Bridgetown brings the blues

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Bridgetown brings the blues
November 16, 2011
GERRY GEORGATO
Donnybrook Bridgetown Mail

ROM far and wide thousands came to Bridgetown on the weekend, outnumbering the local population by five to one, to listen to the blues – the music that originated in African-American communities primarily in the deep south of the United States.

The scores of predominately Australian performers, during this 19th Bridgetown Blues Festival, lived the integrity of the spirituals, the work songs, the field hollers, the shouts, chants, laments, the ballads which impoverished folk and still shy of genuine emancipation, now long gone turned to for their narrative.

THE Bridgetown Blues Festival committee can only be satisfied with the three-day event which helps put Bridgetown on the 'map' however they should feel proud in that they bring on a myriad of opportunities for those who live their music to share their passion with those that love to hear it.

Many of the visitors have come before, however having talked to scores of visitors during the three days many had also come for the first time and not just the baby boomers.

Sisters Denise Mirco (from Denmark) and Angela Pyke (from Perth) came for the first time to the festival, with their husbands Steve and Mick and for the three days.

They looked forward to the sounds of Ash Grunwald and Vika and Linda.

Wildlife carer Melanie Hall drove down from Newman to make her first Bridgetown festival visit.

Kate and Steve Forward came for their eighth festival visit from Perth.

Well-known Bridgetown locals Karen Hunt and Steve Packer and the accomplished Tracey Barnett performed to full houses and the strength of their voices, melodies and the power of their music was appreciated with hearty applause.

Karen and Steve are also known as Short and Curly and perfectly complement each other with their beautiful voices, with Karen brilliant on guitar and Steve great on harmonica.

Tracey is Bridgetown's award-winning musician and a bright light.

One of the great performances, within a cascade of passion, was singer/guitarist Matt Southton with Matty Elliot on drums and washboard.

They hail from the New South Wales country town of Bega and in part they do it tough financially, however live their music and life with a beat that is a kind message for all of us – they befit the spirit of those past who brought on the blues to deal with the social and economic disadvantage that a vacuum of inhumanity blighted them with.

"I was always inspired by the old blues and the delta blues and the Appalachian blues," Southton said.

The blues to him are about dealing with the tough times, knowing what to 'suck up'.

Southton has one of the most powerful voices and it reaches deep into the listener – he has mastered the pitch of the major scale and the importance of sound and he had everyone transfixed.

Elliot was an incredibly perfect complement and these two are a class act, salt of the earth blue grass stuff – Elliot’s percussion was energetic however his effort on the washboard was unbelievable and resonated with everything that is upbeat from the blues and not just confined to melancholic serenades.

Blues music has been shaped by idiosyncratic performances such as these of the two Matts – as these two can make music out of anything.

Their sounds and the simple but emotionally powerful and speedy rhythms took folk back to the era of peoples who brought on and then owned the blues and who transformed the blues from solo laments and religious spiritualism.

The harmonic structure of the blues was strong right throughout the three days, and most of the performers, not only the crowds, enjoyed and applauded one another – many know each other from the stretch of music festivals Australia-wide that enshrine their camaraderie.

A highlight of the weekend was Rory Ellis, whose deep voice and songs stayed with the listener long after he was done.

One of his most interesting song lines is, "If you love something, why set it free? You'll want it back, now I miss you more than ever..."

Ellis enjoys his music and the fact that he is his own person, not working 9 to 5 – he sings what he believes, not having to work till he drops and is not a slave to wage.

The festival's performances were myriad bright and far too many within this article to covet with justice – Paul Robert Burton blended everything of himself with his musical prowess and this capture of witness by audiences was inspirational.

Shaun Kirk was a one stop shop performer, on harmonica, guitar and snare drum at the same time.

He travelled to Bridgetown from Melbourne, and said, "I drove across the Nullabor to get here, and saw more snakes in that week than I've seen in my life."

Fitzy and Cara Robinson brought home the music with an Australian blues laissez-faire.

Andrew Winton handles the guitar like few others do.

All the performers were great.

"The event has been good, everything has run smoothly, and the music is what matters," venue manager Bob Johnson said.

Volunteer co-ordinator Sue Harding managed some 200 volunteers to showcase the performers and events.

Event manager Carole Watkins will fast enjoy a break after being kept hectically busy for months in the lead up to this now $800,000 a year effort.

More than 5000 tickets were sold and with just as many, who could not afford tickets to the tent stage events, enjoyed the free youth and street stages and the performances at hotels and cafés – more than 10,000 people came.

The 100-year-old sheet metal resonators, banjos and slide guitars and many of the performers who came out this year will be back for the 20th Bridgetown Blues Festival next year and alongside many new faces.

Headliners Ash Grunwald and Vika and Linda who drew the biggest numbers sing it with true grit, "Life ain't always fair and change is coming.”

"The American-Africans were poor beyond imagination, they had little and they found something in music,” Bridgetown resident and blues fan Jenny Kaeshagen said.

“It is all they really owned.

“The blues was their wealth, their only wealth and therefore they gave it all – it was their spirit, their voice."