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Biography
Distinguish|Bush (band)Refimprove|date=February 2009Original research|date=February 2009A bush band is a group of musician s that play traditional Australia n folk music or contemporary folk music played in a traditional Australian style. A similar bush band tradition is also found in New Zealand .
Instruments
In addition to vocals, instruments featured in bush bands may include fiddle , accordion , guitar , banjo , mandolin , concertina , harmonica , lagerphone , bush bass ( tea chest bass ) or double bass , tin whistle , and bodhrán . Less common are the piano , Bones (instrument)|bones , barcoo dog (a Shepherd|sheep herding tool used as a sistrum ), spoons , and musical saw . Although not traditional, Bass guitar|electric bass guitar or electric guitar have occasionally been used since the 1970s.
Repertoire and function
Bush bands play music for bush dance s, in which the dance program is usually based on dances known to have been danced in Australia from History of Australia#History of Australia before 1901|colonial times to the folk revival in the 1950s. Contemporary dances, composed in the traditional style, are also featured at bush dances.
Some popular traditional bush dances are Stockyards, Haymaker's Jig , Galop ede, Little Brown Jug (song)|Brown Jug Polka , Virginia reel (dance)|Virginia Reel and Barn Dance . Popular contemporary bush dances include Blackwattle Reel, Jubilee Jig, CHOGM Pentrille, Knocking Down His Cheque and Midnight Schottische .
Bush bands also play bush ballad s, many of which date to the 19th century. Among the most notable bush lyricists was the poet Banjo Paterson (1864–1941).
The Bush Music Club , based in Sydney , New South Wales , Australia , hold regular bush dances and Colonial Balls where bush bands perform cite web|url= http://www.bushmusic.org.au/bmc_dances.html |title=Bush Music Club Inc. - Bushdances around Sydney |publisher=Bushmusic.org.au |date= |accessdate=2010-12-28.
Origin
Bush bands, as currently formulated, experienced a revival in 1953 with the musical play Reedy River , which was first produced and published by the New Theatre (Newtown)|New Theatre (Sydney) Reedy river music : the songs from the Australian musical drama / by Dick Diamond and most recently produced in 2002. http://www.ramin.com.au/online/newtheatre/index_2002.html Ramin Communications Written by Dick Diamond , the musical featured twelve or so Australian songs, which included Doreen Jacobs' setting of Helen Palmer's "Ballad of 1891," as well as the title song, Chris Kempster 's setting of Lawson's "Reedy River." The backing band for this popular stage production was "The Bushwhackers," who had formed a year earlier in 1952. As the musical was performed in Brisbane and other Australian cities, local "bush bands" modeled on the Sydney group, such as Brisbane's "The Moreton Bay Bushwhackers," sprang up in each place; many of these remained together following the closing of the musical, and spawned other, similar groups.
Contemporary bush bands
Perhaps the best known bush band internationally, albeit in their later years with the influence of English folk rock bands like Fairport Convention and Steeleye Span , was the The Bushwackers (band)|Bushwackers (spelt without the "h" as in the earlier Bushwhackers Band of the 1950s), who formed in Melbourne and were active from the early 1970s to 1984. The "Wackers," as they are known by their fans, toured around the world and with their larrikin, outgoing style, song books, dance instruction books and records, contributed markedly to the spread of bush music and dancing, especially in Australia. Their style was infused with Celtic music (i.e. reels and jigs) to a greater extent than previous bush bands, and they used an electric bass guitar in place of the more traditional bush bass. The period leading up to and following Australia's Bicentenary, 1988, saw a marked resurgence in bush music and bush dances that lasted for many years.
Many bands also bearing the rock influence and adding original music rode this Australiana wave. Examples are the Ants Bush Band, Eureka!, Skewiff , Rantan Bush Band and Bullamakanka and some bands, including the Bushwackers, still perform on an occasional basis. Few bands formed in the 1980s survive to this day. One exception, while seeing many player changes over the years, is Currency Lads (Sydney), which still performs regularly (2009). Brisbane's Rantan Bush Band, formed in 1977, continues to perform commercially on at least a weekly basis (2010) and still has three of its original line up. This band, like the Bushwackers, has a range of dance instruction books (see references below).
In recent years the emergence of bands such as The Currency (Melbourne), The Handsome Young Strangers (Sydney) and Sydney City Trash (Sydney) has moved bush music into rock and roll venues and major festival stages, with a blended style that includes rock drums and guitars whilst combining with Celtic influences. The Handsome Young Strangers lean more towards the traditional style of bands such as The Bushwackers, whilst The Currency and Sydney City Trash incorporate both punk and Celtic styles. Rantan Bush Band has maintained a folk/country blend as its trademark and performs both traditional Australian songs as well as Australian country music and a supporting repertoire of regular pop and rock music for dancing.
List of bush bands
In Australia
The Bushwackers (band)|The Bushwackers (Melbourne, Victoria)
The Inland Navigators Sydney NSW ( www.inlandnavigators.com.au )
Five and a Zack Irish Bush Band (Melbourne) 1979 to current
Hammer 'N Tap ( Broken Hill, New South Wales ) cite web|url= http://blogs.abc.net.au/sa/2009/09/hammer-n-tap-.html|title=Hammer 'N Tap|publisher=Peter Jinks, ABC Adelaide|accessdate=2010-05-09
Warren Fahey (solo artist) (Potts Point, New South Wales)
Franklyn B Paverty ( Canberra and the region around the Australian Capital Territory )
Warrandye Primary School Bushband ( Warrandyte, Victoria )
