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Special Presentations and Themed Concerts
These are not listed in any particular order. Times are subject to change. Please check program closer to festival
page updated 13th February 2012
Also see our Workshops and Dance Program pages
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Lis Shelley, Director |
Christina Mimmocchi,
Musical Director
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The Cobargo Folk Festival is proud to present the premiere production of Back To The Old Selection, produced and performed by Footprint Theatre (based in Pambula on the Far South Coast). The play is written by Steele Rudd, and adapted by Richard Fotheringham. This production is directed by Lis Shelley, with musical direction by Christina Mimmocchi. This project was made possible by Festivals Australia, an Australian Government program which supports cultural activity at regional and community festivals.
This 1996 adaptation by Queensland writer Richard Fotheringham is not the same as On Our Selection or the contrived Dad and Dave stories that stemmed from Bert Bailey's and others' treatment of Rudd's characters. It is much more sympathetic to the down-to-earth characters that Rudd wrote about in his original unstaged adaptation In Australia, or The Old Selection. This production finally returns the "Rudd" family name to his beloved characters.
For more information about the production, visit Footprint Theatre's website
Aunty Eileen Morgan Memorial Concert
Saturday 11.30am Mumbulla
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Eileen Morgan was the patron of the Yuin Folk Club. She was very involved in its early years. As a local Aboriginal elder, she gave permission for the club to use the Yuin name. Eileen was a wonderful artist and she donated the painting that was incorporated into the logo of the Yuin Folk Club. She also painted the Club’s beautiful banner, incorporating this motif. Make sure you have a look at this banner that forms the backdrop to the stage in the Yuin venue. Eileen was not as active in the club in recent years but was still very proud to be the Patron of the club.
When Eileen was in her 70s, she wrote a book called The Calling Of The Spirits in which she told the story of her life and wrote about various Koori legends. Eileen cared deeply for her country and worked with others in helping to preserve the local environment and Aboriginal culture and heritage.
Eileen Morgan died last year. She was a gentle soul, a highly respected Yuin elder and well-liked by many in both the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities. She will be missed. As a tribute to Eileen we are presenting this special Indigenous concert, hosted by highly-respected national indigenous singer and songwriter, Kerrianne Cox. Other performers include the Gulaga Dancers from Wallaga Lake and Jerra Ngia from the Shoalhaven, all members of the Yuin nation. The concert will immediately follow the official opening of the festival which will include Welcome to Country and a performance by the Gulaga Dancers.
We are grateful to the Mumbulla Foundation for financial assistance in making this special memorial concert possible.
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Sunday 10.30am Gulaga
Global warming.....terrorism....global financial crises.....environmental disasters ....overpopulation ..... peak oil....clash of religious fundamentalism.....you'd be forgiven for thinking that we're all doomed. Is it as serious as it appears or should we lighten up a little? Some of our greatest “pholk philosophers” (Martin Pearson, Roger Montgomery, Glover and Sorrensen and Ami Williamson) will present their thoughts on both sides of the proposition. Bound to be thought-provoking but, above all, entertaining. The Great Debate? Cobargo's version of "Big Ideas"? Come and see for yourself.
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Sunday 9.00am Mumbulla
Both Danny and Alistair have a huge repertoire of songs about the sea, the life of sailors and making a living from the sea. Danny has actually worked on salvage tugboats and trawlers around the coast of Britain. Shanties, ballads, traditional and contemporary songs and stories will be presented. Don’t miss this opportunity to catch these two legendary singers on stage together.
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Saturday 12.00noon Yuin
Canberra Union Voices will lead the singing, with great opportunities for audience participation, in a workshop presented by John Warner. He will discuss the history of songs and tunes (folk, popular, church or classical) taken up by the trade union movement and their social impact; new songs of struggle, work and protest – “Solidarity for ever”, “Bring out the banners”, “If it weren't for the union”, “Joe Hill”, “The day Mark Allen died”, “Pie in the sky”, “Unkown industrial worker”, and more!
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Saturday 10.00am Magpie
Why would a Colonial woman want a gun? Often for the same reason that any woman wants a gun – to shoot a man. Join the Dingo's Breakfast with a host of Special Guests, in another of their Slightly Off the Wall Radio Ballads, Women With Guns. Another telling story disputing the myth that there were no women in Australia before 1901, excepting for “two whores and Caroline Chisholm” (Desmond McPorcine's Book of Slaps). Let us tell you, there were a lot more, and they were quite marvellous, and they needed guns.
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Ulick O'Boyle (centre)
& The Settlers
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Ulick O'Boyle in his 70s | Last CD 2002 |
Saturday 12.45pm Gulaga
Ulick O'Boyle has been described as the Woody Guthrie of the Snowy Mountains Scheme and his many songs form an important part of the folklore of the area. O'Boyle moved to Australia from Ireland with his young family in the 1960s and, like thousands of migrants at the time, found work on the Snowy scheme, in his case as a medical officer. While there, he formed a band, The Settlers, with his then-wife Ann and friend Peter Barry. The group recorded six albums over the years, the last in 2002. Ulick passed away in 2011 and this concert presents a small cross-section of his wonderful legacy.
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200 years of Struggle
George Mann Saturday 4.00pm Magpie A musical and narrative tour through US labour history and the music of organisation and struggle. George plays "Jimmy Higgins," the archetypal union activist, and explains the history of some of our best-known songs. |
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British Songs Adapted in Australia
Danny Spooner Saturday 11.00am Magpie While Australian songs are absolutely unique, many adapted tunes and words from the traditional songs of the British Isles. Danny will talk and sing about these links. |
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Songs and Stories of the Scots Diaspora
Graham Wilson Sunday 12.45pm Mumbulla A great wealth of songs, stories and tunes has emerged from the great on-going Scots Diaspora.From the Highland Clearances to the present day migrations, the hardy Scots have beguiled Australia and the rest of the World with their engineering feats, their music and open-handed humour. Graham has selected some of the choicest offerings to honour this great exodus that has given so much to our world. |
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Serious Burns Unit
Bob McInnes and friends Saturday 7.30pm Yuin Love, heresy, sedition in song, poetry and the fiddle music of Scotland's bard Robbie Burns. Presented by Bob McInnes, Jane Ellis, Jane Campbell, Mal Bennett and Seamus Gill. |
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George Mann |
Sunday 11.30am Magpie
The great songwriter and storyteller Utah Phillips died in 2008 but left many great songs and stories. George Mann will share his recollections of Utah and sing some of his best-know songs including "All Used Up," "Starlight on the Rails," "the Goodnight-Loving Trail," and a few IWW songs.
| Utah Phillips |
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Alistair at Cobargo Folk Festival 2008
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Ken Stewart
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Songs of Alistair Hulett
Ken Stewart
Saturday 1.00pm Mumbulla
Ken leads socio-political band Urban Guerillas who worked regularly with Roaring Jack in the eighties and nineties. This is when and where Ken met Alistair. Their similar social and political views, passions and outlook on life led them to perform together many times in the pubs and on the pickets and rallies over those years, most memorably on Cockatoo Island in 1986. Alistair died in 2010. Ken will play a selection of Alistair’s songs and give some background into what inspired them and what effect they had at the time. Guest performers will include Danny Spooner, Graham Wilson and Martin Pearson
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Jerra Ngia – A cultural story through music, song and dance
Jerra Ngia
Sunday 9.00am Brolga
'Jerra Ngia' (Story my story you) is a cultural story told through music, song and dance with traditional costume, language and instruments. Noel Butler and Trish Roberts take you on a journey from the beginning to today. A traditional dance will also involve audience participation.
 Jim at Cobargo Folk Festival 2008
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Sunday 12.35pm Gulaga
Last year we inaugurated a concert to the memory of Jim Lay who tragically died in 2010. Jim was one of our regular local performers over many years and a good friend of the Cobargo Folk Festival. Jim was a musician, songwriter, environmentalist and remote area firefighter with NPWS and, as a songwriter, wrote about all those things and more. It is planned to release a CD of some of Jim’s unrecorded songs at this festival. As a tribute to Jim and his craft of songwriting, this concert will feature a number of songwriters, mostly local with some special guests. Performing this year are Alan Leake, Fiona Boyes, Mike Martin, Daniel Champagne, the Mumbulla Dahs, Warren Foster, Brooke Marshall & Saul Nightingale
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Our regular themed concerts Comedy Concert Political Soapbox: Songs of Satire and Sedition Bluegrass and Beyond Concert Blues Concert Spoken Word Concert |