Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Unwanted Men in Black and a Lady



Howdy Folks. With a genre variously described as Hillbilly Boogie,Cowboy,Roots,Folk, the Unwanted gang have now completed their third year of meanderings out from the stunted wastelands of the bleached bone & rock strewn , stringybark & wattle littered, drought stricken plains of the old Victorian goldfields. Apart from the usual pub and club gigs, the band more than acquitted themselves endearingly at no less than 10 Festivals, both large & small, through 2007 & 2008. From the pristine blue waters of the Port Fairy Folk Festival Fringe , to the headwaters of the Loddon River at Glenlyon (Glenfest), the local Guildford Blues & Roots Festival, Mt Beauty Music Festival in the lush north east, Barham Bush Bash (2 years running) on the Murray’s green banks, Guildford Banjo Jamboree (every year), Girgarre Moosic Muster and lastly, their hometown, 34th & 35 Maldon Folk Festivals. With irreverence, confusion and sometimes just plain class, they bullocked their way through the genuine old cowdy songs of yesteryear (the ones no one else has got the guts or ability to do!), and a liberal sprinkling of tunes from the great Mr Cash, as well as a few heartbreakers of their own. Festival goers were agog to finally discover a band with audacity, verve and uninhibited dribbling. The crowds just kept growing with each performance, and, despite the efforts of some so called professional sound engineers, both on and off stage, the encores were more than forthcoming ! The Unwanted gang have got so serious now that Mick Coates , continuously outdressed by the sartorial elegance of Ms Kitty’s plethora of 18th & 19th century petticoats, has even purchased himself, all the way from Arizona, a black pinstripe suit that Gary Cooper could’nt look more dapper in on his wedding day in "High Noon". As a matter of fact they are virtually identical. With Tex Turkey’s hair, appetite and sleep requirements getting longer, Tony the Lawman's badge being outshone only by his spurs, Waldo's beard getting tangled in his Tea chest bass, and Uncle Arthur refusing to wear his 1950s tie with the picture of Diana Dors on the back, they’ve just completed a 95min DVD of a live performance at the famed My Moliagul pub. Catch em at a gig and buy one. The best $25 you'll ever spend.

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