Newsletter 1/12/2012

Warm Tall Year’s end/ Xmas etc greetings to you all that I have variously met, gathered, stumbled upon, grown up with, respected or confused along the way.
With music we get to open communication between cultures – note to the powers that be – when in doubt or difficulty refer/ revert to musical connections for perspective!
Quote of the month – “Quiet is the new Loud!” (Stuart Day – house concert Hervey Bay)
*jump further below for Detail of the biggest Woodford (just after Xmas) & Tamworth (end of Jan) Supper Clubs plus Poster Pics attached.
The condensed year!
Family
The Clan has recently expanded with a new grandson, one Rowan John, due to great & fine effort from youngest daughter Tahlia & partner, Alex, starting life close enough to 8 lb. Very proud of Tahlia’s progress through these late teen years. A home set up with chooks for eggs, cats for the mice, plus the hopping and gung-ho Antecinus a-many and dog for security and Tahlia is recently into essential oils for animal care, having also been helping locally with the Riding for Disabled!
It’s the build up time to eldest daughter, Mandy’s, wedding in May, and finally caught up with the second after a long year of near misses – Sharna, still trucking, but now focusing on Personal Training. It’s just over a year since the third, Nayia, had her big accident – still quite a recovery to go.
This year in Europe
Four months in Europe this time; mainly mixing a double DVD – “Live @ The Capitol” 2011 (featuring BluGuru plus Stage Voice Brookie Schiemer, Fiddle Champ Emily Little, Tapping Guitar Stephen O’Hern, diverse Piano Tom Donald (UK/Oz), Kathak Dance Parvyn Singh, World Percussion Jess Stocker, Clermont & Josh Bennett plus surprise guests The Rosellys (UK)). And then mixing the new triple CD set of the 2012 Supper Club (3hrs of treasured moments from 30 performed hours! and featuring about 25 players from 90 through the festival week!) – Phew!
Was a bit burnt out after that intensive! However a fine tour of Germany with Chris Rogers, sublime multi-player of Mildura broke some of that up quite merrily. From featuring at the Memmingen Music Festival in the south, to playing where the anti-nuclear movement first began south of Hamburg and did a house-in-the-forest make over enroute! Ha. Hear some Supper Club at our myspace.
Plus I now have a cool trio in Berlin; 6 string Bassist – Maik Antrack (local) and Elec guitar – Chris Blyth (Scotland). We had a fav gig where the second half revealed a request to play “industrial” music – ah , gotta love creative requests! We had a hoot of a romp through worlds of improvised “industrial” beat that ricocheted dramatically for a good 45 min with a stopped-on-the-dial party audience! Name is still undecided “TAKAMAK” perhaps.
On return to Oz I accidentally gained a “bonus” day in Beijing and full compliments to China Air for handling my missed flight with with such grace – an over-night room & meals.
Back in Oz
On landing in Sydney I was on a time race to re-gather my van from kind friends near Maitland and made a B-line to Mildura Country Music Festival. Two weeks there sound mixing, a concert, and playing in the Awards band – a great performance night from all where Luke O’Shea cleaned up, but entwined with a stellar cast.
An Adelaide, pretty much 30 year reunion late October with Simon Frank (Molloy) – co-writer on various tracks over the years; my brother Alex on guitars & Nick Carrol (original line-up drummer) plus Andrew MacDonald (from my first BlueGrass band, Remnants, from same era)!
The pre xmas run was a 3 week tour of Queensland, Brisbane to Cairns, with The Beggars: Australian Songbook from Adelaide. Ahh! Finally some performance time with Stuart Day (The Barkers, Those Kodiaks, John Wibberley Band) plus Renee Donaghey & Quinton Dunne from various degrees of separation. A near sold out Morning Melodies tour and a happy CD buying public!
We managed to fit in a few House Concerts (including the Wintermoon site!) as well, in the evenings. Anyone keen to have one of these sometime I’m near, should send an enquiring email!

The next section focuses on Woodford Folk Fest at the end of this year & Tamworth Festival in January.
The Supper Club @ Woodford 2012-13
I fine coup this season is having Bettina join us with her Painting Woodfordia @ Bills’ Bar – Woodford Folk Fest – perhaps up to 8 paintings will be completed (You! might be one of them!!) during these last 6 days of the year. I hope this becomes a successful starting point to many Festivals for us together in our various strengths. Coincidentally her own daughter is exploring Australia – and for at least another year.
This Xmas to New Year season there will be DAILY at least 4 hours of “Andrew Clermont’s Festival Arvo/ Supper Club” with over 25 piece orchestration! @ Woodford Folk Fest – at the new venue, Bill’s Bar. In our case 2.30 – 4.30 each arvo & 10 till midnight starting at 10pm on Boxing Day 26th! And attached to Bill’s Bar, will be Bettina Düesberg’s Portrait Gallery in action many hours daily with portraits of Woodfordia characters & festival life.
The Supper Club, now in it’s 15th year finds it’s roots through the original Troubadour/ Wine Bar of Andrew Paterson. And thus we celebrate those formative years (that go much further back!) with a humdinger gathering this season.
Performers this year start with a special opening treat Lina Andonovska (Classical to crazy Flute/ Old-time Banjo/ Flamenco Dance) *only first 4 shows! (likely joined by Andrew Veivers!)
BluGuru – myself (Mandolin, Guitar, 5-string Fiddle, Didgeribone, Vocals & MD) with (Josh Bennett – Vocals & LH Sitar, Tabla, Guitars, Mandolin & Parvyn Kaur Singh Bennett – Vocals, Percussion & Kathak/ Bollywood Dance) till 30th
plus from –
VIC (Melb) : Mal Webb (Mouth Music, Horns, Mbira & LH guitar/ Bass etc); Paddy Montgomery – Vocals, LH Guitar, Mandolin, Irish Boursouki; Dan Watkins – Vocals, Bluegrass Guitar, Mandolin; Stephen O’Hern – Irish, Tapping, Slapping & Flat-pick Guitar; George Jackson – 5-string Banjo, Fiddle & Irish Dance)
NSW : Brookie Schiemer – songstress, Ukelele & theatre (Tamworth); Daniel Gillet – Ukelele, Vocals; Ben Wordsworth (cool drums – Lismore); Stephanie Rogers & Ben Bamborough – Vocals & Guitars; Siskin River – Vocals, Mandolin, Banjo & tapping Guitar & Tap Dancing! (Grafton), Emily Little – 5-string Fiddle/Violin maniac; Parris Macleod – Keyboards, Percussion; & Chontia – Vocals & Guitar (Central Coast)
QLD : Amanda Gilmour – Vocals, Doc Span – Harmonicas,
SA : Jeri Foreman – Fiddle; Tamarisque with Alex Gordon – Vocals, Synth Clarinet, Piano, Violin, Viola, Mandolin, Guitar; Tim Bennett – everything Bass, drums & Yidaki
A youtube clip which applies is –

– if you care to help promote!

To also bear in mind, the People’s Orchestra with rehearsals every morning a 9am @ The Grand.
Here all ranges of players from the performers AND the public meld themselves into a section of The Fire Event!!!
Please come be part of it!!
Overall Fire Event Director/ Designer is Joey Ruigork van de Weven, Musical Director Nick Lavers
Overseeing the Peoples Orchestra is Andrew Veivers
I’m the Stringed Instrument Director, Mal Webb on Horns, Angela Little & Beat Lehmann Co-Directing the Choir etc!
There will be a place for any degree of contribution!!

The Supper Club @ Tamworth 2013
Much of above will also be at Tamworth CM Festival as guests of the ‘fringe fest’ Supper Club @ The North Tam Bowl minus Tamarisque, Josh, Tim & Parvyn, Doc & Amanda will pass this time.
However, the rest will be all the more prepared to join TOTALLY GOURDGEOUS the classic CD line-up therefore also giving us opportunity to here the multi-facets of the Solo performances of Penelope Swales (incisive Songs) , Carl Pannuzzo (Piano to Ukelele with an as diverse voice), Mal Webb (Mouth Music and beyond!), plus Salvation Jane Reunited (Melb) Acapella fun & splendour, A Gypsy element with Fiddler Pepe up from Melbourne with her hot band kicking in from the Fiddle Night already on the first Saturday – 19th.
15 shows!
All nights are a twin show (‘cept the Fri 25th). Enjoy A-Mix-of-All-the-Nights at 6pm and then from 9pm it’s the various themes Sat (Fiddle); Sun (Mandolin – new); Mon (Banjo & Old-Time); Tue (Girls Night); Wed (Guitar); Thu (Piano); Fri (Feature Night – Salvation Jane, Rob & Deta (Songs from The Wall) & Totally Gourdgeous); Sat (Grand Finale). There is no Friday 6pm (Club raffles!) and the last Sat 6pm (Bluegrass Champions).
Tickets are $20 Adults $15 Conc & school kids free with parents. Season Passes get you 5 shows free! (Contact me directly here or Ph 0407 753809)