VERANDAH MUSIC AT THE NATIONAL FOLK FESTIVAL 2026

(l-r) Matt Nightingale, Jac Bradley, Kev Bradley, Chloe Roweth, Jason Roweth, Graham Seal, Ollie Willis, Rob Willis

This year, Rob Willis and Olya Willis received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the National Folk Festival, recognising their sustained collection and documentation of Australian folklore and oral history. Under the banner of Sharing the Harvest we presented an hour- long selection of traditional song and music collected from many thousands of recordings of Australians from different cultures, countries, locations and occupations all around the country. See previous post on the collection at. 

We had plenty of help from the band in the picture above. Christina Mimmocchi, Gemma Turner and Clarita Derwent (The Third Voice) were also due to join us but were prevented by a virus from attending the festival. Like all the band members, they have taken part in festival performances organised by Rob and Olya over the past thirty or so years, completing the link between collecting, archiving and sharing the folklore harvest.

Graham, Rob and Olya

Sounds Like Australia

 https://www.outbackmag.com.au/sounds-like-australia/

Article about the collecting odyssey of Rob and Ollie Willis in Outback magazine. We featured this work in a previous post at

 https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/2138391645827947224/2607229772787880325

And there is more information at

https://verandahmusic.blogspot.com/p/the-willis-collection-of-life-stories.html

THE DANCE AT MITCHELL’S ISLAND HALL

 

In 1990 John Meredith and I recorded the Murray Brothers, Bert and Bob, at Burrell Creek NSW along with their sister, Kit Taylor. All were well known musicians in the area. 
Early the next year (1991) Ollie and I along with our kids had an amazing musical session at Taree with them and local fiddle and concertina player, Ernie Wells. I videoed segments of this session and it is now in our NLA collection.
We also recorded Kit’s son Peter and his wife, Dorothy doing some local variations of dances.
The people we record are not just numbers on a Library catalogue, they often become friends and this was the case with Peter and Dorothy Taylor. 
About five years ago Peter lamented that the old (unique) local dances were being forgotten and suggested that he gather a few of his dancing friends, teach them the dances and we could video them. Of course, the answer was YES. Covid and a few health issues intervened but Peter contacted me again earlier this year and the result was the dance we recorded at Mitchell’s Island Hall in August 2022.
You certainly don’t see a dance programme like this very often these days.
There’s always a story and this one is a bit long to tell here so the resulting video and complete story are up on our Verandah Music YouTube site, here
Many thanks to Peter and Dorothy for facilitating the dance, Ollie Willis and John and Maree Harpley for helping us record it for posterity.

Rob Willis

COLLECTING LIFE STORIES AND TRADITIONS OF AUSTRALIA

 Interviewing Cathy Hutchinson, Tasmania, 2018

Rob and Olya Willis have been collecting oral history and folklore around the country for many years. Their collection is held in various archives, libraries and other scattered locations. 

 

We have prepared a brief guide to the collection and points of access to it in a new page on the blog titled ‘The Willis Collection of Life Stories and Traditions’. From here, you can access much of the collection online and/or onsite at various institutions and locations.

WHAT BUSH DANCES?

Peter Ellis

Following on our recent dance posts, here’s one to stir the possum a little. We begin with a relevant reminiscence from Rob Willis, with links to a video of John Meredith and Ollie Willis lightfooting some Eureka Youth League dances. 

There is also a link to Rob’s edited version of the late Peter Ellis’s detailed discussion of this issue.  (NB Some issues with these historical file formats).

Comments welcome …

Rob writes:

I was born and raised in Forbes, Central West NSW, and in my youth during the 1960s went to dances in the many country halls that were scattered around the surrounding countryside. We learnt, mainly from the older women, how to waltz and also have fun with such dances as the Barn Dance, Pride of Erin, Jolly Miller and a raft of others.

I was therefore mystified in the late 1970s when becoming involved in the 'folk scene', going to so-called ‘bush dances’ (a term that was never used in the Central West) and being taught dances that I had never heard of in the bush. As time progressed and I started to travel on field recording trips with John Meredith (a good dancer in his own right) I met and formed a very strong friendship with dance historian, the late Peter Ellis. It became clear that ‘bush dance’ was a dance genre that had evolved over recent decades.

In conversations on the track with John and also with the people we were recording then for the National Library, some born in the 1890s, it became clear that the dances of the bush were in reality the Quadrilles, Polkas, Varsoviennas, Mazurkas as well as the later ones I had learnt in the Forbes district.

Over the many hours that Meredith and I had on the track talking about the past he explained how the genre was formed and Peter's article puts it all together as well as John's explanation in a video I shot of him and my wife, Ollie, demonstrating a couple of these dances.

I can remember being with Meredith and Alan Scott at a Bush Dance at a festival in Newcastle when Merro leaned over to Alan and said "Geez mate, just to think that we were responsible for this".

A TOUCH OF THE IRISH IN BILPIN

Taia de Burca was recently recorded by Rob and Olya Willis in Bilpin, NSW, singing a few Irish songs from her family tradition. Here she is on Youtube with a good rebel song, ‘The Tri Coloured Ribbon’.

And again, with a lovely version of ‘If I Were a Blackbird’ learned from her mother.

Rob writes:

Taia de Burca learnt many songs from her Irish mother both as a child and in later years. The family were involved in The Irish War of Independence, her Grandfather being one of the railway engine drivers who refused to carry British troops. Singing was important with the family in Ireland and the 'rebel' songs were a strong part of the repertoire. I find it interesting the way Taia sings this song, really putting her heart in to it… I am amazed we are still finding these songs passed down in the family, aural tradition.

Thanks Taia

AWARD FOR ROB AND OLYA WILLIS

Rob and Ollie have just been awarded the Australasian Sound Recording Association (ASRA) award 

for 2019 for ‘Their Outstanding Contribution to Oral History Collecting and Recording’.

 The Association is made up of private record collectors, professional sound archivists, radio broadcasters and social historians, consisting of individuals and institutions with a strong interest in sound recording history, its development and all related activities.

 Previous winners include academics, June Bronhill, Slim Dusty and John Meredith.

 This is a great recognition of the dedicated work Rob and Ollie have done over many years in documenting and preserving oral history, folklore and the culture of everyday life.

 Congratulations Rob and Ollie and watch out for more of their work on the Verandah Music blog and Youtube channel.