongoing classes.
♪ Classes will be held every Wednesday evening at the Eastside Arts, Uniting
Church, Oxford St, Paddington. Classes begin August 23, 2006.
♫ Cost - $475/term (term ends December 13/2006) and includes weekly group
lessons and individual coaching classes.
Experienced teachers and coaches provide quality instruction. So, come and
discover fiddling! We focus on learning Celtic, folk, bluegrass, jazz and
other violin techniques.
For more information
call 04 05 053 744 (Anita) or
email: scfiddlers@unwired.com.au
Mic Conway's National Junk Band
New Fiddle Classes
It seems that an opportunity has come up to put
together an ongoing fiddle class. The idea is to have ongoing classes once a
week, on a weekday evening, to work through a repertoire of music (fiddle,
celtic, folk, bluegrass, jazz – basically anything that’s alternative
music). I am hoping to teach those students (both youth and adult, although
the classes would be separate) who have some basic classical training in
violin (although that may not be requisite for the adults) and who can
commit to the ongoing classes. The goal would be to perform, whether at
seniors residences, schools or markets, as a means of raising the prominence
of violinists/fiddlers in Sydney and area. The repertoire of music would
come from the instructors, hopefully the music would have several parts so
that students of different skill levels might all get to play parts that
would be challenging to them. We are looking for instructors who would be
able to commit some time either as a teacher or a coach on an ongoing basis.
The classes would be held on a weekday evening, with each class (at this
point 2 classes, one for youth and one for adult, although optimally we
would split classes by age and skill level given the number of students)
being led by a teacher. Coaches would help with the larger class, but also
help if the class is divided into smaller groups for work on specific parts
of a piece or technique, etc. Coaches also would be available to sub for the
teacher when he/she is unavailable. Coaches (and teachers) also work
individually with students to work with the repertoire and specific
technique individually. It would also be required that one of the teachers
or coaches be available to accompany the students when they are performing.
The instructors who are part of this must not only be able to commit their
skill and time, but also to ‘buy’ into the idea of promoting alternative
ways to play with the violin.
This idea for a fiddle group is based on a group in Canada (
www.calgaryfiddlers.com
). They charge students per student year (here
it would be February to November/December), fees include weekly classes and
individual coaching (students are paired with a coach who individually works
with the music in the repertoire, and on specific fiddling techniques). Some
of the performances that the group does are free of charge, but most often
they charge several hundred dollars to cover transportation, equipment and
payment for attendance of a coach or teacher. They have their own
speaker/amp/microphone system that they lug to performances when the venue
does not provide. Instructors are paid for classes, individual instruction
and attendance at performances.
We are also (obviously) looking for interested students and parents who
might want to get invovled on various levels. This is a great opportunity
for us all to develop a viable fiddle school in Sydney, for which there is
great need.
I have already met with the Newtown Performing Arts High School about
getting some space there (I’ve looked at the space and there’s two larger
teaching rooms, with some extra coaching rooms nearby) as well as two
theatres for some smaller performances. Although it’s great space, not sure
that this will actually be the venue for the classes, but I am looking for
something central for convenience for teachers and students.
So I’m working on the venue and have someone who has volunteered to help
organize (she volunteered for several years with the Calgary fiddling
group), so now I’m at the stage of looking for other interested
teachers/coaches (and any ideas of how to promote this!). If you are
interested in this venture or have great ideas on how to make this happen,
please contact me either through return email at
marcus@fiddlersfestival.com or phone 0407 404443
Alternatively you can contact Anita McGregor at
almcgregor@unwired.com.au or phone 0405 053744. I would
like to set a date for later this month (where and when!) to meet with those
interested folks so that we can take this to the next step. I hope to hear
from you shortly.
After ten years the Fiddlers Festival has
decided to change it's name slightly to FIDDLERS FEAST.
Fiddler's Feast is Marcus Holden, Mark Oats, Clare O'Meara, Rodney Ford,
John Coker and Gary Steel and are described as "a powerhouse of Australian
Celtic music that flies down bush tracks, over blue mountains and zips down
through the Australian city highways".
Fiddlers Feast has recently been signed to Rouseabout Records and is set to
send the strings flying! The new album, FRENZEE, is a ripper-roaring
collection featuring all sorts of fiddling from Country to tongue-in-cheek
classical, from twisted jazz tracks to rock and reel. and a plethora of
weird and wonderful music and musical guests from all parts of the harmonic
spectrum including the fabulous George Washingmachine and the legendary
Andrew Clermont. The CD will be available in mid July so what the website
for details.
As part of this "pre-Lorient extravaganza", they'll be joined on stage by
the one and only Warren Fahey, legendary bush music collector, author,
raconteur and Australia's original larrikin.
The FIL attracted more than 700,000 people last year and, because of its
Australian focus, is expecting even larger attendance for the "Year of
Australia".
Hi there everyone. Thought it was about time I
updated what goes on with our merry band of ........?
It's March (already!) and it feel like we just got finished with Tamworth
2006.
That was a hoot. It was our tenth year and we certainly made it memorable. A
few other events also transpired in the same time. I achieved a significant
birthday milestone (50!) and the Australian Newspaper was crazy enough to
feature me in an article. That has now prompted the ABC Sunday Arts program
(TV) to record me playing some pieces for their shows. I've asked Clare and
Garry (Steel) to accompany me for the recordings and we will be in the
studio for that late March, I'll let everyone know when it goes to
air.....but I can't help thinking there's been a mistake?
.
Yes, that's right folks. Marcus is featured in
a wonderful in depth interview about life, death and violin strings.....
well, not really! The Australian (that brilliant National
newspaper!) is publishing the article in the Review section on Saturday,
14th January. Amazing to see, Amazing to read, Don't miss out on
your copy!
Celebrating a decade of the
Fiddlers Festival
It may be a little hard to believe but it was 20 years ago that four
fiddling friends got together in Sydney with the idea of forming a band.
There was Andrew Clermont (all two metres of him); Marcus Holden (50kg
wringing wet back then); Pixie Jenkins (was and still is, vertically
challenged); and the big, gourgeous fiddle demon, Ray Schloeffel.
All then aged in their 20s, Sydney was a mad, electric city with lots of
money and endless possibilities. The fiddle was a novelty and the country
music scene was, at best, fledgling, but they were having the time of their
lives.
They weren’t quite ready to appear on Red Faces (think Australian Idol, 80s
style) dressed in pink tutus – that was Ray’s idea – so another 10 years
passed and the four friends met up again – with fiddles blazing this time
around.
Pixie suggested they get together for a few gigs in Tamworth, nothing too
formal – and Ray jumped at the idea. In fact all four fiddlers jumped for
joy.
Keyboardist Garry Steel chimed in as well and although the gigs weren't well
attended they knew they’d latched onto something quite special.
“We all felt it. It was totally different, totally unique – and that was 10
years ago when The Fiddlers Festival was born,” fiddling chief Marcus Holden
said.
“Ray is no longer with us. His departure was heartbreaking and agonising but
he left us with so many amazing memories and wonderful melodies.”
Reflecting back on all those recordings, performances, TV, radio, festival
and overseas appearances as well as all the players that have been
influenced and inspired by The Fiddlers Festival (as a group and as
individual players) Marcus is convinced the group has been repaid many times
over for their efforts in beginning this amazing group – encouraging others
to pick up their bow and let fly.
“When we started there were so few fiddle players around. Now, well, there’s
almost a magazine devoted to them,” he said.
Now, as The Fiddlers Festival approaches its 10th anniversary, there’s still
much excitement among the ranks – and a fair deal of musical mischief as
well.
If you haven't ever seen us..... do you know what you're missing????
The HOTEST fiddle band in Australia, recently returned from Expo in Japan,
and Australian National Tour! We're working frantically on the new CD and we
should have ready for our gigs at these venues. Check the local Tamworth
Country Music Festival papers for details.
Hi there folks. Well, you may or may not be
aware of what I've been up to these past couple of months...
I spent the merry of May in Ireland, mainly hanging out in a small town
called Kinvara, Co. Galway....(home to people like John Prine, John
Faulkner). I did go all over the fair Emerald Isle and had a great time
playing sessions with heaps of local players and sampling the authentic
beverages they serve over there.
After getting home for a couple of days, the Fiddlers Festival then set out
on our long awaited tour of Southern Australia, taking in places all the way
from Port Lincoln to Sale via Mount Gambier, Remnark etc ending up in Alice
Springs... You can check out all the goings on at
www.fiddlersfestival.com .
There's a blog of my Irish trip and some other news.
Then I flew to Brisbane to play for a show called SCOTLAND the BRAVE which
did two performances at the QPAC Concert Hall last Saturday and this weekend
we perform at the Concert Hall of the Sydney Opera House and yes I do wear a
kilt!
Here's a lovely photo of myself and orchestral conductor Sean O'Boyle just
before the first performance. Hope to see you all soon, Love and Haggis....
Hi everybody, just thought I'd send you a link
to the article written by Lee Anthony from the Australian about the
Hawkesbury National Fiddle Festival (held last weekend). To everyone who
attended... what a blast... to those who missed out, find out how much fun
you didn't
have!
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,12639576%255E16947,00.html
Golden Fiddle Award to showcase Australia’s talent
Australasian fiddlers are about to be recognised and encouraged, with
the first national Golden Fiddle Award.
The brainchild of some of Australia’s top fiddlers with the support of the
makers of the country’s own home grown instrument, the Epoch Violin, the
first of the Golden Fiddle Awards will be made at the Tamworth 2005
Festival.
Fiddlers of all ages and styles, composers, teachers and groups, will be
invited to contest seven categories.
The leading fiddlers behind the Awards, Marcus Holden and Andrew Clermont,
say Australia is undergoing a quiet revolution in fiddle playing.
“In an age where more hawkish pursuits demand media attention, a group of
dedicated fiddle fanatics has decided to set up an awards system focused on
nurturing, supporting and rewarding the wealth of talent that exists in this
country,” said Marcus Holden.
“We want to embrace all musical styles and in so doing we will endeavour to
unite fiddlers of all persuasions in one great common bond,” he added.
The growing popularity of violin playing in Australia is in keeping with an
international trend, which has not gone unnoticed by Managing Director of
Epoch Violins, Mark Mitchell.
“We designed and manufactured our colour range of instruments about five
years ago, and they have really taken off since we introduced our electric
range to the Tamworth audience,” recalls Mark.
“The five-string Epoch professional is now being played on stage by many of
the country’s leading performers and this is helping to drive many young
people towards the sheer fun of fiddling, with instruments which are easier
to play that the traditional violin, and which make an individual fashion
statement at the same time.
“We’ve been involved in the No Holds Barred Fiddle Contest in Tamworth for
several years and are now delighted to join forces with these great fiddlers
to do something inspiring for Australian music,” Mark added.
Entry forms will be made available soon through music websites, select music
stores and venues in Tamworth and judging will begin in October.
The first Golden Fiddle Awards will be announced during the No Holds Barred
Festival in Tamworth, at the Diggers Auditorium, on 19 January 2005.
The categories are:
1.Best fiddler (as a soloist) For performances during 2004 within
Australia or New Zealand
2.Best band, group, ensemble or orchestra featuring a fiddler For
performances during 2004 within Australia or New Zealand
3.Best CD by a fiddler as soloist Released during 2004 within Australia or
New Zealand
4.Best CD by a band, group, ensemble or orchestra featuring a fiddler
Released during 2004 within Australia or New Zealand
5.Lifetime achievement award for excellence as a fiddler/contributor to the
furthering of fiddle playing/teaching within Australia and New Zealand.
6.Best fiddle teacher in 2004 within Australia and New Zealand.
7.Best fiddle composition (open to all musical styles where the essential
element of fiddling as described in rules above is embraced).
8. No Holds Barred fiddle competition to be held during the Tamworth CMF. As
with previous years, open to all fiddlers. Heats and finals to be held
during performances of the Fiddler Festival and Andrew Clermont's Supper
Club.
All but categories 6 and 7 will be judged by a special committee. The best
fiddle teacher and the best composition will be chosen by popular vote.
Marcus Holden stressed that the awards would not be confined to “folk” or
“country” players, but would embrace all styles of music. In this way, a
student in a school orchestra has as much chance of winning this prestigious
award as a professional folk fiddler.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT Marcus Holden 0407 404443
or visit
www.goldenfiddleawards.org.au
News Release
Golden Fiddle Award to showcase Australia’s
talent
Australasian fiddlers are about to be recognised and encouraged, with the
first national Golden Fiddle Award.
The brainchild of some of Australia’s top fiddlers with the support of the
makers of the country’s own home grown instrument, the Epoch Violin, the
first of the Golden Fiddle Awards will be made at the Tamworth 2005
Festival.
Fiddlers of all ages and styles, composers, teachers and groups, will be
invited to contest seven categories.
The leading fiddlers behind the Awards, Marcus Holden and Andrew Clermont,
say Australia is undergoing a quiet revolution in fiddle playing.
“In an age where more hawkish pursuits demand media attention, a group of
dedicated fiddle fanatics has decided to set up an awards system focused on
nuturing, supporting and rewarding the wealth of talent that exists in this
country,” said Marcus Holden.
“We want to embrace all musical styles and in so doing we will endeavour to
unite fiddlers of all persuasions in one great common bond,” he added.
The growing popularity of violin playing in Australia is in keeping with an
international trend, which has not gone unnoticed by Managing Director of
Epoch Violins, Mark Mitchell.
“We designed and manufactured our colour range of instruments about five
years ago, and they have really taken off since we introduced our electric
range to the Tamworth audience,” recalls Mark.
“The five-string Epoch professional is now being played on stage by many of
the country’s leading performers and this is helping to drive many young
people towards the sheer fun of fiddling, with instruments which are easier
to play that the traditional violin, and which make an individual fashion
statement at the same time.
“We’ve been involved in the No Holds Barred Fiddle Contest in Tamworth for
several years and are now delighted to join forces with these great fiddlers
to do something inspiring for Australian music,” Mark added.
Entry forms will be made available soon through music websites, select music
stores and venues in Tamworth and judging will begin in October.
The first Golden Fiddle Awards will be announced during the No Holds Barred
Festival in Tamworth, at the Diggers Auditorium, on 19 January 2005.
The categories are:
Best performance by a fiddler soloist (includes live
performances and TV or radio appearances in 2004 within Australia and New
Zealand)
Best performance by a band, or group (including ensembles and orchestras)
featuring a fiddler (includes live performances and TV or radio appearances
in 2004 within Australia and New Zealand)
Best CD by a fiddler as soloist in 2004 within Australia and New Zealand
Best CD by a band, group (including ensembles or orchestras) featuring a
fiddler in 2004 within Australia and New Zealand
Lifetime achievement award for excellence as a fiddler/contributor to the
furthering of fiddle playing/teaching within Australia and New Zealand
Best fiddle teacher in 2004 within Australia and New Zealand
Best fiddle composition (open to all musical styles where the essential
element of fiddling is embraced)
All but the last two categories will be judged by a special committee. The
best fiddle teacher and the best composition will be chosen by popular vote.
Marcus Holden stressed that the awards would not be confined to “folk” or
“country” players, but would embrace all styles of music.
In this way, a student in a school orchestra has as much chance of winning
this prestigious award as a professional folk fiddler.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
CONTACT
Marcus Holden
marcus@fiddlersfestival.com
02 9747 0449
Or 0407 404443
Backgrounder
Marcus Holden
Marcus began playing the violin at the age of eight. He was a founding
member of the Canberra Youth Orchestra touring Australia and Europe. In his
late teens and early twenties he began writing and performing with rock,
blues and jazz bands while furthering his jazz studies at the Conservatorium
of Music in Sydney, which he completed in 1980.
He has toured Japan, Singapore, Guam, Thailand and Hong Kong and has been
constantly employed as a session musician, composer, arranger and producer
by many of Australia’s top rock, film and country performers and writers
including Jimmy Barnes, Mick Conway and Diesel.
He has been a consultant for the development of the Jazz Studies Course at
the Canberra School of Music, a lecturer in jazz violin at the Riverina
Summer School of Strings and the Hawkesbury National Fiddle Festival and has
performed as a composer soloist with the Queensland Youth Orchestra and more
recently formed the Fiddlers Festival, bringing together the cream of
Australia’s fiddlers from all musical backgrounds. He runs his own recording
studio, producing CDs for a variety of artists in many genres of music.
Tamworth Festival 2004
Fiddlers Festival have
just finished touring from Brisbane to Longreach with the Qld Arts Council,
then performed (again) from the Brisbane Festival
FiDDLERS FESTIVAL TOUR QUEENSLAND
(from Andrew Clermont)
So the Fiddle mob head off for another jaunt on the road to Roma. A mining
truck transport is
ahead taking over the entire roadway at 80 km per hour and a queue forms
behind. Finally we
pass the transport in a tiny town, only to be pulled over by the police! He
tells us our trailer door
is wide open! We dash around to see the damage and or loss of
gear..........Unbelievably even
Mark Oats's Fiddle which teeters upright by the opening is still calmly
sitting there! What a pack!
100 km of a wide open trailer AND not one person behind flashed their
lights,
honked their horns
or ran over any gear - having miraculously stayed in the trailer! We all
counted our luck stars that
morning.
And "blow me down" if we didn't then see a staggeringly big, wide
shooting star last night
across most of the heavens and it glowed for ages after! Night sky watching
is an absolute must
in the outback. And Note: in the southern hemisphere we have dramatically
more stars & Milky
Way to see than in the north because we are actually looking into the heart
of the Milky Way as
compared to looking out of the outer tail of it in the northern hemisphere!
But it was in fact an all round dramatic day with Brendan & Grant our
Sound & Lighting
personnel had a 3m wing span Wedge Tail Eagle crash into the truck
windscreen!
Oh so lucky it
didn't break through, for they make a horrific mess! But at 100kmph and a
truck coming at them
as well - very lucky lads, and the Eagle.... just flew away! The truck
limped
off with a totally
shattered screen.
One hectic day in an otherwise peaceful, though nicely partying tour.
FIDDLERS FESTIVAL
Today was Sept 13 in central Queensland, Mitchell to be exact, cultural
centre and home to
healthful hot springs (only metres from the stage we performed on). The
Fiddlers Festival had
been invited to return to the Brisbane Arts Festival. Augmenting this, the
Queensland Art Council
saw fit to take the FF to the inner plains of this northern state. Did they
really know who they
were unleashing? HaHa. All superb in their fields - Marcus Holden from
infinite studio sessions;
Mark Oats - one of the funniest people to tour with together with Clare
O'Meara both from The
Bushwackers and playing like twins. Clare's vocals are a dream embraced by
her piano while John
Connelly, from Galapagos Duck, launches deep into his rare 6 - string Bass
and struggles not to
fall off stage from laughing at the antics. I get to field my Guitar styles
with stabs of Mandolin &
Didgeridoo with the odd flurry of Fiddle.
Chilly mornings with blue sky days, Bottle Trees and local Art
Gallerys with the most exciting
displays I've seen in a long time - Mitchell rules the outback so far, for
impressing we 'travelling
folk'. Gourmet Food items like styles of Pasta, wild sauces, and jams that
you just won't find in
supermarkets and Jeans which fit like a glove! Now that is very rare &
special for this tall fella!
The Australian Blue Dog Brand no less!
A horse ride along the river (careful of the quicksand!) is certainly
the
way to get a real feel of
these lands. They are looking to hold a Jazz Festival here before long too.
George Washing Machine and Marcus
Latest News
Hi there. Just thought I'd mention some of the exciting events the
Fiddlers
Festival is involved with over the next month or so.
Next Sat Feb 21st, we head to Adelaide for "Country in the Gardens"! We will
be the main act for the Adelaide Fringe Festival's first country concert
ever held the Royal Botanical Gardens. The concert starts at 7.30pm and we'd
love to see you there. Yep, that's right jump on a plane and.....well I mean
if you live in Adelaide!
Our next foray is to the Port Fairy Folk Festival (March 5th to 8th) where
we have three performances and a workshop on fixing fiddle styles (jeez I'd
rarther know how to fix fiddlers!).
Then we're off to Adelaide (yet again) for four huge performances at the
Universal Playground for the Adelaide Bank Festival of the Arts!
On March 14th back in Sydney, we play for the St Pat's Day Rally in Hyde
Park (on the Sunday before ......that sounds very Irish doesn't it?). We'll
be on stage from 2.10 to
3.10pm.
The next Saturday (March 20th) is the Fiddle And Bang Festival held at
Rothbury Estate in the Hunter Valley. Ah yes, fiddling and drinking wine....
I can just see it!
On Saturday March 27th we appear at the Bankstown Sports Club in the
Auditorium from 8 to 11pm and then on the Sunday (March 28th) we have a
great concert with the
Fishers Ghost Community Orchestra at the Campbelltown Civic Centre from 3pm
with the Finale being the orchestra and the Fiddlers Festival joining in on
a
rendition of Talkin Balkan. What a hoot!
Anyway, if you get the chance to see any of our shows come up and say hello.
Seeyuz!!!!!!!!!!!
-
Get Reel
- FIDDLERS
FESTIVAL'S
- GET REEL
-
Fri 5th to Sun 7th March Port Fairy Folk Festival
Mon 8th to Fri 12th March, Adelaide Arts Festival, Universal Playground,
near River Torrens
Sun 14th March St. Pat's Day Parade Hyde Park Sydney, late arvo.
-
That's right! The Fiddlers Festival's new CD GET REEL
received **** (FOUR STARS!) from John Shand's review in the Sydney Morning
Herald (Metro Section) on Friday 29th August! We were all performing at the
Gympie Muster when the sms's of congrats came through. While at the
festival, we were filmed by the ABC "Landline" Program and will be appearing
as part of their Gympie Special on ABC TV (Nationally) on Sunday September
7th, between 12noon and 1pm.
Here's what John said...."This new one from Marcus Holden's band Fiddlers
Festival just leaps from the speakers. Once again, the repertoire is
wonderfully, irreverently eclectic. For instance, it surges from PRESIDENT
GARFIELD'S HORNPIPE into IT DON'T MEAN A THING (IF IT AIN'T GOT THAT SWING)
without blinking an eye. The folk, jazz, bluegrass, rock and tango standards
are perfectly happy in each other's company. Throughout the album, Holden's
marvellous violin swoons and and sighs, swaggers and strikes sparks, even
becoming ominously electrified on MUSICAL PRIEST PATRS 1 and 2. It's funny,
sad and full of surprises."
GET REEL and other Fiddlers Festival CD's STRUNG OUT and FIDDLERS FESTIVAL
LIVE! are available from the website
www.fiddlersfestival.com or HMV stores.
FEAST OF FIDDLERS is available from ABC shops. Keep on fiddling.
-
- Don't forget Strung Out and Fiddlers Festival Live available
for $30 each (incl PO Box 430 Croydon Park NSW 2133.
- New
CD Out SOON
-
|
Tamworth
Rage Page
