Month: June 2012

A Punter’s Perspective #34 — This time, it’s personal

Overheard Productions Trad and Now ,
This time, it's personal
This time, it’s personal

A Punter’s Perspective

Random observations on the wide, weird world of folk from the side of the stage

#34 This time, it’s personal
First published in Trad and Now magazine, April 2012

Fun fact: this is ‘A Punter’s Perspective’ edition #34.

And I draw attention to the edition number here for only the second time, and for the first time since I wrote my first column in December 2006.

Is edition number 34 significant?

Absolutely not. And absolutely yes. And for sure and for certain. And not in the slightest.

It all depends on your perspective.

34 is the number of the house in north Canberra where I lived from ages 4 to 18.

So it has no actual relevance or significance here, except in the same way it’s strangely satisfying when you order your breakfast at the local caf, and you’re handed a table number that happens to be your lucky number.

(36, for the record. Scrambled eggs with smoked salmon and a long black. And water. ‘Et est-ce que vous avez des aspirins? I have a hangover you could photograph.’ Name that film.)

The preceding paragraphs may have struck a cord (or a chord) with you. Or, like so many versions of ‘A Punter’s Perspective’ in the last five and a half years, they’ve left you staring incredulously into the middle distance as you stir your soy chai latté with an index finger, mumbling, ‘What a load of self-indulgent toss’. Continue reading →

Harry Manx: interview the second, June 2012

Overheard Productions Interviews , ,
Harry Manx performs at the 2012 National Folk Festival
Harry Manx performs at the 2012 National Folk Festival

Harry Manx on tour in Australia

Interview the second, June 2012

As Harry Manx continues his way around Australia on an exhaustive (and possibly exhausting) tour, I caught up with Harry by phone one evening as he was taking a few days off in Darwin.

Rather than copy and paste the details here, I’ll direct your attention to the very fine Timber and Steel web-site where you can read all the details and hear the audio from my April interview as well.

Harry will be playing in Canberra on Wednesday 20 June, so I’ll see you there if I’m looking at you!

Harry Manx
Harry Manx

 

A Punter’s Perspective #33 — 2012 Northern Beaches Music Festival

Overheard Productions Festivals, Music general, Trad and Now , , , ,
Northern Beaches Music Festival at Berry Reserve, Narabeen
Northern Beaches Music Festival at Berry Reserve, Narabeen

A Punter’s Perspective

Random observations on the wide, weird world of folk from the side of the stage

#33 Northern Beaches Music Festival
First published in Trad and Now magazine, March 2012

It’s always a good sign when you get a good vibe from a festival merely by walking through the front gate.

And so it was on the opening night of the second Northern Beaches Music Festival in Narabeen on the northern beaches of Sydney in February.

My first impression was ‘compact’ — in a good way. Venues are situated so closely within the confines of the Berry Reserve at Narrabeen, all five performance spaces were easily within no more than 60 seconds apart.

Walk in the front past the free stage and you were immediately at the main marquee. A quick stroll further on and you were in the downstairs Berry venue, up one flight of stairs and it was the large Lakside venue, and the ‘Tramshed’ (home of The Shack folk club) was a pitching wedge away.

For all of that, sound spill did not seem to be a factor.

Still very much in its infancy, NBMF is the brain child of Paul Robertson, and his background in theatre, TV production and outside broadcasts is evident in some of the organisational nous that’s behind the festival. Continue reading →