This post has only a tenuous connection with motorcycling but it certainly involves wheels. It does concern itself with one of my other passions, music. As you know I have been involved in music and music making practically all my life. I remember singing at open air Gospel meetings when I was around 6 years old. I sang in choirs and music groups of various sorts right through my school career. When I was in 5th and 6th year at Oak Flats High School one of my fellow students formed a folk group which I joined and we sang at quite a few functions both church-related and otherwise.
In Teachers College I took a Choral Elective and learned many more of the technicalities of group singing. When the college staged an opera in 1970, my 2nd year at college, I was chosen to play one of the lead roles and sang the role of one of the three kings in Giancarlo Menotti’s “Ahmal and the night visitors”
It was during my first year in college that I determined that a recorder was stupid instrument to use in the classroom and decided that a guitar was vastly preferable for all sorts of reasons. I bought a guitar and a book of chords and taught myself to play and I have been playing, almost solely in the classroom, ever since. In another post where I told the stories of my many guitars I have explained more about this facet of my life.
Despite 40+ years of singing and playing in the classroom, my use of the guitar in public performance was negligible for several reasons. Mainly that my expertise was really limited to playing chords to accompany songs.
It has only been in the last few years that I have gotten out of my comfort zone and started performing in public. And, as is so often the case, it came about almost by accident. I met Elwyn who is a local guitar teacher of renown, through motorcycling; he has a very nice XJR1300 Yamaha. Discussions of motorcycling led to discussions of music and the revelation that he and a group of friends did some charitable volunteer work singing in local nursing homes. When I expressed an interest he asked me if I’d like to come along and have a look.
I did, but what I saw was scarcely likely to make me want to join in. The standard of performance from most of the people involved was dreadful, not only musically but also in terms of presentation. Nevertheless, it was there that I met Henry who immediately impressed me as being a very polished guitarist and singer. And, after a couple of more excruciating visits to nursing homes, we decided that we had the basis for a pretty neat folk group, just the three of us. Elwyn is an amazingly good guitarist, able to play in many styles and competent on just about every stringed instrument there is. Through his extensive and long-standing contact with the local Folk Society, Elwyn secured a booking for us at one of their monthly in-house concerts.
To say that I was terrified that first night at the Diggers Club is an understatement. Despite all my years of playing for children, this was a very different scenario. While I could never hope to emulate Henry and Elwyn’s expertise instrumentally, I felt that I was more than able to hold my own vocally and that has been the way that it has worked out. We practised hard (something that many of the acts on with us that night had plainly NOT done – how can people get up and perform in public when they are so obviously unprepared?) and we got some great feedback. I am certain that I messed up pretty much everything that was possible to mess up that night but we were well received and that led to an invitation to perform at thee Folk Society’s National Folk Festival at Bulli Showgrounds the following January (our first gig was in August, I think)
As a requirement of performing at NFF we were asked to give the organisers a name for our group. There were several suggestions but my suggestion of Three Sixty (three sixty year old guys playing 60’s folk music) seemed immediately a winner and so it was adopted. Since then, of course, we have also found a couple of other reasons why the name is so appropriate – we play a panorama of music and so on.
Since then we have regularly performed at local folk festivals and tomorrow we are on stage at Folk by the Sea, the festival of long standing in the little town of Kiama. It’s always a great show with the outdoor stage in Hindmarsh Park amongst the towering Norfolk Island Pines and I’m definitely looking forward to it. We have continued our gigs at local nursing homes for the last few years as well but just go as the three of us (with some occasional assistance from Ross who plays a mean bass guitar). We have maintained quality control (something that we thought was seriously lacking) and our knowledge of each other and how we play means that we are able to respond pretty successfully to any situation that arises.
Our programme at nursing homes usually consists of a set of group songs (usually old 60’s rock and roll and show tunes) then each of us does a solo set of three or four songs and then we conclude with another group set at the end. All easy and non demanding but we treat every show AS a show and always strive to put on a polished performance. If you’re going to do it, do your best, regardless of the audience, is our philosophy.
I’m looking forward to tomorrow and the usual cup of tea and debrief with our respective wives in one of Kiama’s cafes afterwards. The weather forecast looks good, let’s do it.