Strzelecki Stringbusters

Bluegrass Parkway has been a major influence to some of the Stringbusters so when we locked in a date in May we couldn’t believe our luck, being friends of Mike Compton they knew what they were in for yet they still agreed to come along anyway. Anyone who has seen BGP will know how true to tradition and professional their act is, it was no different this night and crowd loved the bluegrass style and precision of playing.

The last set included the rare meeting of two Double Bass’s with Maria Duff and the rest of BGP joining John Werner on Bass with the Stringbusters, it was a blast and sounded great, but sadly ended all to soon.

As with all of our visiting acts we offer them a bed for the night and on this occasion Danny and Dana Boothman deserve thanks for being such great hosts, whenever we have had a guest act coming through it has never been a problem finding one of the boys willing to open their homes and look after them, Arnie Young has been exceptionally helpful in this area and I’m sure has really enhanced the whole “Yinnar” experience for whoever has the good fortune of staying at his place.

Everyone was looking forward to April with the much anticipated arrival of Mike Compton, a few of us were lucky enough to see him at the National Folk Festival and to see him jamming in the sessions bar with Bruce Molsky, Joe Newberry and Rafe Stefanini, it was my first experience of the sessions bar and one I will never forget, the best thing was knowing we had this fella coming to Yinnar for a couple of days.

Mike didn’t disappoint, from the strong accent and mellow tones to the ripping yet finessed style of mandolin he is a world class musician in every aspect and as we found out an absolute gentleman to. Mike took the time to talk about and teach us things we would never get to know from anyone else, he spoke about people who are our major influences and he spoke of them as friends, not very often you can find that in your own little home town.

  That’s right he came to town to do a show didn’t he, that was taken care of, it had been booked out for months. The crowd built early and the mood was one of high expectation and Mike didn’t disappoint, his expert skills on his new Duff mandola produced the sweetest sound ever to grace the walls of the Yinnar Community Hotel, his style is unmistakable and produces a sound that is somehow loyal to the Munroe teachings but yet dripping with blues undertones, this man is in a league of his own and once again proved it with his amazingly natural performance, he played and laughed and told stories that kept the crowd more than entertained all night. When it came time for the last set the Busters were treated to an up close look at how to adapt and play in any situation, you could see him pick up a song on the run so easily and then when called on he would

Rip out a perfect solo that would have us all grinning like idiots at each other, we played for what seemed like five minutes but ended up being an hour later. The pub informed us it was the biggest night they have ever had there and thanked Mike. We all caught up the next day at Ray’s place for a couple of our local butchers world famous Viagra sausages and got another chance to pick Mike’s brain but mostly we relaxed with what we hope is our newest international friend.

March was originally going to be just a Stringbusters night as some of our regulars almost demand every couple of months, a phone call one Wednesday night at practice from Andrew Claremont quickly change that, he suggested he brings his Blu Guru act to Yinnar in March, anyone that has seen Blu Guru will know that musically it is a bit of a clash of cultures, I think it’s fair to say that Yinnar had never experienced this sought of style before but when the artists doing it are so talented it breaks all barriers, Andrew, Josh and Parvyn held court for the night and educated a whole new audience to a new style of music.

When it came time for the now traditional “all in” for the last set everyone was smiling and having a great time with Parvyn’s lovely tones smoothing those strong Stringbuster voices, it ended up being a late one but no one seemed to mind at all.

February saw the Stringbusters getting back to their roots and doing a couple of private gigs but with Andy Baylor and his Cajun Combo coming up at the pub every chance to catch up was a chance to practice. We had spoken to Andy a couple of months prior and his enthusiasm was clear, “The Hoe Down Showdown” was on, the posters he produced were evidence of this and it looked like a good night was in the making. 

 It didn’t disappoint with the Cajun sound ringing through the community hotel for probably the first time, the crowd warmed to it very quickly and with Andy on song everyone had a blast, Andy joined the Busters for a couple in the last set and our ulterior motive was once again discovered, Andy’s fiddle and mandolin were fantastic showing this man’s versatility no matter what style it is.