Well hi y'all from beautiful downtown Nashville/Tamworth

Since my last post you could say that we have become part of this huge festival.  Every day it is a case of heading down to Buskerville, in Peel St.  On most days you will get to see different people performing???, with some of your more seasoned stayers backing up day after day.

In the centre of the festival area there is another stage set up, called Toyota Fan zone, in which different performers work off a roster and do their stuff.  Most of them seem to sing about 4 or 5 songs, and at different times even the top class performers have been there.  We were lucky enough to see The Hillbilly goats there on Thursday night.  This band is really awesome.  They are just so talented and their shows go for about 3 hours. They perform everything from blues, country, and western, and as their title suggests, a very wacky type of hillbilly type music.  They are definitely a very high spirited band.

 

On another of our strolls we were lucky enough to see Lee Kernaghan performing on this stage.  His show was fantastic.  All the while, hovering overhead was a drone, taking in all of the action.  I am not sure whether the drone is related to the security of the event, or operated by the music festival, as they can be seen overhead wherever the biggest crowd tends to congregate.

It is not only the stars that get an audience.  We have also spied Puss In Boots performing on his fiddle.  It is really clever the way the puppeteer works it and you would swear the puppet is actually playing the instrument.

We also spied an elderly gentleman walking along with his calico bag over his shoulder and a small joey in the bag.  Of course the local wildlife warrior spied it and caused quite a scene.  It didn't matter that the man was a wildlife carer, she rang the police and demanded their immediate attendance.  The crime of the century had taken place and nothing short of the death penalty was going to satisfy her.  Pity his calico bag wasn't a bit bigger....

We got back to the park and met up with some friends from Coffs Harbour that have just arrived at the park and will be staying for 5 days.  Great to see some friendly faces. 

Thursday night we headed out to West Tamworth Leagues club to see Louise Adams.  She had been runner up on X Factor in 2015 and we liked her music.  The show went for about 2 hours and she was great to listen to live.  Her voice is just incredible.  After her show we got out just in time to see the Fireworks Display for Australia Day before boot scooting back to the van.

Friday morning back in Buskerville, and there was a group called Kimberley Gold.  There were 5 indigenous musicians and they played really well.  No time for hanging around though, as it was now time for The Mc Clymonts to grace the stage.  It was probably about 35C and all of the crowd was hiding in the shade.  Pretty good for me I thought, as I took up my position in front of the stage, all alone.  Of course, as soon as they came onto the stage, it was like a bloody tidal wave of bodies, all pushing and shoving for the ideal photo spot.  These country and western pensioners are not your shrinking violets I can tell you.

 

Come 7pm Friday night and it was back out to Toyota Park for another free concert.  This concert had previous winners of the Starmaker competition performing as well as a few special guests.  The concert was to aid the Mc Grath Foundation and Glen Mc Grath was in attendance and gave a little speech.  The music over the night was pretty good, with special guest appearances by Lee Kernaghan, Troy Casser Daly and of course, my favourite, The Mc Clymonts.  What babes they are.  I suppose I should mention the star of the show was James Blundell, and he was excellent.

 

They breed everything big up here.  Just up from us was a woman and she had the biggest mosquito I have ever seen sitting on her back.  Fair dinkum, or maybe I just didn't have on my glasses.

With such a huge crowd of people in the street every day, you find yourself noticing what other people are wearing.  Of course, anyone knowing me, would know that I have always been a bit of a fashion plate.  The biggest faux pas I have observed would have to be the habit of men tucking their T shirt into their jeans or shorts.  My pet hate.  The other more pleasant observation is that the standard dress for the girls is cut off jeans, with no limit to the height they are cut off.  Of course there does appear to be an upper age limit to this.  No photos were possible due to the fact you would probably get locked up, or the lens went foggy. 

Come Saturday and things are slowing down a bit now.  We have been out to Shoppingtown again to see Chad Morgan perform.  He is really incredible for his age.  After that it was back to the van for a bit of rest and relaxation, and blogging.  You really have to pace yourself up here, you can't go too hard too early.  Tonight we will probably walk up to the hotel and check out the line up, before heading out tomorrow night for the final concert of the Festival.

That's all for now and I will be back in a couple of days. 

Barry and Deb. 
  

Hi to all from Nashville

Well we have been at Tamworth now for nearly a week and have seen all different sorts of musicians  and all different levels of ability.  You could never criticise any of them, because I think it would take so much guts to stand on the footpath and sing your heart out for hour after hour.  I think singing whilst alone in my car is my limit.  Thank god for that according to Deb.  ( A very harsh critic ). 

Strangely enough, there is not a lot of other stuff to do in Tamworth at the moment, so it is off on the daily crusade about 11 every morning.  Sunday morning was actually pretty quiet, with less buskers than normal.  Maybe a big Saturday night was had by all and they couldn't be bothered getting up. 

On our Sunday morning stroll we came across probably the youngest set of buskers.  They were being ably driven by their mother, I believe.  Their ages were 3, 5, 8 and 12.  They all had their own particular instrument with the 3 year old hitting a stick against some sort of tin.  Very cute, but not high on my list for the day.

 

Just across from them was another busker of probably African descent, and he had a really good voice.  Lots of watchers and a top position for him outside one of the cafes. 

With all of the blog entries over the last 18 months, I have managed to get some photos of Birds and of course, churches.  I would hate to let you down, so here are a couple of birds I spied fighting over a birds nest in downtown Tamworth.  Don't worry, I will try to get a couple of church shots before we finish. 

On Sunday afternoon we went out to check out a Chad Morgan appearance at one of the shopping plaza's. I must first admit that I have never really listened to Chad Morgan before, and I really just related to his goofy teeth, that he flashes in all his photos.  Well, I can tell you, we both really loved him.  He was great.  He is almost 84 yrs old and he is such a funny bloke.  His performance is full of great country songs, and you can actually understand the words to all of the songs.  Unlike lots of current music.  Well worth watching and we will be going back to see him again before the week is out. 

Sunday night we went out to the Bi Centennial Park in the main shopping area.  It has been re-named Toyota Park for this week.  There was a big free concert on that was titled the Starmaker concert.  The Starmaker competition initially started with over 400 performers, and that had been whittled down to only 10.  They all performed 2 songs over the night, with the winner being picked by a panel of country music experts.  The prizes for winning the competition were unbelievable.  They included a trip to Nashville, recording contract, production of 3 songs and videos and full use of a Toyota for the year.  The competition was great to watch, with the overall winner being Rachael Fahim.  She was actually the one that Deb and I chose.  A fantastic singer, but really, anyone of them could have won.

 

Whilst waiting for the judges to make up their mind, Guy Sebastian got on stage and sang a really good song.  He is so good live.  He also gave a good speech, directed at all of the contestants, being winners or losers on the night.  Also performing was last years winner, Karin Page.  It was a really good night, with a very diverse range of performers.

 

Come Monday morning and off on the crusade again.  You can be sure that every day you go down the Busking Alley, there will be several different performers that you haven't seen before.  We had the mother and her 3 kids, and also a fantastic Celtic Fiddle Band called String Loaded.  This band was playing in one of the arcades and they were bloody awesome.  When we walked to the staging area, there were probably 150 people crammed in listening to their music.  I couldn't believe it because it was dead quiet, with everybody listening.  The young girl playing the fiddle was playing an incredible rendition of  ' Danny Boy '.   You could have heard a pin drop, and I have no doubt there were many quiet tears shed.  (I mean, got something in my eye).  The applause was the loudest I have heard at the entire festival.

After that heart rending, haunting music, they then played several toe tapping, irish dancing type jigs.  They were just fantastic. 

After that, well, what could top that.  We had to bring ourselves back down to earth with a bit of washboard tapping.  You can't call yourself a country festival without a washboard player.

We have booked into a Louise Adams concert Thursday night at one of the Leagues Clubs up here.  She performed on X Factor in 2015 and was the runner up.  Not that I would ever admit to watching that show, but we did see a couple of her performances and thought she was great. 

It is time to leave the music zone and head back to the van.  On the way I took a photo of the tent zone that has been set up on some parkland.  They have tents ranging from single, double, triple and all the way up to whatever you like.  There is a toilet and shower block for your use.  The cost is $25 per person, per day.  I suppose if you don't have a van, or thousands of dollars for motel or house rental, it is an alternative.  Not for me though.  Can't imagine being in one of those little tents when it is high 30's, 40's. 

Anyway that's all for now.

Will be in touch in a couple of days. 

Barry and Deb. 

Hi all from downtown Tamworth. 

We arrived here on Tuesday after a short overnight stop in Coonabarabran.  Just being able to say the name is a wonderful achievement, let alone trying to spell it. 

We arrived in Tamworth with the temperature being about 35C.  On our arrival there was already a line up of 5 other vans at the Caravan Park trying to book in. Even though the festival doesn't start until Friday, everybody has to be in the park by Wednesday and has to book for at least 10 days.  Not a bad lurk really, but if you want to go to the festival there is no other way.  All parks are the same. 

We got ourselves all nicely squeezed in between some trees and the bins and after getting everything set up we headed off down the street to familiarise ourselves with the town.  We headed up to the BIG GOLDEN GUITAR, of course, and had a bit of a look around the Info centre.  There are buses that will be running during the festival, with one of the bus stops being just outside our caravan park.

Had a bit of a stroll down the main street and got my customary mural photograph.  All was quiet at the moment, with lots of setting up still happening.  

Caught up with housekeeping on Wednesday and decided to go to the movies in the afternoon.  It was about 39C so that was a good place to keep cool.  We saw the 2nd movie in the Red Dog franchise.  It wasn't too bad, but not up to the standard of my normal types of movies like The Godfather or Silence of the Lambs.  Got a message from Park Management about 6.45 warning of storm activity.  Yeah sure, its bloody 39C.  Anyway we did a bit of a tidy up outside before Armageddon began.  Thunder, lightning, pouring rain and wind.  Just awesome.  We were both standing under the awning, looking in amazement at the torrential downpour, when there was a loud cracking noise, and a huge branch snapped off a gum tree and landed partly on a car and van not 50 metres from us.  Very thankful we didn't have that site.

Thursday and the park is well and truly full up now.  All of the powered sites have been filled and they certainly pack them in.  There is another area further down the back where the unpowered sites are, and that is also filling up now.  Later Thursday night there was a sausage sizzle at the park, accompanied by a bush ballad performer.  It wasn't a bad night really, with the temperature cooling down to about 28C.

 

Come Friday it was time to head up the street to check out the Festival.  It was still fairly quiet, with probably about 20 buskers set up in different positions down the main street.  Deb is quite distraught at the moment as there is an 8 block exclusion zone for Smoking.  Its not very well publicised, we read it on one of the bins.  We were surprised to see one of the buskers, Gavin Chatelier, singing up a storm as he was also at the Elvis Festival.  He has a fantastic voice and no doubt we will be checking him out during the festival.  Not a lot of activity up the street, but still about 35 C.  We were planning on going to the opening concert later in the night at Toyota Park, starting at 7pm.

It was a bit ominous when we got another message from the Park Management at about 2pm warning of storm activity.  After the last storm we took a bit more notice of that message and mid afternoon the heavens opened and it absolutely poured.  There was plenty of thunder and lightning and it poured on and off for several hours.  Come 6pm we were still considering going to the Opening Concert but, of course, it poured again at about 6.45.  Cancel that idea. 

After dinner we just walked up to the Oasis Hotel, that is next door to the park.  It is a very rustic hotel, and wouldn't be out of place in an old Western movie.  When we got inside there was a band called The Balladeers playing, and at various times, patrons were invited up to perform a couple of numbers.  They were all obviously buskers, and they were quite good.  'Willie Nelson' put on a pretty good show.  It was a good night.

Up Saturday morning and off to the Festival we go.  We decided to drive, instead of the bus, and parked in Woolworths car park before strolling about 1 klm to the main street.  It was a bit of music overload for me for the next 4 hours.  I just couldn't believe the number of buskers.  They all have their busking permits displayed and the highest number that I have seen is Busker No. 437. 

It was amazing to me how close they all are.  I took a photo to show you just how close they are, with 3 different sets of speakers all in the space of about 25 metres.  You are meant to be looking at the speakers, not the girl that just happened into my photo!!!!

The aboriginal man playing the didgeridoo was really good, with the customary aboriginal paintings also on sale.  We spent a while listening to 3 men called 'Free Fried Chicken'.  They were great to listen to, with one on guitar, one on a banjo and the other on something unknown to me.  A cross between a guitar and a banjo.  Very entertaining.

Everywhere you look, their are young girls singing up a storm, with every other type of musician imaginable also doing their bit.  The youngest girl that we saw was only 9 yrs old.

 

We spent a bit of time watching a young bloke called Mitch King.  Just how talented is this bloke.  He works his synthesiser with his right foot, constantly pushing keys and using the dials with his foot while he is singing, his left foot is for the tambourine, and if the song calls for it, he also plays a harmonica.  A great voice as well.  He spends his life travelling around in a motorhome, performing.  He actually won the Buskers Award last year.  Deserved every bit of it.

After 4 hours getting music overload, it was back to the van for a well deserved rest.  Not sure what we are doing tonight, maybe just off to the Oasis again. 

Keep safe and well

Till next time

Barry and Deb. 

   









 

Hi to everyone from beautiful down town Memphis

Sorry but this blog will be quite large as I know you all want to see plenty of photos.  We were actually lucky to even get to Forbes.  At Narrandera when we were in Woolworths, Deb dropped some coins on the floor and had to chase one down that was rolling out the door, as she stomped on it and then bent over to pick it up, she headbutted the huge fire hose reel on the wall.  She saw stars, and blood was expected, but she just toughed it out and picked up the coin.  All that for 5 cents.  Life is tough for a retiree. 

The town of Forbes is a lovely little town with a lake in the centre of the town.  They have a replica warplane and piece of artillery protecting the town, just near the lake.  It is a very well kept and clean area, with a walking/cycling track around the town.  Heaps of well preserved buildings, with a very impressive town hall.

 

We bought tickets for the bus and headed up to Parkes alias Graceland, on Thursday morning.  The first thing that we came across was a couple of Elvis lookalikes strolling down the main street.  The sound of Elvis songs could be heard as soon as we got off the bus.  Deb couldn't resist posing with the Viva Las Vegas Dancing Troupe, with a formal offer of employment no doubt to arrive in the mail soon.

Our first lap of the street is to just suck in the atmosphere.  Even though it was only Thursday, there were already quite a few Elvis lookalikes and buskers on the corners.  It is just great to see the amount of trouble some of these people go to.  Cooke Park is the location of the main stage, with performers rotating through on a regular basis.  There is a huge shaded area for the general public, with all performances being free to attend.

We listened to a very good Elvis performer for a while, before heading back to the main street, to seek out a coffee, of course.  We came across 3 Elvis performers strolling down the street, and Deb was just hanging out to have a photo taken with them.  It turned out that they were 3 generations of the one family, grandfather, father and son.  They were really good blokes and very obliging with the photos.  We came across them further down the street at their busking site and they put on a really good show.

Some of the buskers were really great, but, of course, a couple had questionable Elvis ability.  The atmosphere is great, with all of the dress up Elvises being very photo friendly.  There are lots of awesome looking cars on display, with an old army type jeep seen driving down the main street.  I am sure the driver, who was dressed in an old army uniform, would have been 80y.o. at least. 

We went into the leagues club and signed up for a one week membership, for the cost of a gold coin.  In the club they had Elvis performers on stage from midday until about 8pm, with entry being free.  They also had several late night shows, with professional Elvis imitators, but these were paid shows ranging from $40 to $75 a head.  It was incredible, but whilst sitting in the Leagues club, we were approached by friends from Cranbourne.  Such a small world.

 

After a long day we headed over to the railway station, along with thousands of others, bloody tourists.  The Elvis Express, a train that runs from Sydney, was due to arrive at about 4pm.  It is booked out a year in advance, and carries several hundred Elvis fans, performers, dress ups and buskers.  It is one of the highlights of the festival.

Of course, being unable to get a good photo location on the platform, I headed up onto the railway bridge.  The heat was extreme, and I was baking, but in order to give you a good view of the platform and the train, I just toughed it out.  I know, what a hero.

After the train arrived I think I crawled into the bus, badly in need of some water.  Never to let an opportunity pass, I saw a golden Elvis standing outside the bus.  Always prepared for your viewing pleasure. Then it was back to the caravan to recover from what had, at that stage, been the hottest day I had been out in for a while.  Little did I know. 

We decided to drive back on the Friday, and try our luck at getting a park.  The weather forecast was pretty grim, being 43C, but what do they know. 

We arrived just before 11 and I even got a car park only about 500 metres from the main street and headed into Cooke park.  The weather was pretty ominous, with the jeep saying it was already 37C.   Our first view was one of the Elvis buskers that brings his own Las Vegas Show girls with him.  How awesome is that.  We watched a couple of  the free shows in Cooke Park, in the shade, and then decided to head up the street.

 

I got lots of photos of dress ups and of course, another photo of the Show girls.  It is definitely a party atmosphere up here, with girls on stilts, buskers, muscle cars on display and some really old classic caravans.  One of the oldest buskers has been coming to the festival since day one, 25 years ago, and he has a really great Elvis voice.  There are lots of mini elvisses and we even came across Marilyn Monroe singing on stage, complete with dancing girls, of course.

 

The Festival would not be complete without its own detachment of California Highway Patrol officers, complete with their Harleys.

After a couple of hours of baking in the heat, it was now 44C, we tried to get into the leagues club for a bit of a break.Yeah, sure. It was bloody packed. There were so many people in there, I don't think the air conditioning was able to cope. The sweat was just dripping off me when we left.

We walked back down to Cooke Park and stood under the water misting fans, but to no avail.  44C was just too hot for anything.  One incredible thing we did see was a group of people, obviously mentally challenged, dancing rock and roll in front of the stage. Don't they realise how bloody hot it is. Even the performer is melting.

We strolled over to the Services club, but alas, it was also packed out, so we decided to call it a day.  We had been there nearly 3 hours, but the temperature was just stifling.  Believe it or not, we even got in the pool back at the Caravan Park.  How great was that.

The highlight of the Festival is the grand parade that takes place on the Saturday morning.  It kicks of about 10am.  We caught the 8.45 bus and took up a position.  The weather was great.  Overcast and probably only about 25.  Of course, I never put on sun screen when we left the van.  No need to worry.  25 and overcast for the day.  Great. 

The parade was really good, with tons of elvisses being driven down the main street in some awesome cars.  Lots of floats, walking lookalikes, kiddy elvisses, Priscilla lookalikes, even tradie elvisses and fire brigade elvisses.  Some of the muscle cars were struggling, with the SES having to resort to pushing 2 of them after giving up the ghost.

There was even an Elvis on a hospital trolley, I know that he had a drip inserted, but I think he had seen better days.  There was even Elvis driving a small dozer and even a few show girls.  All in all just good fun.    . 

Of course, as you all would have told me, the cloud lifted and the burning sun came out.  Once again in was in the 30s and yes, it was the longest parade ever, over 90 minutes long.  Yes, of course, I got sunburnt.  You don't have to tell me, I know. 

We checked out the competition at Cooke Park for the best Elvis Impersonation, under 16yrs, and there was one that was only 5 yrs old.  How cute was that.  We just spent the next hour watching different lookalike events on the stage before getting on the bus at 2.30 and heading home.  It has been a tough couple of days in the heat. 

Sunday we decided to have an easy Elvis free day, so we headed off to check of the town of Orange.  It was a real surprise, as it is a lot bigger than we thought.  Has a population of 42,000 and, my saviour, even has a Coffee Club. 

After coffee we checked out the War Memorial in the main street, which is very impressive.  There is a lot of parkland in the town area, and it is a very pretty town.  We drove up to the lookout and took a snap of the town, but it was a bit hazy and doesn't show that much.  We then drove to check out the local lake, and it was very impressive.  There were several hundred natives at the lake, with lots of kids swimming or kayaking.  They even have a little beach.  I can imagine that it would become packed, that is, if it ever gets hot in Orange.

We then checked out one of the parks in the shopping precinct, and it even has an aviary in it.  I took a snap of a beautiful Rosella in the cage.  It is a bit blurred by the mesh, but it still came out reasonably well.  They have a duck pond in the park, as well as a conservatory.  Very well presented.  Of course, they also have the standard German Artillery weapon guarding the park.  They take security very seriously in N.S.W. 

Then it was back to Forbes, where I took a couple of snaps in Sculpture Park.  The photo of the Female with a rabbits head, straddling 2 men with dogs heads, doesn't do it justice.  It is a very impressive sculpture.  The Thinking Man was also very impressive.  Of course, with modern art, they also had 3 or 4 other pieces of junk that I didn't snap.

Overall it was a very hectic few days but a very enjoyable stay at Forbes and the Elvis Festival.  Will be leaving here in the morning, with an overnight stop in Coonabarabran, before landing at Tamworth on Tuesday. 

Keep well

Barry and Deb.