Friday 15 June 2012
Nick Charles

It's no surprise that the prestigious Black Rose Acoustic Society in Colorado USA describes Australian guitarist, Nick Charles, as "a world class stylist and composer". His dazzling, melodic fingerpicking on 6 and 12 string guitars, stinging slide and a lifetime's stories and songs from the musical highway has him labelled by the Melbourne Age as "Australia's virtuoso of acoustic roots and blues"

During an extensive and acclaimed career, Nick has released many albums on major roots and guitar music labels. He has garnered world-wide recognition for a series of releases on Black Market Music, beginning with "My Place" and now his most recent albums, "Closer to Home" and "Return of the Travelling Fingerpicker". This recognition has succeeded in having Nick signed to the Grammy award winning label, Solid Air Records USA ("Home of the world's finest guitarists"). Averaging 150 shows a year in Australia, New Zealand the USA and the UK, his music encompasses an eclectic mix of acoustic roots including blues, folk and early ragtime jazz.

WHAT SOME OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT NICK'S MUSIC & PERFORMANCE:

"Dazzling guitar, muscular vocals and clever, literate writing!" LITTLE ROCK FOLK CLUB ARKANSAS, USA

"An awesome talent" AUSTRALIAN GUITAR MAGAZINE

"Plays guitar like an angel" SYDNEY MORNING HERALD

"Amazingly expressive" MELBOURNE HERALD SUN

Some tracks from Nick:

Pecan Pie Blues

One Too Many Mornings

I Will

New Memphis Blues

Nick's website.


Under the Grandstand, Queen Elizabeth Oval, View Street, from 8:00pm for an 8:15pm start.

A nice interview with Mick Thomas
Interview courtesy of Ben Cameron, Bendigo Weekly, 28-Mar-2012

Mick Thomas hadn't even heard of the Bendigo Folk Club until recently.

The Bendigo Folk Club has done it's little bit to clear a new path for music legend Mick Thomas. Thomas played an intimate gig under the Queen Elizabeth Oval grandstand late in 2010, to around 80 people, but it left a lasting impression.

"It's probably the most important gig I've done in five years," Thomas says, who spends a lot of his time at his property in Bealiba.

"It sounds like a weird kind of thing to say, but that's the gig that kind of set this whole thing, the album and changing the band around, into motion. "It was that night, it was amazing. It's a lovely little room."

When first asked to play under the grandstand, Thomas was nonchalant. "I was like 'Bendigo Folk Club, what's that?'," Thomas remembers.

"But I hadn't played with (accordion player) Wally (Mark Wallace) for years in that sort of situation. "We'd done this gig with the Weddings (Parties, Anything)... we'd just done this big gig in Sydney... we sold out The Enmore.

"Wally said 'is it my imagination or was that more fun than the Sydney gig?' and I said 'yeah, that's what I was thinking too'." The gig came at just the right time for Thomas, who had been grieving the loss of his mother, who'd died a month before.

"Gigs like that can be so important in your career," Thomas says. "It sounds like a jaded thing to say, but I guess a gig can still be special. "A little gig can make you see where you should go, you know?

"That night we hit it. It made me think I wanted to go somewhere with Wally." And they did, undertaking a tour of Canada, then a trip to Portland, Oregon to record the new album.

The Last of the Tourists is out now.

Some more news
Help Wanted

The Folk Club committee is thinking that there may be some of our members and patrons out there who who are able to contribute some skills and time to the running of the Club, but don't wish to take on a Committee role. Some tasks that spring to mind are: delivering posters to the poster friendly shops and businesses local to wherever you live; helping to set up or pack up chairs; or billeting touring artists.

If you reckon that you could help with any of these tasks or any other jobs that come to mind, contact the Club by or approach a committee member at a Club event.

We are also planning to run some sound system workshops. The idea here is that over a few weeks we will run some two hour sessions to train people who would be interested in being groomed to look after the set up and running of the sound system at our concerts.

To take on this training and become a sound person, you will have a good ear for music, have some time to put into learning and operating the sound system and generally be keen. No prior experience is necessary.

The sessions will cover everything from basic components and set up, the challenges of various instruments and what to do when things aren't going to plan.

Toward the end of the program we will rope in some local musos and mix them in in a real life setting.

If this sounds like you, contact Geoff on 5448 3225 ah or .