The Rouseabouts: Ray Grieve Interview
[3 of 5] © John LowHow did it feel to be playing professionally again?
It was all a complete learning experience for me and I didn't mind at all that the money we earned went to the BMC. A learning experience for me too was playing in an acoustic band. After my former years in bands of incredibly loud volume, I found this situation very different and rewarding. For instance, to be able to play a whistle or flute solo softly over an acoustic guitar was totally new to me and probably convinced me I was now back in the music business to stay if it was at all possible.
The quality of the Concert Party Band, however, depended on just who was playing at the time, as the member line-up changed frequently. There were usually a few experienced core players, but generally it was made up of amateurs who came and went. I was never sure where I fitted in. I was certainly experienced but not necessarily in folk music. I recall seeing a few people who recognised me from my rock days and who looked totally amazed at my new place in the world of music.
By the end of the year I hadn't made any plans to change things much because I kept discovering that there was always a new jig, hornpipe or reel to learn and that was enough to keep me going along quite happily for the foreseeable future.
But eventually you found yourself in the Rouseabouts, a more professional band. How did this come about?
At a BMC meeting late in 1977, Dave Johnson raised the possibility of forming a band that would operate on a more professional basis than the existing Concert Party Club bands had been capable of doing. Five players, including myself on flute, tin whistle and acoustic rhythm guitar, were chosen to form this new acoustic traditional folk band. The others were Dave Johnson on vocals, banjo and guitar, Keith Snell on concertina, John Poleson on button accordion and Bob Bolton on harmonica. Except for me, they had all had a good deal of experience in folk and bush music clubs and groups.
The name Black Velvet Band was chosen and we did our first booking at a backyard shed/barn bush music dance at Dural in Sydney. For our next performance at the beginning of 1978 we became the Rouseabouts, with a subtitle, 'The Rattling Good Bush Band'. Keith Snell soon began to show great expertise as a booking agent and secured a lot of bookings for us which, along with our BMC gigs, kept us constantly in work.
John Poleson, who was a ranger at Neilsen Bay, Vaucluse, for the National Parks & Wildlife Service also got us bookings at their functions. Through this, the NP&WS allowed us to use a room in historic Greycliffe House at Vaucluse, which was undergoing renovation by them, for our weekly practices.
Could you give us some idea of the band's performances?
We dressed in 'traditional' colonial style gear, which included moleskins, waistcoats and scarves, and for our repertoire chose as many Australian traditional dance tunes as was possible. Otherwise we played known traditional Australian arrangements of Irish or Scottish tunes. These comprised jigs, hornpipes, reels and waltzes. For the remainder, Dave sang traditional Australian folk songs.
It was a good time for a band like this as Australian traditional music was enjoying a surge in popularity and we were assured of lots of bookings. Most similar bands at the time were mainly vocal/instrumental outfits, but we concentrated on an 80% instrumental format and promoted traditional dancing which Bob Bolton was able to call. When we had a big function that promised a huge crowd we were able to get John Knyvette, a professional caller and dancer, to do the job. He was able to get down with the audience, choose a partner and give a demonstration to get everyone started properly.
The reaction to traditional music at some functions was amazing. People got so much enjoyment from it, we were called back for encores many times by enthusiastic audiences who couldn't get enough of it.
At what sort of venues did the Rouseabouts play?
We appeared at the annual Rocks Procession that required us to play on a float through the city and into the Rocks area where we gave an open-air concert in the park with Bernard Bolan and other artists. Soon after, we played at weekly dances with other bands at Balmain Town Hall and a Sydney Harbour cruise for the NP&WS for the delegates of the 2nd South Pacific Conference of National Parks and Reserves. Government members of various South Pacific islands and nations gave a performance of their own traditional music after listening to ours. For the following three years we played at the Marble Bar in the Sydney Hilton for St. Patrick's Day and lunchtime performances in Martin Plaza.
To give the band a stronger sound, Bob Thompson on fiddle joined up and by mid-year the Rouseabouts had its own folk club, which was largely organised by Keith. This was the Colonial Folk Club held upstairs every Friday night at the Gresham Hotel on the corner of Clarence and Druitt Streets, Sydney. It ran for a few months but disagreements between Keith and the hotel management finished it off. We had good crowds every week and generally it was very successful for the short period it lasted. Eric Bogle was one of the guests.
Dave announced that he would be leaving the band in the near future to concentrate more on his BMC activities and out of which he formed another group, the Reedy River Bushmen. Because of this we recruited some more members, Len Neary on vocals and tea-chest bass and Chris Kempster on vocals and guitar. Chris was one of Australia's legendary 'folkies', having been an original member of the first bush band in modern times, the Bushwhackers, formed in 1953 from cast members of the original production of the play Reedy River.
Our bookings remained consistent over the three years or so that I was with the band. They included the 1st and 2nd Colonial Subscription Balls held in Sydney for the BMC, a NP&WS dance at Caves House, Jenolan Caves, and many other concerts, dances and functions. We also played at the Sydney Opera House Forecourt for the Festival of Sydney and in Hyde Park for Australia Day and if ever one of our members couldn't make it we could always get a replacement for the day from the ranks of the BMC.
We played a large number of country-dances too, including Sofala, Hill End, Bathurst and Carcoar, that drew hundreds of people. At Sofala the crowd was so big and the hall so small that each time we played there we would have to rig up our extra speaker system outside the hall for the huge crowd to dance to in the street.
