Basalt River Boys




G'day Everyone, The Basalt River Boys song "It never fails" has made the top 100 songs to go onto the "Saturday night Country" compilation album, to get it on there we need your vote, you can do this by texting "snc69" to 19755222 or go to this site http://abc.net.au/snc/hottest/vote.htm , fill out the form, scroll down to no. 69 & hit the "send in my vote now" tab & your done...... thanks very much for this & we'll see you all soon, till then, take care, regards, Rick, Rob, Anthony & Dan...... "Basalt River Boys" 0407 762 676
G'day again, Jeez its been a while, but here we go.... We've been doing a lot of miles the first half of this year from the far far North of Queensland to the Southern parts of our state and later this month we are going just about as far west as you can go, the Mt Isa Show... Monto put on a great festival this year, we had a ball (I think we always do) we took Anthony's 15 year old brother-in-law with us, Dan Marolla (yes, Brendan & Sarah's lil' bro') to play drums, he is never coming with us again!!!!, he signed more autographs than the other 3 of us put together & all the other acts, yes you too Melinda, good onya Dan, you're a legend.... we met up with a few good friends of ours, the boys (& girl) from "Bigfoot", Dale, Chris, Bob,& of course the only one with a bit of looks in the whole clan, Carmel... Thanks again to Elaine, Denise, Sue & the rest of the people who got us there in the first place... We went out to Winton for the show ball this month, I can honestly say we have never been asked to do a "Grinspoon" song before, yes, that was a first, but other than that it was a good relaxing gig after a long drive, hey fellas... OK, will try to update more often, Taks care, Rick (for BRB) 2a Sam Street, Charters Towers, Nqld, 4820, 0407 762 676.

Shandell Tosoni with The Boys



G'day Everyone... Just though we'd let you all know of our new friendship with Pure-Tone Musical Accessories... Check them out, they will save you a heap... http://www.pure-tone.com/endorsing_artists/basalt_river_boys.html http://www.pure-tone.com/index.html G'day everyone, We are all back home safe after some of the best fun we have ever had..... 21 gigs over 10 days, most of them with only 1 hr in between & one with only 1/2 hr to pack up, pack the car, drive to the other venue, unpack the car & set up.... As always, we started our Tamworth at the Longyard Hotel, we hired pro drummer & good mate of ours from Sydney, Mal Lancaster ( Bella, Beccy Cole, Wayne Law, just to name a few) for the duration of the festival & the fist gig was brand new for all of us & we couldn't wait to get into It, and what a place to start, from the get-go, they were dancing on the tables, the bar, each other, just full on party time.... & that was just the bar staff!!! Always great crowds at the Longyard & that first gig, set the trend every time we played there, if you have never been there, do yourself a big favour, go out to the Longyard for an "Experience"........ We finished at the Longyard at 11pm, packed up, headed for West Tamworth Leagues Club where we had a gig in the Legends Bar at 12 midnight until 3, by the time we set up, there was standing room only, I tell you, there is not a feeling on this earth that can match playing the opening of Tamworth, in one of the premier venues, to a packed house, when people are there to party... (those first 2 gigs in Tamworth, we completely sold out of T-Shirts, it was great to see so many BRB T's in the crowd) Sunday night at Blazes, where Jedd Hughes, Missy Higgins & Xavier Rudd played over the festival, we had the opportunity to support Lee Kernaghan, man it was lonely on that massive stage, just the four of us. (note for next year, get longer guitar leads!!!!) at the start of our set, I could see a figure just off stage to my right but didn't take any notice until halfway through our set, the figure walked out on stage, shook our hands, thanked us, told the crowd they were listening to "The best Country music Tamworth had to offer" Thanks Lee, much appreciated....... (who wears a BRB T-Shirt to a Lee Kernaghan Concert, thanks to those that did) Afterwards, we went to Lee's after gig party at the Powerhouse, a great night all round...... The Southgate gigs were a blessing for our busy schedule, they were a listening crowd, so we could play some real down to earth Country Music, a great change of pace for wounded muso's....... if there is a place to relax & listen to some great Country Music, this is the place... The North Queensland Showcase at the Cowboys Bar at Wests is always a great show to drop in on, here we get to see all our mates & great talents from the North, (here we go, hope I don't forget anybody) Naneta Gough, Sarah Taylor, Anthony John, Brendan Marolla, Peter & Tammy Moxon, Shandell Tosoni, Kimberly Bowden, Sarah Collett, Lawrence Sorbello, Wendy Coppo & Brooke Schubert..... Another highlight of out time in Tamworth was appearing on the "Tomkins Guitar Showcase", Tomkins Guitars are Australian Made & are used all over the world, from Chad Morgan, Stuart French & Phil Emmanuel to U.S. Superstars Gary Allen & Dale Watson, Allan & Barb Tomkins gave us enough guitars over the festival to sink a small ship, so we can honestly say, if you need a no nonsense workhorse in an Electric Guitar or Bass, get a Tomkins!!!! We didn't get out much but what we saw there is a very high quality of talent down there, we saw Jonahs Road, Kelly Black & the Kelly Gang, Bo Jenkins & Col Finley..... All in all, I am looking forward to next year already.... All the best, Rick for the "Basalt River Boys" We would like to thank the people who made Tamworth 2005 happen for us, Rob Potts & all at Allied Artists for giving 3 blokes from Charters Towers a chance... Ian Dundon & June Smyth for pulling her hair out from dealing with us..... Joan Douglas & Cheryl Byrnes for also taking a chance on an un-seen un-heard act.... Lee Kernaghan, for opportunity, Experience & kind words..... Mal Lancaster (AKA the Groove Machine) you are a dead-set Legend man, Thanks again..... Wayne, Cameron, Kate, Rob & "Hooch" at The Longyard, you all should give lessons in "Second winds" (Thanks for the "D3's") Allan Tomkins & his wife Barb for letting us see how durable Tomkins guitars are, Mate, They passed with flying colours!!! Rick, Mick, Brian, Allan, John & Marty, thanks for making us not hurt peoples ears so much & showing our ugly mugs (The Sound & Lighting Kings!!!!!!!) Mathew at Legends, you serve a mean Beam, Booker would be proud..... Dean & Shelley, for that not so gentle shove in the right direction.... Our Wives (Naneta, Sarah & Kym) for their love, support & patience...... Last but not least, anyone who has ever clapped at one of our gigs, that's why we do it.........
G'day All..... Well, another year just about cooked, 8 weeks to X-mas, 10 'til Tamworth, TW2005 is going to be a hoot for us, we have about 20 gigs lined up so far and they are still coming in (bring it on!!!) Between "The Longyard", Legends, The Pub & The Southgate Inn..... We've been gigging around, we did the "Croydon Poddy Dodgers" Croydon, FNQ. except for a few gear woes, we had a great gig, I suppose bouncing 700k's? from Charters Towers to Croydon up the Lynd highway doesn't do gear much good.... Thanks to Travis Sinclair's Bassist for lending us his pride & joy, Thanks Simon.... Did the Regulars, King Reef, Courthouse Hotel & also broke new ground at "Scotty's Bar & Grill" in Mission Beach, always fun to play Country to a new crowd at new venue's.... Next was Walkamin CMF at Mareeba FNQ. What can you say about Walkamin, its always great, With a few friends we backed a Young lady with a very big future, BRB's newest Mate, Shandell Tosoni, she has just returned from Nashville, TN. Performing the song she and good friend, Rebecca Lee Nye wrote that won the u18 section of the National Songwriting Comp.... It was a hard act to follow, & I think even the Wolverines knew that.... We had a blinder after the Wolves, we can honestly say, it was one of the best stage sounds we have ever heard... Thank-you to the fellas at "Pro Gear" in Cairns... I would like to send out a massive thanks to John Nutting at ABC's "Saturday Night Country" for the interview a fortnight ago, It was a buzz to finally hear one of "our" songs on the Radio, John, you have no Idea how long I have waited for that..... a week later I was working up between Lakeland Downs & Laura when I heard it come on the Radio about 5.30 am and Thursday just gone, I heard another track off the EP getting played as well, 800 miles from home, hearing your songs on the radio does things to you........ Thanks very much to Michael Clarke at ABC's brekkie show as well Righto, I'm off, we have a couple of small ones this month to tie in with Recording & we are actually going to do some practice I think (we'll see!!!) for Tamworth, new songs & more originals.... Take care & keep smiling... Rick.. (for BRB)

The boys at the Gympie Muster
Photos courtesy of Dick Marriott
G'day all.... Man, What a time we've been having.... Last time we talked we were heading to Tropic Records to hook into some Recording again, but we ended up with some more gigs and as any one in a band will tell you, You can't beat playing Live..... We did the "Country under the stars" thing, that was a load of fun to see high school kids yelling out for Country Music, what a buzz... The next night we headed out to Julia Creek for the Dunart Bush Festival, we followed Melinda Schneider, what a great act. And what a hard act to follow let alone in 4 degree c with a real stiff breeze (did I mention we are big sooks when it comes to cold weather) but we got through it somehow with the help of some stones ginger wine & just when you thought you have heard all the muso jokes, Melindas bass player, Ian, told us some pearlers, very funny man!!! We left Julia Creek Sunday & hit the road 4 am Monday morning to Gympie for the Toyota Music Muster. We got there & you guessed it..... BLOODY COLD OR WHAT!!!!!!!1 The Muster is always good but it was extra special for us this year, it was the first time we went down as a band with gigs to play!!!!! We had our first gig on the Tuesday, where after we played, I got a call from the CD shop, they had run out of our CD's, at first I thought someone must have thrown them out... but they assured me they were sold, so got them another 100 and we are yet to see how many all up we sold. Our crowds just kept growing at every gig, 2 on Wednesday, we had Thursday off so we went into Gympie & had a look around just in time to get back to catch some of The Flood (amazing stuff) & "The Eagles Experience" I would & will see this Act again.... Great stuff. Friday we had another 2 gigs & the last one was on at 7:30pm, running against Main Stage, we thought we would be playing to the bar staff & Soundmen, but surprise surprise, we packed the Muster Club, man was that a feeling & a half. So a big thank-you to Brian, Sylvia & Mary-lou for a great time & making us feel welcome........ We got back home & the following weekend played a Rodeo at the Brothers leagues club in Innisfail from 5-7pm, packed up & played the King Reef hotel at Kurramine Beach (a beautiful part of the world, get there if you can....) Our next one is up at Croydon for the Poddy dodgers festival on the 25th
Helen, Sorry I haven't written for a while, we've been Flat out since Anthony got back from Honeymoon Here's a bit of what we've been up to....... We did a gig with Glenn Shorrock, the Whitlams, Graham Connors & a fair few others at Dairy Farmers Stadium for the Camp Quality kids, it was a very well put together show but we got the not so good news that the organisers only just broke even, it was only a gold coin donation to get in & they didn't get half the people they expected from the Townsville/Thuringowa area... We also have been doing our regular gigs at the Courthouse Hotel in Charters Towers, King Reef Hotel at Kurramine Beach, the Castor Hotel in Mourilyan, plus the Townsville show for 6 gigs over the 3 days. We also did the Palm Creek festival ( 40kms south of Townsville) for the first time, we did most of the 1 1/2 hr gig with Phil Emmanuell, I remember watching this bloke as a kid & sitting there amazed, well not much has changed in that department, I tell you what but... Anthony Taylor (BRB lead guitarist/Lead singer) very easily held his own against one of the masters, I hope neither of them read this, but in Phils words "The boys a Freak" anyone who has heard him play & sing will agree.... From the Townsville Show we went out to Cloncurry for the Stockmans Challenge for 3 days, great crowds, great stage sound (Thanks Earl), great food & beer, & if you like freezing conditions.....you would have loved the weather, us...... we are the biggest sooks when it comes to cold weather, its pitiful........ OK, we are up to date I think since our last yarn so here's what we got coming up......
G’day all, Just thought I’d drop a quick line to let you know whats happening… Well, Anthony & Sarahs wedding went off without a hitch (no pun intended), what an amazing set-up, Sarahs mum should get a medal for that show, Good luck to them both….. So while Joom (Anthony) & Sair are off Honeymooning, me & Rob have been flat-out………. Fixing leads, blowing the 2003 dust off the PA, tapping our feet, looking at our watches waiting for him to get back….. We’ve got about 8 more original songs on the burner, ironing out the bugs before we get into some recording and a Radio Jingle for “Outback Traders” , a business good mates of ours own that sells western wear, saddles you name it……. If it has anything to do with horses, cattle, sheep, pigs & goats, including you sittin’ on em (???), they have it…… Had a BALL in Tamworth, first time for BRB as a band, Played music we love to a lot of great people so we are regarding it as a huge success for BRB. I think we were well received down there, we would like to thank Rob & Sally Potts at “Allied Artists”, Barry Beck from “Joe Maguires Pub”, Allan & Barb Tomkins, “Tomkins Guitars Showcase” & here’s an e-mail we got from June Smyth, one of the most respected booking agents down there, she booked us at the “Longyard Hotel” which like Rob & Barry, had never heard us let alone heard “of” us, here is what June had to say……(un-edited) “Rick you guys were sensational....it was such a punt from my perspective and when UR recommending to others it puts a lot olf stress upon your decisions...why I worried is beyond me you are a most engaging and flexible bunch of guys...the Longyard will be proud to be at the top of your list for gigs next near and that is a promise.. we will be better organised time wise and be able to give you more gigs this is totally supported by Ian and Angus.. and if you should happen to venture south during the year be sure to make contact...have a great 2004 and we shall plan in April May for locking in some dates...warmly.. June S” thanks June, Ian & Angus, Looking forward to Tamworth 2005
G'day all, what a blast....15 gigs in 10 days...average 3 hrs sleep a night (between playing & playing up!!!!) we met up with some great friends down there, (G'day Kingy, Al & Barb, Sean, Mal, Graham, Pudd, Frac, Meryl,ect, ect,..... To kick it off we played our first of many great gigs at The Longyard Hotel, just a word of warning if you are going to The Longyard, The staff are absolutely MAD there & that's being kind, seriously but, if you are going to the Longyard, Say G'day to Ian, Cameron, Wayne, Will, Sam & Kate, a great bunch of people & if you happen to run into Angus Smyth & His Mum June, buy them a beer for us & put it on Wayne & Cameron's Account... Also if you get down that way, call into Maguires Pub & have a beer with Barry, he also looked after us when we gigged there. Wests Diggers crowds were also great, as is every where we went & it was great to see faces from previous gigs at the next ones & also showing up to the North Queensland Showcases to catch up with all the Great NQ artists also there to have fun...Anthony John, Brendan Marolla, Naneta Gough, Shandell Tosoni(a "Road to Tamworth" finalist), Sarah Marolla, Keiren Lancinni (Previous Starmaker Winner) and a lot of other talented people from Gods own country.. One of the many Highlights of the festival for us was playing on the "Tomkins Guitar Showcase" at the Cowboys Bar at Wests, you can go to www.shownet.com.au http://www.shownet.com.au & check out the photos of the showcase & if you're a serious muso, check out the great Tomkins Guitars and the brilliant players who play them...Thanks Allan & Barb.. And also I would like to thank Allan Tomkins for introducing me to Geoff Mack, another legend I have met now to add to Slim, Stan Coster, Barry Thornton, Kelly Dixon, Bluey Bostock & George Crowley, just to name a few... It also seemed that Tamworth goers liked our 3 song EP as we are still counting up how many we sold along with our T-Shirts & Posters (these people will buy anything) and going by our growing crowds at all the venues while we were down there, I think we were well received & if they had half as much fun as we did, well, I'm Very happy to call Tamworth a huge success for BRB..... The "Basalt River Boys" would like to thank you for your support and will see you all in the near future... Best regards, Rick, Rob & Anthony.. 2a Sam Street, Charters Towers, NQLD, 4820. Ph: 0407 762 676.
Print out and have the memories