The TBONE Jam
Well what a festival that was. 75 bands over 4 stages for 3 days. Gulgong hasn’t seen a musical event like that since the gold rush and this was certainly a Gold rush of music. A lot if not all of the young up and coming bands would have been unknown to the locals but are very much sought after nationally and their immense collective talent became obvious as the event unfolded. There were some pretty amazing moments … the legendary TBONE Jam (above) at the Commercial late on Sunday where even the corrugated iron wall was being played with beer bottles by Matt Southon whilst Todd from April Maze played on the bar with the banjo as the locals filmed the fun on their iPhones. The storm which brought down a tree at the Memorial Hall Main stage in front of amazed musos and patrons out dancing in the rain then the blackout which left a huge percussive jam going during Paul Greene’s closing set. The combined performance of the 10 Pound Circus/Brothers 3 tap routine all to the frenetic drumming of an expanded Kings of Congo Congo Percussion line up in the hot midday sun during the free entertainment and market in Coronation Park on the Saturday. The celebrated workshops of Guitar virtuoso Daniel Champagne (below) and the stunning song writing workshop of Anne Kirkpatrick and Bill Chambers.
All these artists are festival favourites and worked their way to Gulgong via the Woodford and Peats Ridge Festivals after the scheduled change of the Festival to the free weekend of the 7th/8th January and then after the fest were making their way on to Tamworth and the Illawarra Folk Festival and back overseas and word has it they are raving about what a beautiful and authentic town we have here. They loved it.
The festival kicked off with performances at the Trad Stage [Opera House] and Unplugged [Centennial] and New Stage [Bowling Club] before the main bands started kicking in on the Main Stage at the Memorial Hall. Friday highlights included Hussy Hicks, April Maze (above), The Yearlings, Jamie Hutchings and Suzy Connolly and the young celebrated Emma Barlow (below) at the Main Stage on her way to Tamworth. With well over 600 patrons , musos and visitors alike the town swelled up quickly.
Saturday was a blur of action kicking off with the market in Coronation park and Poets Breakfasts a the Commercial which had some luminaries like Arch Bishop/Tom Hamilton/Pat Drummond/Allan Caswell and Kevin Pye in attendance. The music kicked in at the Centennial from 10AM and didn’t let up for the next 14 hours culminating in sublime performances by Genevieve Chadwick, Daniel Champagne (jaw dropping virtuosity!!), Bill Chambers and Anne Kirkpatrick (below) to a packed Memorial Hall main stage.
Bill Chambers and Anne Kirkpatrick
Sunday kept up the pace where the workshops came into their own and an eclectic performance on the Steinway Grand in the Opera House by rising piano star Sophie Hutchings (below) then the madness of the Golden Fingers comp with fiddle virtuoso Marcus Holden nudging out the more fancied young guns Daniel Champagne and Genevieve Chadwick – surely one for the ages. Then the party closed at the Main Stage with ABC Music signing Paul Greene’s climactic set being upstaged by the storm.
All the while the back alleys and bars reverberated to impromptu jams and performances which went well into the dawn hours
Festival organiser and promoter Richard Lawson is to be congratulated for his hard work over the last year on resuscitating the festival in such a huge way with an enormous publicity push for Gulgong right across the ABC state-wide and with both WIN and Prime TV in attendance. Let’s hope there is support for a follow up festival next year because this one was unforgettable.
timberandsteel
mackajay
Evan Hughes
KTBell
sarahtuz
Haz
miladyred
chordsandcandles
Thom Owen Miles
JDX
Serena Skye
tunesinbloom
julesstenton
catherineelaine
Hannah said,
January 24, 2012 at 10:58
You did SUCH an amazing job Rich! Had a fantastic wkend
We really hope it happens again next year.. Gulgong needs this! <3
T-Bone steak with Jam « The April Maze Blog said,
January 24, 2012 at 12:28
[...] http://timberandsteel.wordpress.com/2012/01/24/gulgong-folk-festival-wrap-up/ [...]
Ellann said,
January 24, 2012 at 16:34
Hey Richard thanks for sending this on…a couple of those photos look rather familiar
. Thanks for mentioning The Yearlings who were an absolute standout for me. I hope to see Daniel Champagne down at Cobargo when I volunteer there next month.
Cheers
Ellann
Joe Hill said,
January 24, 2012 at 17:28
naaa, not the gulgong of old, completely lacked atmosphere, not really a folk festival “big names, main bands ?”, just not terms that sit easy with the folk genre. Used to be my favorite little festival, for decades I went, the warm summer night, the street dance, packed with people, comrades come together from far and wide to share the music…..the folks are the vibe and the folks weren’t there. Highlight for me was the session out the back of the Commercial on Saturday night, great Craic, impromptu dancing, atmosphere plus, like the old days. Just stumbled on it, not a spin doctor or press photographer in sight – just for a moment, the light on the hill shone again
Rosie said,
January 24, 2012 at 19:54
A brilliant festival Richard. I hope the townsfolk and the punters get behind you and supports you for the next one. RAPT had a ball . A very fine session was had at the Centennial hotel on Sunday night with candles( due to the blackout) and the thumbs up from the locals, then a stroll up to a mad jam going on in the pub up the road as pictured at top of page.Excellent fun! A great weekend. We’d love to return for the next one.
cheers Rosie
lizBeth said,
February 3, 2012 at 20:27
Yeah and the rest of them photos look reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllll familiar to me too lol! Great festival – see you all next year xxx Elizabeth Walton