Swamp Dawkins ~ Dust Your Boots Off!
Bushdances & Barndances, Hoedowns & Honkytonks, Country Dances & Wild West Nights, Iconic Australian Music & Classic American Roadhouse Country
The community at Gresford in the upper Hunter Valley decided it was time to get everyone out and on the dance floor for a country dance…and this was it! Brilliant night and here’s what Louise had to say afterwards!
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
Dashville has to be one of the best outdoor venues we’ve played at and it was a delight to be invited by The Flight Centre to play for the opening night of their conference. With around d450+ guests, it was a night full of energy and a sensational time for everyone…And here’s what Bec and Sarah had to say afterwards!
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
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
A roadtrip always goes down well and this one out to O’Connell near Bathurst for the pub’s 150th anniversary was sensational….And here’s what Michelle had to say afterwards!
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?!
We’ve been invited by SportsNet holidays to play for their guest several times and this one, on board the John Cadman II was fantastic. The cruise was part of the NRL Grand Final pre-game entertainment for the SportsNet guests… absolute pleasure to play for everyone on their way to the stadium.
It’s always a special privilege to play at people’s weddings and this one, for David and Amanda, was no exception and here’s what they sent us afterwards…
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, thankyou 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!
Thanks again,
David and Amanda
We’ve done a fantastic few gigs up at the Fairmont Resort Leura for corporate conferences and retreats. The team there always put on a fantastic night…
Swamp Dawkins at Bathurst Races for SportsNet Holidays!
Thanks to Donna and Paul Wallis for having us play at your combined 50th birthdays and 25h wedding anniversary! The band made a weekend roadtrip of it – staying at the Argyle Inn ,Taralaga just 10mins from Donna and Paul’s property.
The property had a beautiful sunset view from the marquis on the hill while we played some quiet music over dinner to settle everyone in before the tables were cleared for dancing.
After a few heart-pumping songs that got everyone on the dance floor we slipped into a couple of bushdances before having a break for the formalities. After a few speeches, we settled into the rest of the evening with anything and everything from our catalogue of songs that kept everyone on the dance floor.
We even got to roll out Mamma Mia by ABBA and Livin’ on a Prayer by Bon Jovi – surely we must be the only bushband around the traps who can start the night with Kenny Rogers before finishing with ABBA, AC/DC and Bon Jovi whilst fitting in bushdances in between!
One of the guest gave us a great compliment when he said “you guys can do everything” and another guest who said “there was something for everyone – no-one had an excuse not to dance!”. That’s what we love to hear – everyone, young and old, was up and at it!
TESTIMONIAL
A memorable night aboard the MSC Orchestra playing to their passengers and guests to celebrate St Patrick’s Day and welcome everyone to beautiful Sydney.
Our brief was Australian music with a special request for “I still call Australia Home” and something worthy of St Patrick’s Day celebrations – many of the passengers were from Europe and wanted a taste of Australia, and the rest of the passengers were Australian and were in the mood for a taste of home.
We took a musical trip through Australian music – the Easybeats from the 60’s, AC/DC from the 70’s, Men at Work from the 80’s, Paul Kelly and INXS from the 90’s (give or take a few decades in that list!) and slipped in some bushdancing in the middle with an Irish jig to keep St Patrick smiling.
It’s proving to be a great formula – mixing well known songs done in our own Swampy style with bush, barn and square dancing to get everyone involved. When people book Swamp Dawkins for their events they have an idea or a theme in mind, but the key aim of the event is getting people on the dance floor and enjoying the party – that’s what we do!
Thanks to all the passengers and crew from the MSC Orchestra for having us look after you and welcome you to Sydney! Check out our photos in our gallery or on Facebook.
TESTIMONIAL
There’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.
Michelle 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.
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!
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>
So 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!
Having 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!
Fantastic 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.
“We’ve got a wedding. We want an hour of music over dinner – but it has to be quiet enough for people to talk otherwise…well – otherwise…” – Check.
“We then want an hour of bush dancing after dinner” – Double Check.
“And then we want an hour of ‘wild music’ after that. And maybe more than an hour!” – Triple Check.
Lock it in!
We get all kinds of requests – increasingly though, more and more people are looking for a hybrid night of bush dancing / barn dancing / square dancing to get everyone up and mixing, combined with good party music for people to kick on.
The wedding for Patricia – Paddy and Phid more correctly! – was one of those. Similar to the recent gigs with Phil Gilbert and at the O’Connell Hotel – the bush dancing is n’t just about bush dancing: it’s about getting everyone out of their chairs, up on their feet and swinging around the dance floor, mixing with everyone, with no shortage of smiles and everyone being in the moment.
Below is a little video of the dancing on the night, set to Michael’s original ‘At the Honkytonk’.
The bush dancing gets people up without fail and the night just takes off from there be it with more bush dancing, bopping to music from the 60’s/70’s/80’s, or rocking to iconic Australian hit songs from Paul Kelly to AC/DC, or Americana country and swampy blues.
The venue for Patricia’s wedding – Allview Escape at Blackheath – has to have one of the best views in the Blue Mountains with the marquis overlooking the magnificent valleys and escarpments that make up the iconic Blue Mountains. The gourmet BBQ, summer evening setting, guests very much in the celebratory mood, and a fantastic newly wed couple made for the perfect recipe for a night to remember.
Patricia – thanks again for inviting us to play – it’s a serious privilege to play at people’s weddings and we couldn’t be happier for you and Phid. Thanks for letting us be part of your day!
TESTIMONIAL
We had a lot of fun with the cowboys and cowgirls at Phil Gilbert Motor Group for their end-of-year hoedown! Many thanks to Simone for inviting us to celebrate with your team – you organised a fantastic night and it was pleasure playing for you, meeting your team, and helping you all dance the night away!
Great also to meet up again with John ‘The Bullman’ running the mechanical bull. We’ve done a few functions where John has run the ring and it’s always a lot of fun. If you’re looking for a mechanical bull for your next event check out John The Bullman!
The party was at Dooley’s Catholic Club at Lidcombe and was a great venue for a hoedown in the function room upstairs. The room was dressed with red, black and white cow-print themed balloons and the tables were strewn with red and white tablecloths with cowboys and horses – great theming Simone!
We really enjoyed meeting the team at Phil Gilbert – everyone was so friendly and just a pleasure to be around. Big thanks to Drew for the video footage as well.
Thanks again for having us play and we look forward to another hoedown down the track! Check out our photos in our gallery or on the Swamp Dawkins Facebook page.
TESTIMONIAL
Swamp Dawkins was selected as one of the 10 finalists in the 2014 ABC702 Exhumed Grand Final! It was actually a double win, as Michael also entered his other band – The Outback Bushband – in the competition and that entry also made it into the Grand Final – so that’s two from two! The selected songs were Michael’s originals: Even though Paul Kelly (after “To Her Door”) and Hell it’s Hot Down Here.
Swamp Dawkins opened the Exhumed Grand Final 2014 with a bang – rocking the crowd with Hell it’s Hot Down Here.
What a way to kick-start the night!!
You can see more videos from the night on our YouTube Channel and check out the photo gallery or view and share this album on the Swamp Dawkins Facebook page.
Date: 28 August, 2014
Giddiup! — Swamp Dawkins is in the Exhumed Grand Final for 2014 with the concert to be held on August 28th at Canterbury Hurlstone RSL.
Listen to the podcast of the announcement below, including Michael chatting with James Valentine and the song– “Hell it’s hot down here and it’s goddam crowded tonight” hitting the airwaves.
Michael’s other band (and ‘sister’ band) to Swamp Dawkins – the Outback Bushband – also made the finals with Michael’s entry of Even Though Paul Kelly (after ‘To Her Door’).