You won’t need to Dust off the Band, to Dust off your Boots!
And it’s Showtime!
We’ve done hundreds of events–every one of them is unique and every one is memorable. We work closely with everyone who books us to tailor the event to suit their needs– whether it’s a wedding, a corporate, your local school or community group, or a milestone birthday, we treat every event with the greatest care to make sure it’s one for you and your guests to remember.
Out of the hundreds of events, like any good parent– you can’t pick favourites! But here are a dozen which we particularly enjoyed and that give you an idea of the final results!
The Flight Centre @ Dashville
In 2018 I got a call from Bec, from The Flight Centre. They were having a conference in the Hunter Valley for 450 of their senior leadership team. It was a glamping style conference and they wanted to kick the conference off with a bang– and something in keeping with the setting and atmosphere of the conference.
A DREAM TO WORK WITH! A NIGHT TO REMEMBER!
Michael and the team at Swamp Dawkins were a dream to work with. The lead up was seamless and the night ran incredibly well. The barn dance calls were perfect and everyone at the event joined in and had a great time. Thanks guys for making our opening night of the conference one to remember!
Bec – The Flight Centre – Dashville, Hunter Valley – November 2018
THESE GUYS ARE PHENOMENAL!
Swamp Dawkins gave us the best night- these guys are phenomenal! I have never seen so many non dancers hit the floor to learn some moves! Much more than just a band- these are real entertainers. 3 encores before management stepped in to tell them we had to stop!
Sarah – The Flight Centre – Dashville, Hunter Valley – November 2018
Casey & Callum’s Wedding @ Darkes Forrest
A few years ago, we played for Casey at her 21st, and when it was time for her wedding celebrations– she and Callum invited us back to play. It was a country style wedding, held in their family’s orchard in Darkes Forest. And what a beautiful and amazingly fun wedding it was!
Click here for a video of Casey & Callum’s Country Styled Wedding, from the PolkaDot Bride blog.
INCREDIBLE! FANTASTIC! COULDN’T BE HAPPIER!
We first met Swamp Dawkins when we hired them for my 21st birthday in 2014. Every single person, from my little cousins to my oldest relatives had a blast! The feedback I got from my ‘city folk’ friends, was that they could not believe how much fun they had – and they didn’t need to be blind drunk to dance and have fun, like other parties they went to.
Even the people that ‘definitely do not dance under any circumstances’, danced!!
It wasn’t even a question when my now husband proposed to me that we would have Swamp Dawkins playing for the reception of our wedding. Our wedding has just passed and we could not be happier!
Swamp Dawkins are very professional, flexible, so easy to deal with and all round good people.
Michael is an incredible caller and the band are fantastic – playing both bush dances tunes, as well as fun covers that get the whole crowd dancing. Swamp Dawkins easily managed our huge wedding of around 250 people – the only limitation was that we underestimated how many people would want to dance and we needed more dance floor!
We cannot recommend Swamp Dawkins highly enough for any function – birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, parties, etc, and I cannot wait to have them back at any opportunity we can!
Casey and Callum – Wedding – Darkes Forrest – June 2018
THE BEST & MOST FUN WEDDING! THE BEST DECISION WE MADE!
The (working!) farm shed hosted the bush dance inspired reception, tells Casey. “The reception was held in our commercial packing shed. We cleared all of the machinery that we could out and lined the venue with huge apple bins to hide the machinery that was too big to take out. We couldn’t have imagined getting married anywhere else, it was very special.”
“Although the speeches were a highlight for the reception for the newlyweds, it was the bush band, Swamp Dawkins that really holds her heart! She explains “As soon as we began planning the wedding, we knew we wanted to make it fun and different. We decided that we wanted to do a bush dance! I had a bush dance for my 21st birthday and the band we had (Swamp Dawkins) were incredible – so we decided to have them again for our wedding! It was the best decision we made. Everyone from the young children to grandparent-aged danced! It was such a great way for people to get to know each other, and they didn’t have to sit next to or talk to people they didn’t want to. It also meant that we had a great time dancing and laughing with everybody too! We are still receiving so many compliments, with everyone remarking that it was the best and most fun wedding they’ve ever been to.
St Joey’s Community Bushdance @ Barcaldine, Queensland
This event was particularly memorable for a few reasons. Barcaldine (“Barcy”) is 100km east of Longreach and 300km west of Emerald in Central Queensland and it’s population or 1,300 had had a particularly tough 8 years of drought. I got a call from Amanda- a teacher at St Joey’s- and she was wanting to have an event that brought some fun and laughter to the community. We were up for it and Amanda put her mind to it like no-one else and rustled up the funding from the local council and the Queensland Arts Development Fund and with additional support from the local community– she pulled it off!
One of the things that made this gig especially memorable was as part of the weekend, we ran a workshop with the local school kids to write a song about life in Barcy– which the kids sung on the night and we recorded the song with a short video clip when we got back to Sydney.
AN INJECTION OF LAUGHTER & HAPPINESS!
In June 2019, the local residents of Barcaldine in ‘Outback’ Western Queensland championed the help of Sydney’s Best Bush Band ‘Swamp Dawkins’ to host a Community Bush Dance. It was time to have a bit of fun so Michael, Max, Andrew and the beautiful Cara, took up the challenge and packed their bags leaving the city lights of Sydney behind to visit the ‘Wild West’ in the dead centre of Queensland- Barcy.
From the moment they hit the dirt they sniffed it- tasting Barcy’s famous meat pies for lunch followed by ‘Happy Hour’ at The Union Hotel. this Outback experience was about bringing a fresh positive energy to a place burdened by many years of drought.
With the theme of ‘Giving Back’ to the Community, Michael and the Swamp Dawkins band members generously gave several hours of their afternoon to local school children in a workshop about writing music. It was here that we witnessed Michael’s true talent and passion for music surface as together the group wrote lyrics to an original song ‘When the River Runs Dry, the River Runs Deep’, all about their home town of Barcaldine. The group proudly performed the song later in the evening in front of the 200 strong crowd of emotional locals. The song has been generously recorded and gifted to our community as an everlasting reminder of our resilience and strength in tough times.
From the Brown Jug Polka to Stripping the Willow, Michael confidently called and taught each dance with humour and precision with the entire crowd up on their feet. The afterglow and success of this event is attributed to the enthusiasm, professionalism and generosity of Michael and the Swamp Dawkins Crew- Andrew (Terry), Cara and Max. This was more than just a night to remember. This was an injection of laughter, happiness and connection which transported each and everyone in our community to a place of pure joy. We are truly grateful. Thanks you Swamp Dawkins!
Amanda – St Joey’s – Barcaldine, QLD – June 2019
Community Event & Product Promotion @ Coburns Distillery, Burrawang
This gig is possibly the best night we’ve had.
Mark Coburn had decided that by the time he turned 70 he wanted to have his very own 20yr whisky to enjoy and so he started Coburn’s Distillery and when he turned 50 he celebrated the barrelling of that first drop to be enjoyed 20 years down the track.
The night was for his friends, for the community, for whisky lovers and for supporters of his venture and it was an epic night that went off like the finest cracker.
THE MOST FUN YOU CAN HAVE WITH YOUR CLOTHES ON!
The best part of the night was seeing a room full of adults, beaming with smiles from ear to ear for hours on end. The was possibly the most fun you can have with your clothes on… Big thanks to Mark Coburn and Coburn’s Distillery for such an epic night. I never thought I’d find myself at a friggin’ barn dance. Now I can’t wait for the next one!
Jason – Coburn’s Distillery – Burrawang – August 2017
PERFECT! A HUGE SUCCESS!
Swamp Dawkins really made our barn dance come to life. The music was perfect, a mixture of led barn dance numbers and popular hits. We had most of the people dancing most of the time, which I found amazing. Michael’s sense of humour is spot on. He has the knack of making everyone feel relaxed and included and from the looks on people’s faces they loved every minute of it.
Thank you again for such an amazing night at our Barn Dance. Mark and I were so grateful to you for making it such a success. I would recommend Swamp Dawkins to anyone who wants to ensure their night is a huge success. We look forward to using Swamp Dawkins again in the future.
Jenni – Coburn’s Distillery – Burrawang – August 2017
Paula & Tim’s 40th @ Tumut River Brewing Company, Tumut
Well. We love a roadtrip- and we certainly loved this one!
Paula and Tim had set up the Tumut River Brewing Company and were wanting to celebrate their 40ths at the venue with a hoedown. And so it came to be!
The 40th’s we do are always particularly fun. For a lot of people it’s a good night to leave the young kids at home and let loose and it’s a great way to bring friends together. The country dance, hoedown, barn dance, cowboy & cowgirl themes are easy to costume, dressing the rooms is easy with wine barrels, hay bales and festoon lights and the catering options to suit the theme are also easy– think of that pig on spit and some cold drinks.
YOU GUYS SMASHED IT!!!
You guys rocked! Could not have asked for a better night, better band or have had more fun than we did. By the looks of everyone’s faces in the pictures…safe to say you guys smashed it!!! Cheers!
Paula & Tim – 40th Birthday – Tumut – May 2019
YOU GUYS WERE JUST BRILLIANT!
No words are enough to say how much fun we all had Saturday night. You guys were just brilliant! Everyone can’t stop talking about it! Thank you again! Will highly recommend you guys!
Paula & Tim – 40th Birthday – Tumut Brewing Company – May 2019
David & Amanda’s Wedding @ Arcadia
It’s always a particular privilege to play for people’s wedding receptions and the atmosphere created with a country dance styled wedding is just fantastic. We have a special dance for the wedding party and the happy couple before kicking off the rest of the evening with dances that have the guests celebrating together.
This wedding, for David & Amanda, at their acreage on the outskirts of Sydney in Arcadia was especially delightful.
THE GUESTS WERE RAVING ABOUT YOU!
We just wanted to say a huge thank-you for helping us celebrate our wedding!
Prior to the wedding we found you were very eager to answer all our questions and make the planning go as smoothly as possible- which it did! On the day the guests were raving about your professional and relaxed manner- they loved arriving to soft acoustic music. Two friends commented that “It was great, sitting on the grass with a beer in hand watching them go!”.
Although I wasn’t involved with lots of the minor details on the night from my perspective it seemed as if people were working well, sharing the stage/ equipment etc. People loved the way the music changed as night fell as things started to pick up. A huge favourite of mine was the called dancing- everyone was laughing and having such a great time. If my husband wasn’t so eager to leave I would have loved to keep dancing! The only complaint we had from guests was that the party ended too early…but the said even 4am in the morning would be too soon!
Our first dance was lovely, thank you for helping us with that. That song holds a special place in my husband’s heart and it will continue to do so! If we ever get married again (hopefully not!!!) we would book you!
Amanda & David – Wedding – Dural – February 2017
“The Big Night In” Fundraiser @ Hornsby RSL
In 2016, we were invited to be part of a fundraiser called the “Big Night In”. It had been put together by a group of friends for one of their closest friends to bring people together, to celebrate & remember one their clan. It was a special night for everyone and it was privilege to be part of it.
Spectator Activation – NRL Grand Finals; Bathurst 1000; Asian Cup Final
We’ve been engaged by several agencies to help with spectator activation for key events including NRL Grand Finals, the Bathurst 1000 races and the Asian Cup Final between Australia and South Korea.
NRL Grand Finals 2017 & 2018
SportNet Holidays creates premium spectator packages for sports fans and invited us to play twice for their VIP Guests as part of the lead up to the grand final. In 2017 we played at the ANZ Stadium and the following year we played on board the Captain Cook cruise for the guests as they enjoyed Sydney Harbour, and iconic Australian music, on their way to the stadium.
Bathurst Races 2017
There’s few events more iconically Australian than the Big Race at Mount Panorama and in 2017 we played for some VIP guests, care of SportsNet Holidays for two nights over the weekend. The dinners were attended by some of the leading drivers which was a highlight for the racing fans and we provided the entertainment– iconic Australian rock and then a hoedown for everyone to kick up their heels.
Asian Cup Final Australia vs South Korea @ Stadium Australia 2014
In 2014 We were contacted by the Twenty3 Group who were providing pre-game entertainment and crowd activation for the Asian Cup Final between Australia and South Korea being held at Stadium Australia.
With 80,000 people attending the game, we were asked to bring a distinctly Australian atmosphere to crowd as they all came through the front gates. What a fantastic event to be part of– helping create the amazing atmosphere before the game that the Socceroos went on to win. And watching that unfold inside the stadium was unforgettable.
Gresford Country Dance @ East Gresford
In 2017, I got a call from Louise. Her and a few of the others around town had decided that it was time to get people out on a Saturday night. To turn off the TVs and get together and enjoy the community they had right there.
Well– that night went off. They sold well over the 200 tickets they had aimed for and it was a night to remember at the local showground. The stage for the band was a 1960’s Dodge truck and with some great food-stalls around the marquis the night was spectacular.
FABULOUS NIGHT! THE MOST WONDERFUL TIME!
What a fabulous night at the Gresford Family Country Dance!
The Swamp Dawkins Band were amazing- mums, dads, kids and grandparents all on the dance floor together having the most wonderful time- a fantastic choice of music – it just couldn’t have been better!
Thank you to Michael and the band for their energy and enthusiasm.
It truly was a night to remember!l
Louise – Gresford Community Group – Gresford – November 2017
O’Connell Pub 150th Anniversary @ O’Connell
We got a call from Michelle one day– her pub, The O’Connell Hotel, located just outside of Bathurst in Central West NSW, was celebrating their 150th Anniversary and she wanted something that would bring bring the community together. That certainly happened! Click here for the blog post. The night was an absolute blast and it brought everyone in the community together so much so that we came back and did the same thing the next year!
COULDN’T HAVE ASKED FOR A BETTER NIGHT!
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
Phil Gilbert Motor Group Hoedown @ Dooley’s Lidcombe
Phil Gilbert Motors were wanting to celebrate another great year and were looking for something different– something fun, engaging, easy to theme, and something unique that the hadn’t done before. Simone got in touch and booked us for an end of year Hoedown for their staff. Fantastic night!
THE SHOW WAS FIRST CLASS!
We booked the Swamp Dawkins Band for our Cowboy themed Christmas Party for 120 staff of all ages. Michael was easy to deal with and prompt in his communications. The band was excellent value for money. On the night the set up was seamless and very professional. All the band members were polite and professional and were happy to adjust their sets to accommodate our timetable. The show was first class.
Everyone enjoyed the music played during dinner, all well known favourites and I saw everyone singing along. The dancing afterwards was fantastic fun. Ian was a great caller, easy to follow and everyone was encouraged to get involved. We all ended the night laughing and exhausted! It was a great way to bring people together. Our staff are still talking about the party and how the atmosphere that the Swamp Dawkins Band provided really “made” the night.
I would highly recommend the Swamp Dawkins Band for a fun filled night of music and dancing.
Simone Gilbert, Director – Phil Gilbert Motors – Dooleys, Lidcombe – November 2014
MSC Orchestra Maiden Australian Visit, St Patrick’s Day @ Sydney Harbour
The Bob Wood Cruise Group was organising the Australian leg of the MSC Orchestra’s maiden voyage to Australia and the ship was scheduled to be docked in Sydney Harbour bridge for St Patrick’s Day. Looking for something that was not only distinctly Australian, but something that had a touch of Irish, they invited us to play on the top deck as their 5,000 passengers enjoyed fireworks with the Harbour Bridge and Opera House as a backdrop and a mix of iconic Australia music and Irish dances as the soundtrack.
ABC 702 Exhumed Grand Final
In 2014, James Valentine on ABC 702 created a band competition called “Exhumed” and I entered two songs and out of the several hundred entries, both songs made it into the Top 10 for the Grand Final concert. And so Swamp Dawkins opened the Exhumed Grand Final 2014 with a bang – rocking the crowd with Hell it’s Hot Down Here and then following it up with Even Though Paul Kelly What a way to kick-start the night!!
