Mannie's Neurum Creek Festival

Where to start… It was a gorgeous morning as I made my way to the scenic camping spot, which is Neurum Creek. I had missed two of the three amazing days of music and mischief and was anxious to see as much of the day’s program as I could. My iPod loaded with music from most of the artists performing at the festival, I happily made my way through Woodford and on to Neurum. It was great to see my fellow bandies and their families, hugs from all and then the essentials, Cider, yes Cider! After being regaled of the previous days of activities, I quickly settled into what can only be described as a brilliant day! It was lovely to see so many friends, all in one spot and with the backdrop of lush hills and the haunting melodies of the fiddle and guitar of Emma Nixon and Tony Vandermeer, I knew the day was off to a cracking start! Beautiful harmonies of gospel singers and the amazing cloudstreet, were only slightly contested by the laughter of children, as they played close by.

I was very excited about the Poachers playing later that afternoon and was planning on capturing some of their magic on film,

“Hey Spielberg, do you want a coffee”?

“Only if you’re making it, Paul”.

So he started to boil the water, as he enlightened the nearby kids on the dangers of playing around a hot stove. Then as if he had never mentioned the dangers of boiling water, Paul started dancing around the stove. For a few seconds I thought Paul was doing a Chuck Berry routine, as he held one leg up in the air and slapped it, as if he was strumming a guitar. Wow! Supper and a show! Then came the realisation that the tortured look on Paul’s face wasn’t Paul trying to belt out a tune, but the scream of pain. Damn, I was starting to get into it! My God, it wasn’t looking good, Paul’s days of performing Swan Lake with the Russian Ballet where over. Being the only one at the scene, I had to help!” I don’t know if we can save it Paul” I don’t think he saw the funny side of this! So I got ice and cold water, and then drank it in a shady spot. No you all know me better than that, I had alcohol instead of water, No really I helped him! At that point Sarah turned up and quickly set off to find our friend Bob who is not only a great guy, but was a First Aid person. I have to say that, Paul did really well to contain his emotions, as his leg blistered like a strip of bacon on a hot grill! Before you could say, anyone want eggs with that, Bob had arrived and sprung into action, patching Paul’s Leg and saving his career in the world of interpretive dance! “Damn you”, I say Bob.

So first came the, “Could I have a water please, Mannie” then it was “can you help me to my chair” then it was “ do you think you could make me a coffee and fluff my pillows” to “I want a jet and a house on the edge of a lake with a room full of guitars and an iPad 2”. Only joking, in all fairness to Paul, he really did soldier on, as we had to perform within half an hour of Paul scolding himself. He got on stage and played his little heart out. You rock, Paul.

I did get to video one or two of the amazing Poachers set. Thanks again to everyone who hung around to hear us play. Once again thanks to Angela Don and Keith for inviting us, and to everyone who helped make it a fantastic weekend!

Take care.

Mannie.

A Long-Overdue Update

Sorry.

It's been far too long since we've actually blogged about anything. In our defence, we have been terribly busy (and a lot of our day-to-day communication takes place of Facebook most of the time -it's just quicker and far more immediate). But I thought I'd take a moment to post a little something.

Firstly, I have to say thank you. A big, fat, jelly-wobbly thank you to everyone who bought the last cd. It's taken us all quite by surprise. Celtic Road made the top 10 list for ABC Classics & Jazz bestsellers of the year, which for an unknown folk band from Brisbane is pretty cool. The DVD (made by our amazing friends over a NoSuchStudioCollective) is still on rotation on cable TV over 6 months after it was released.

And we're going to do it all again in a couple of months. We're flying down to Sydney to record another album with the ABC in January. It's shaping up to be a busy end of the year for us. As some of you may know, Sarah has her own huge ABC solo project that gets underway in a week or so, and Sunas are contributing a few songs to that (along with some fantastic big name people that she'll reveal later on). You can read all about it at here. We've also got the Gold Coast Festival coming up, along with a nice road trip down to the Bellingen Festival next month. December sees a few local shows, but mainly us closeting ourselves away to write the new album which hopefully we'll debut at the Music by the Sea Festival show in early Jan. Then we'll combine the recording with a trip back to the Illawara Festival and a possible, very special trip to Melbourne. That'll be a busy couple of weeks!

Next year is already on the brew. We'll be off to as many festivals as will have us, recording yet another cd, then later in the year we're planning on heading back overseas.

It certainly is interesting times. Now, back to writing the Neurum Creek blog...