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Swamp Dawkins on Macca’s Australia All Over!

Last year we did a fantastic gig in central Queensland for the town of Barcaldine- about 100kms east of Longreach. As part of the weekend we did a workshop with the kids from the local school and we wrote a song together– “When the River Runs Dry, the River Runs Deep”. Well- we were meant to be going back again this year, until the Covid19 chaos, to play at the town’s Tree of Knowledge Festival. Well- we didn’t make it, but Macca’s on ABC702’s long running Australia All Over program played the song for everyone- here’s the snippet from the show… Australia All Over

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Pymble Golf Club

Thanks to Pymble Golf Club who’ve been hosting us the last Friday of each month over Summer as part of their twilight golf/BBQ evenings for members and their guests. A fantastic setting to relax at the end of the week…

Pymble Golf Club

 

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On the Radio again!

Thanks to 2BS Bathurst for taking the time to interview me to talk about our upcoming gig at the O’Connell Pub! We can’t wait to get back to O’Connell again– we played there last year for their 150th Anniversary and it was a cracking night— looking forward to another one like it! Thanks to Michelle from the pub for inviting us back! And thanks to 2BS for supporting the event and especially for playing my song on your show!

 

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Return to O’Connell Pub

After a cracking weekend earlier in the year to help celebrate the 150th birthday of the Historic O’Connell Pub, Swamp Dawkins have been asked to come back on November 14th for another night of letting loose. Looking forward to being back in O’Connell— and to warmer weather! Thanks to Michelle for hosting us and inviting us back!

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Swamp Dawkins at the Dungog Festival

Swamp Dawkins has been invited to play at the upcoming Dungog Festival on Friday 23rd October!

The festival is running from Thursday 22nd-Sunday 25th October and includes short films aswell as music and local food and wine. The full program for the festival will be out in September and go to www.dungogfestival.com.au for moire information where you can subscribe to their newsletter.

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Sunday at the Garden Tap

Thanks to Rick and Elizabeth and the crew from the Garden Tap/ Cook’s Garden for having us play again last Sunday– and thanks to everyone who came along to enjoy Rick’s hospitality aswell! It was a packed house and a little rowdier than usual- maybe the stormy weather had wired everyone– we’re not sure but either way it was a great afternoon for everyone. Rememebr– last Sunday of every month from 4pm!

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O’Connell Hotel 150th Anniversary!

Swamp Dawkins O'Connell Hotel BushdanceThere’s nothing like serendipity!

We got a call not so long ago from Michelle Webb who runs the O’Connell Hotel, halfway between Bathurst and Oberon about 3hours west of Sydney across the mountains.

“We’re having our 150th for our historic pub which was built back in 1865 and we want a bushdance – a night of dancing and celebrating – can you help us?”

For sure. Without a doubt!

Later on I told my mum where we were playing – she grew up in the country and all of us have travelled a lot on the other side of the Blue Mountains over the years.  Apparently my cousin (who I hadn’t seen in probably 25years) lives right across the road from the pub so Michelle’s call turned out to be a chance to play for my rellos as well! Serendipity indeed.

Swamp Dawkins O'Connell Hotel BushdanceMichelle had planned a weekend of celebrations, including an outdoor film on the Firday night, followed by the bushdance on Saturday.  Everyone was definitely in the festive mood with 250 or so people from the area turning up to dust off their boots and hit the dance floor for the bushdance.  Swamp Dawkins also played a follow up Sunday afternoon session over lunch to show our thanks to Michelle for inviting us to play.

We had an absolute ball – below is a little clip of the dancing on the night, and you can check out our photos and share these through the Swamp Dawkins Facebook page.

Couldn’t have asked for a better night!  The village of O’Connell came out in force – and wasn’t disappointed.  Great time was had by all.

A month after the event customers are stoping me in the street wanting to know when Swamp Dawkins will be back?!

Michelle Webb, Licensee - O'Connell Pub's 150th - O'Connell, Bathurst - February 2015 February 7, 2015

A final tip: if you’re ever on your way to Bathurst from Sydney, take the scenic route. Turn off at Lithgow, drive the state’s “big dipper” road (trust me – you’ll know it when you see it), make your way through Tarana, head on to O’Connell and say g’day to Michelle from us! Fantastic beer garden, great food, very child friendly with lots of room to run around and there’s a cafe just across the road for a breakfast starter in the morning. Hope you enjoy it just as much as we did!

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Asian Cup Final at Stadium Australia

I get interesting phone calls every other day from people wanting to book us, a bit like this one that I got one morning while having breakfast:

“We’d like to book your band”….. Sure

“For three hours of Australiana”……. Sure. Any dancing?

“Nope, just music, 4.30pm-7.30pm”…… Ok.

“It’s in relation to the Asian Cup”…….I see….<put down the newspaper>

“It’s for this Saturday”….ok <spill the coffee>

“It’s at Stadium Australia”…..No way! <standing up escaping the spilt coffee and almost choking on the bagel>

IMG_8619So that was it – after 30 seconds – we were booked to play to 80,000 people at Stadium Australia for three hours, to energise the crowd as they arrived to see our Socceroos take on South Korea!

We were set up at the main entrance to the Stadium on the concourse as part of the Spectator Activation – organised by the “Twenty3 Group”.

The Asian Cup organisers had engaged the Twenty3 Group to put on activities and entertainment for each game as part of the tournament and they wanted some Australian music to get everyone fired up and put some Australian culture on show.

And that we did!!

We played everything from Waltzing Matilda through to Paul Kelly, Men at Work and Jimmy Barnes and plenty in between – it was the day for Australian music to be played, along with greetings of “Anyong Haseyo!” for all the Korean supporters!

IMG_8555Having spent a few years in Seoul – some of it during the 2002 Soccer World Cup – I’d had plenty of time barracking for South Korea with the millions (yep- literally millions) of fans in red near Namdaemun gates and in the central square of Seoul during that tournament yelling “Dae Han Min Guk”.

It was a great opportunity to rustle up some of my Korean for the day to help everyone feel a little bit at home. Lots of great memories brought back for sure but this time with the Socceroos playing, and in our own backyard!

IMG_8595Fantastic day to say the least with such an epic game of football. Thanks to Sarah from the Twenty3 Group for booking us and also to Billy on the day for looking after us.  Check out our photos which you can also share through the Swamp Dawkins Facebook page.