Australia: Music from the New England Tablelands of New South Wales

Overview

This 1998 release from Smithsonian Folkways uses modern day musicians to re-create the traditional Anglo-influenced Australian folk music of the late 1800s. As settlers from the British Isles and Europe brought their folk traditions with them, these tunes became absorbed into Australia's own culture and were often referred to as "bush music." The material featured here was collected by researchers in the 1980s and focuses strictly on music dating from 1850 to 1900. For the recording of this album, the assembled musicians primarily used period-specific instruments like the fiddle, button accordion, mouth organ, and the Anglo system concertina. A mix of instrumental dance tunes, hymns, shanteys, and hunting songs, the roots of this music may be Celtic and European in origin, but became something distinctly different and unique in the hands of this New England. Well researched, well curated, and very well played, this is an interesting and seemingly authentic portrait of what these songs might have sounded like before the age of recording. ~ Timothy Monger

Product Details

Release Date:	08/12/2014
Label:	Smithsonian Folkways Recordings / Unesco
UPC:	0093077827724
Rank:	152157

Tracks

1. Bruce Smith's Set Tune
2. Mazurkas: Ben Cherry's/Alice Doran's/Mick Pitkin's
3. The Lad From Erin's Isle
4. Polkas: Pop Holland's/Bruce Smith's/Jim Lowe's
5. Dingo Flat
6. Set Tunes: Ben Cherry's/Wait till the Clouds Roll By, Jenny Dear
7. Georgie Sands
8. Ben Cherry's Schottisches
9. Johnny Lad
10. Jigs: Chase Me Charley/Richard Ferris'/Jim Lowe's
11. Thunderbolt's Dream
12. Step Tunes: Arnie Berger's/Have You Ever Seen the Devil?/Victor Cherry's/Alf Cosgrove's
13. Barbara Allen
14. Waltzes: Watson's Creek Waltz/Pearl Browning's
15. William Grimes the Drover
16. Step Tunes: Mick McGarryis Jigs/the Bullshit Over the Calf Pen
17. My Name is Alma Chandler/Merry-Go-Round Waltz
18. Schottisches: Jim Lowe's/Steve Harte's/Sam Looker's
19. Mouth-Organ Medley: Why Did My Master Sell Me?/Starry Night For a Ramble/O God of Love
20. O God of Love/Reprise
21. [CD-ROM Track]

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Jim Lowe   Primary Artist
Graeme "Fritz" Kreusler   Primary Artist
Theresa Nano   Primary Artist
Cathy Ovenden   Primary Artist
Mark Rummery   Primary Artist
Barry McDonald   Primary Artist
Chris Sullivan   Primary Artist
Rob Beasley   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Traditional   Composer