The South Australian State Folk Music Convention will be on next weekend(May 10 and May 11). A highlight as always wll be the announcement on the 10th of the South Australian Folk Awards. Nominees are:

Most Outstanding Group/Artist:
Akoustic Odyssey, The Fiddle Chicks, Colcannon

Most Outstanding Vocalist:
Kat Kraus (Colcannon), Adrienne Piggott (Spiral Dance), Alex (The Borderers).

Most Outstanding CD Release:
Out the Window, Over the Gate (The Fiddle Chicks), Worts ‘n All (Spiral Dance), A Time for Change (The Borderers).

Most Outstanding Instrumentalist:
John Munro, Trev Warner, Emma Luker.

Most Outstanding Contribution to SA Folk Music: Eric Bogle, Peter Titchener, Derek Moule.

Most Outstanding New or Emerging Artists:
Dionysus, Eon, Jeri Forman.

The Folk Convention hosts seminars, workshops and discussions for emerging artists and semi-pro musicians, including workshops on business, getting gigs, promo packages and APRA royalties. There will also be sessions for folk clubs, festivals and other folk organisers.

It’s on again! Now that you’ve had five minutes to catch your breath after the wonderful 2008 National Folk Festival, it’s time to start preparing for 2009.

Next year South Australia is the Featured State and we can expect another roll-call of great talent and wonderful ideas. (Do you remember the wonderful wooden boat that was part of the 2003 South Australian contribution? It was moored in the Budawang and became a popular young folks’ cubby house).

The musical theme for 2009 is Music of the Americas (all of them –North, South Latin and Central) and the social theme is Natural Fibres - now there’s a concept to conjure with!

The 2009 National will run 9 – 13 April.

Performer Applications will open on-line on June 1st and close on August 31st. Booking notifications should be out by the first week in December.

So – it’s time to start hunting, gathering, researching, collaborating and rousing your Muse! You can contact the Festival office on 0262 49 7755.

Visit the National Folk Festival website.

Another Threshing Day

Chloe and Jason Roweth
with Jim McWhinnie
JCCD0009

reviewed by Jim Low

In my humble opinion, Chloe and Jason Roweth are one of the best things to happen to Australian folk music in the last decade. If you are not familiar with their accomplishments, their latest CD Another Threshing Day is a fine place to start.

They again dive into the rich, often overlooked, wealth of this country’s traditional music to surface enthusiastically with a choice selection of songs, ballads and tunes. The songs are peopled by bushrangers, bullock drovers, gold diggers, farm hands, sailors and the like. As very proficient interpreters of traditional song, the Roweths are ever conscious of the importance of the words and the narrative they tell. The tasteful and thoughtful musical arrangements give the stories a chance to come alive, thereby increasing their drama and interest. Songs like the tragic The Nightingale and the beguiling The Dark Eyed Gypsies are fine examples of this. Their skill as interpreters of song gives new life and interest to familiar songs like Little Fish , Gentle Annie and The Kelly Gang .

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Jason and Chloe Roweth recorded this song with Jim McWhinnie for their CD, Another Threshing Day. This song is based on a set of words credited to bushranger Frank Gardener himself. Jason first heard the song as a young boy - he’s not sure when.

Read a review of Another Threshing Day here .