Richard Lawson MusicFig Jam are soooo stoked and nervous to be invited to play at the prestigiousKangaroo Valley Folk Festival
Ive been a fan of the festival for years and almost got a gig there in 2010
We play twice on the Saturday 26 October …at 11.00am in the Marquee and again that night on the main outdoor stage at 11.00pm straight after Julia and the deep sea Sirens…might have some surprise special guests play with us and we’ll be joined by the awesome Sharon Lee Twiss on vocals for ‘My Time’
What an amazing diverse mix of gigs that was
Starting with drums for Big Erle plus my own set with the big man at the Old City Bank Bar and Brasserie in Katoomba on Sept 14. That was great….no rehearsal with him and we just jammed it out after a solid solo set from me
Next week Sept 21 I was backing Cletis Carr and Linda Mizzi,….again no rehearsal and we played everything from Merle Haggard to Prince in a very diverse universe. Hes a great player and we really jelled together after 10 years apart.
Final drum extravaganza was with my percussion group Kings of Congo Congo at the huge Flavours of Mudgee street fair. We’ve rehearsed this stuff for months with my best students and a real blessing was we were doing short sharp sets. Had a dropout or two and Elizabeth Walton from Fig Jam stepped in with no rehearsal an we took off beautifully…3 sets of 15 minutes and by the last one the crowd was really into it. Exhausted but satisfied and loved all the drumming again
Funny how things come. Sitting quietly minding my own business and wondering where the next gig will come from whenn…whoosh…2 phone calls in the space of a day asking me to play drums.
Good mate Cletis Carr rang and needs some drumming for a country style gig he has on in Kandos on Sat Sept 21 at the Railway Hotel Kandos…..should be easy and fun…no need to take a full kit….then 6 hours later get a facebook message from Simon Leamonn of Big Erle wanting me to play a solo gig and drums with him at the Old City Bank Bar and Brasserie in Katoomba next week on Sat Sept 14.
AWESOME DRUMMING DAMION STIRLING WORKSHOP SAT AUG 17 2013
The workshop was a hoot…about 10 attended and we got right into 3 big African jams
Damion is a superb drummer/teacher and brought a wealth of real experience and action to us…the next workshop is mooted to be on Sat Oct 19 with the unstoppable Hands Heart and Feet from the Blue Mountains
The next day we went to the Drip in Mudgee and had a nature moment and filmed it with Elizabeth Walton taking the Dun Duns
Some beautiful moments here
The gig at the Lawson Park Hotel was wonderful the management loved it and my hard practicing with all the busking has paid dividends with a new relaxed and mature attitude to the guitar playing mainly. They want me back and Ashley the licensee said I was sensational….
Well there’s been a fair bit happening since last post, mainly to do with the new set up at the studio
We used Dance with Attitude Dance studios for the last 2 years and now they have moved to other premises and we have taken over the rent of the studios at 13a Lewis St Mudgee and changed the name to richardlawsonmusic.com studios…very 21st Century
There have been 2 workshops there so far….Daniel Champagne Master class on guitar on May 26 and the Blue Ruins in June…now we have a really meaty one with Damion Stirling coming to town
Damion Stirling runs ‘Sol Studios’, and is also Musical Director of the Culburra Beach Music Festival and has performed at countless festivals gigs and workshops. Damion is an amazing energetic force of nature and quite an astounding master djembe player.
Damion has led drumming groups on the South Coast for the last 10 years and is the leader of such groups as the Beatmeisters and Elemental Grooves
Heres a description of Beatmeisters plus a pic
“The rhythmic knock on your front door can only be… the Beat Meisters! They’ll have your circadian biology in a spinning whirl, they will count the sum of your pulse and mirror it in sonic waves, skew that wayward walk into a dance like prance and take you to a place where you can’t your feet must wiggle and your booty must jiggle.
Drawing heavily on the traditions of African drumming interspersed with Latin and Arabic influences and utilising melodic percussive instruments from all corners of the globe the Beat Meisters never fail to get the punters jumping and the good vibes pumping.
The Beat Meisters draw from a rock solid base of quality percussionists featuring members of bands such as Elemental Grooves, Percussion Junction, Obrobini, Ate and Fugg as well as a string of other prominent Wollongong based bands. With performance experience in national tours, festivals, concerts, corporate and community events and complemented by a an recognised and established drumming workshop program, the Beat Meisters know how to deliver interactive drumming like you’ve never seen before. To date the Beat Meisters have performed at events from the heady tropics of far north Queensland to humming deepest depths of Sydney CBD. Wherever they are found one thing is certain… worn soles on your shoes and smile on your dial.”
His infectious nature and amazing energy will transport you to the heights of percussion and dance
The workshop will take in dance and its associated drum moves as well. For the workshop we’ll be looking at the rhythm ‘Panlogo’ and a harvest / celebration dance both from Ghana.
Sounds like a nice recipe
We had a fantastic time as a 2 piece over in Orange at 4 on the4loor which has been running as a monthly showcase for Central West musos for over 10 years. Jon Carter had heard my CDs at the Orange Community Radio and invited us over way back in March.
The Fig Jam band is currently undergoing renovations and so Erin switched to drums and we just played as a 2 piece
Here is a little sample
Well Ive never busked before in my life and now Im wondering why I never did
What a wonderful experience and getting paid to practice play and make people happy…hell we even got our lunch/brunch paid for
I was sitting at Pilgrims in Milton with Lizzi Gal and I dont know where the thought came from but the guitar was sitting in the car and I remember Genevieve Chadwick or Ben Fowler from Southerly Change had mentioned this place lets buskers do their thing. I grabbed the guitar and played Here comes the Sun by the Beatles and asked the waitress if this was OK when she brought the coffees and she said …’fine’
Next thing I know Im in full swing after a 5 song warm up and played for well over an hour…must admit Simon and Garfunkel and Bee Gees are big crowd pullers…the money flowed then
Next day arranged to meet up with Ben Fowler at Berry and played a few Southerly Change songs plus some other reggae things and generally just tried to ppick up some tips from playing with him
Who knows we might hit Gerringong later in the week and I might give Mudgee a nudge on the weekend
Sue Honeysett from Down the Tracks Cafe Kandos is to be congratulated for initiating ANOTHER festival locally. Kandos has already seen Cementa Arts Festival which we were proud to play at and keeps up our festival ethos [ie only playing festivals and big gigs]. This festival was the first Bob Marley festival to be held locally and they are popping up all over the world…it is a salute to the great man that his legacy still shines on and is held close by so many people
Both Kings of Congo Congo and Fig Jam were booked to play. Fig Jam as one of the main acts on the big outdoor stage and Kings of Congo Congo on the ground area between the first few local bands to get the audience vibed in lieu of a drumming circle.
SO after packing up both drumkits , assorted percussion and Fig Jams gear we headed on over to Kandos and quickly set up…all the drummers were waiting there and remember 3 of our drummers have only turned 12.
A run through of ‘Fanfare‘, the original opener for the group quickly set the scene for some frenetic 6 piece drumming with 2 kits, djembes, bongos, timbales and extra floor toms and the new pieces were unveiled and went well…Triptych is a special BUT it does require 2 drumkits playing sixteenth not triplets to make it work…Erin Kelly is now out front with me and the main drummer
KINGS OF CONGO CONGO ‘TRIPTYCH’
By now the sun was high and there wasnt much shade…we were all quite warm but the crowd was even warmer. I was run off my feet keeping up the vibe for 2 Kings performances and Fig Jam was set to go on about 1.30pm
Fig Jam …what do you say. We started out as organic rock as a 3 piece with no computers with Josh Gow and Erin Kelly and since the have played festivals, toured down the coast with Southerly Change and Big Erle, ;played electronic with live drums and keys at festivals [and slayed them there…I get to hammer it on drums there] and now we finally come to the point I knew was going to happen…we loose our first young dude to the call away from Mudgee. I knew this was going to happen and had made allowances for it having been through it before with Tangent in the 90s and noughties…but it still dosnt make it any easier. Josh Gow is mercurial, affable , irritating and loving and mature all iin the same sentence…but he is also a great drummer , guitarist and DJ as well and is leaving for Coffs Harbour…we have made a friend for life and will miss him sorely
Katie Gilbert on the other hand is joining and brings a whole new dynamic approach…shes a lead singer and will be eased into it…not that Im over singing but the harmonies are finally sounding great and Im sure well work out some stuff…one wag said we sounded the same. Shes a fantastic presence onstage and gets us all going. Witness our hilarious but uplifting version of GET UP STAND UP BY BOB MARLEY
I was exhausted utterly by the event…having also been on a fast at the time..[not the best timing!!]
…but have already received texts and facebook messages congratulating is on a fine job and it seems out love affair with Kandos and music and arts ferstivals only grows….now to find a drummer…should be OK I already work with 6!!
Over the last 6 months Erin and myself have written a whole heap of new material. Sometimes she’ll come up with a riff or a sound picture and we’ll just doodle around with some different sounds…put it on a loop and go outside into a paddock and listen to it through the PA speakers . I have a massive backlog of material…I sometimes get confused as to what is where…is it classical is it ambient is it electronic…one things for sure…the classical is now going to be played by classical instruments and the electronic is going to get more electronic
Still wondering when to put this stuff out…we can pretty much put up some of it on an EP mid year but we still have the rock EP recorded at Pirate studios. Next electro gig is at Electronic Meat on Sat May 18 at a venue to still be confirmed. It might be the farm at Braymont yet.
http://soundcloud.com/fig-jam-music/orchestral-4-fear-of-flying-5
Its 5am Monday morning and Im sorting through tracks for the latest recording project at ‘Braymont’ just out of Gulgong. I have Kerry Ellen here, she played yesterday at the Gulgong RSL, to do a 5 track EP of material which I am doing all the backing for as well. She is also projects officer for Orana Arts and has been instrumental in helping me access grants for the Gulgong Folk Festival and in starting up drumming workshops with Kings of Congo Congo…nice to give something back.
The recording side of the business has taken an upturn since the release of Rainbows End and word seems to be getting out that I also record other people , not just myself. My last job was star student Brooke Colley in her first ever venture into the studio and I have another local girl Katie Gilbert lined up for Wednesday this week.
The week that was after the Blue Mountains Music festival was spent mostly here in the studio and at the Paragon for 2 gigs; one on Thursday for the monthly Mudgee Music Jam where I took onstage 3 of my vocal students for their compulsory performance “update” and here is where this little gem by Brooke Colley was filmed by Elizabeth Walton. She’s a great talent and only 15 and really is quite an exciting prospect.
Brooke Colley / Hurt
The other event at the Paragon was for a benefit for a local Mudgee lad in his twenties with brain cancer. Turns out I used to work with him and his brother at Eltons, a local eatery , when I was cheffing round. The place was jam packed and “Fig Jam’ really turned on a searing performance for our first ever Mudgee appearance [we’ve been playing everywhere else for almost 6 months now]. Refreshing to see so many old faces and musical cohorts coming out of the woodwork and I know I surprised the hell out of a few of them. It was also Elizabeth Waltons first outing on keyboards with the band and she lent some keyboard finery to Lovely/My time/Valentines Day.. all recently recorded at Pirate Studios.
I attended ‘The song and the sigh’ an exhibition by Sam Paine, my great friend and media champion from the Mudgee Guardian, at Lyra Burghaus’ ‘My little dress shop’ which is sadly closing now after 2 years of operation in Gulgong. Both these guys have brought a sense of style to the are which transcended rural eegance with a certain 1920s chic . Sam is off to New York this week and Lyra is off tho Europe and Asia. Hopefully both will be back because I find it hard sometimes filling downtown Gulgong with any sense of bohemia!!
Richard Lawson Music 