My Music

A bit of a Time-Line in pictures and dates starting with my earliest memory of sitting at my Uncle Murray’s drum kit in the sleep-out at our home in Box Hill. I was about 3 years old, but I can still remember Murray’s band playing “The Golden Wedding”.

When I was 14, I was given an old 5 string banjo by a neighbour and I managed to clean it up and put new stings and a new velum, bridge etc. I played it for many years. The photo on the RHS was taken at Point Lonsdale while on school holidays with my friend Rick Box. He and I used to go into Melbourne and hang out at Frank Trainor’s Jazz Club in Little Lonsdale St. watching performers like Margaret Roadnight, the Red Onions Jazz Band, Captain Match Box etc.

In about 1968 I had a small Folk Band call The Leeward Trend. My school friend David Dodds, a workmate Gordon Richie and a girl from the local church, Jan Mullins. We got a few gigs doing the church youth club circuits.

1971, things got a bit busy, as I was now married and living in Albert Park in a block of flats where other musicians also lived. “Sound Advice” was formed with David Dodds, myself, Lila Frankel and Fiona Grant. We teamed up with Kevin Williams a channel 7 sound engineer, who took on management of the band. We were getting regular work from restaurants and clubs with a little TV work, Moomba Festivals and Shopping Centre appearances. We still kept our day jobs, but performed up to 3 nights a week with band practice in between. The band finished up in 1978 due to relationship changes amongst members resulting in my divorce and about 3 or 4 marriages between group members and our support crew and “groupies”. Happy Days! At that stage, I took a few months off and went bush for a while to clear my head. I ended up moving to South Gippsland and building an Off-Grid home with some acres and more work than I could handle, so I formed another band with some muso’s that I had met.

Country Kate and the Back Verandah Boys started to work at local dances, pubs and then became the Back verandah Boys when Kate Hanratty left to move to Ballarat. Our home base was the Welshpool Hotel where we played every Sunday afternoon and evening for about 4 years.

A cassette tape of our favourite songs was made, then when CDs came into being was re-recorded. Kevin Doran led the band with myself, John Truscott, Ray Dunstone, Ron Snellgrove, Peter Whelan, John Todd, and a number of other local musicians.

Over the years, most musicians tend to gather a few instruments. The picture below was taken in 2014, but is missing about 5 guitars which for some reason I have either lost or left somewhere.

Me on drums 1952

The Leeward Trend

5 string banjo 1964

Pt. Lonsdale 1964

Sound Advice 1971

Sound Advice 1977

My New Maton, 1968

Me in 1978

Welshpool Hotel 1990

Fancy Dress 1990

Me & Kevin 2008

After the Back verandah Boys wound up, I worked with Len Tosch in a duo, doing the odd gig for local events and clubs. We also had a band called the Sunny Breaks Band which played some country rock n roll. It lasted a year or so, then because of my work commitments changing, I found myself looking for gigs in Melbourne on the regular nights that I was there. I joined a couple of Trad Jazz bands to work in pubs around Carlton and North Melbourne. When I came home on weekends, I played some jazz with Eric Envy, John Smallman, Percey Brewer, Rod Lomax, David Allsop and others. The Blue Notes Jazz Band, Soul Purpose Jazz Band The Glass Onions Jazz Band.

In 2014 I joined U3A and started a Ukulele interest group Uke3A Prom Coast.

To be continued