At one stage, those gathering in the grand drawing room at Saumarez Homestead in Armidale would enter to the sound of music. Alternating between a gramophone, piano, and radio, music would pleasantly fill the space and resonate throughout the home. However, one of the more curious music-makers was this exquisite music box. It was likely […]
Read More…
‘Now I can’t fly but I’m telling you, I can run the pants off a Kangaroo.’ These are the beloved lyrics of John Williamson’s song, Old Man Emu, featured here in an original Australian release of the song’s sheet music. John Williamson AM was born into a wheat farming family in 1945. In 1965 Williamson […]
Read More…
Geoff Sidebottom is a professional musician who knows a thing or two about keeping the beat. ‘As a lead drummer I’d play a four-bar sequence and then second drum would come in and fatten it. Then he’d stop while I played a different pattern perhaps. And if you got a bit sick of playing a […]
Read More…
Born and raised at Kangaroo Valley near Nowra, Elsie Campbell (1883-1962) was twenty-seven when she set her mind and hands to making this picture frame in 1910. She crafted it using a technique known as ornamental leather work, also considered a type of ‘fancy work’. Unlike her three older sisters who preferred to embroider floral […]
Read More…
Before the invention of radio, television and social media, entertainment was home-made and to this end the piano was an essential piece of furniture in the home and community halls. This quite grand-looking Renardi piano was purchased in 1881 and was at the heart of entertainment in the household of Julius Herman (John) (1825-1914) and […]
Read More…
On a Monday night in 1950 a group of women gathered at Booloroo Uniting Church and sang from the heart. Based around Lake Macquarie (NSW, Australia), and adopting the Awabakal word for ‘mother’, they became known as the Babaneek Ladies’ Choir. This is a story of faith, friendship, and the gift of song. […]
Read More…
By the age of ten Rocky Cameron (1944-2016) was already an experienced performer. He had ‘cut his teeth’ on the greater-Sydney radio circuit – 2UW, 2KY, 2GB & 2KA – but even with those successes he still felt his nerves swell. Following the introduction of television to Australia, Rocky made it to the stage of […]
Read More…
In the nineteenth century, among the traditions migrants brought to NSW was music. This included European band music and as many regional centres established town bands were formed. By the late nineteenth century the village of Eugowra, in the state’s central west, had its own town band. Among its members was Harry Esperance who rose […]
Read More…