Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival

 The Australian Government is proud to be associated with The Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival. The Living Memory project “Tallowwoods & Tollywongs” was made possible by Festivals Australia, an Australian Government program which supports cultural activity at regional and community festivals.

Tallowwoods & Tollywongs is the title of a ‘Living Memory Project’ which adds a new element to the regular Festival and will provide an insight into the process of identifying, adapting and creating songs which illustrate aspects of the local history of this region. The project is an arts-driven cultural activity aiming to actively engage community participants to identify, adapt and create works of substance such as song, music, spoken word and narration which illustrate aspects of the local history.

Tallowwoods & Tollywongs is an innovative collaborative project and includes the following elements:
Workshops – 3 artists, who make up The Lonely Horse Band, will hold a series of workshops involving local writers, musicians and storytellers as well local youth, seniors and primary producers to develop existing and new material based on their stories, oral histories & community perception. Workshops will be held over 3 periods (in July, September & October) to gather a broad range of ideas. The workshops will build the capacity of participants in the creative process and principles of writing for spoken word and song writing as well as recording, audio manipulation, editing and presentation.

Recording - Broadcast material will take the form of ‘audio documentary’ incorporating interviews, local sound scapes & initial recording of songs, poetry and narration. Ideally this material will be played on local radio in the lead up to the Festival to broaden the cultural celebration of the region’s history. The final workshop will be in the period leading up the Festival culminating in performances at the Festival.

This ‘Living Memory Project’ will leave a lasting legacy in the community by way of developing cultural skills, when members associated with the project can display outcomes of the workshops and have the potential to extend the project. Ultimately it is hoped that this project will assist in the sustainability of the Festival by involving the wider community and promoting awareness in cultural activities together with a sense of community identity.

Community Involvement in Tallowwoods & Tollywongs

Community consultation has been undertaken with various groups on the Plateau and all are keen to be involved in telling their story to enhance the quality of the Project in a celebration of the region’s history.
Those who were consulted in the initial phase include:
· Dorrigo Historical Society
· Dorrigo Dramatic Club
· Dorrigo RSL – Returned Services League
· Dorrigo High School - including the Student Representative Council & Music Department
· Dorrigo CWA
· Dorrigo Public School
· Dorrigo Chamber of Commerce
· Dorrigo Mountain Top Landcare Group
· Beaumont’s – prominent Dorrigo Primary Producers
· Dorrigo Girl Guides
· Local Resident artist – Jenni Francis
· Headspace – National Youth Project
· Dorrigo Neighbourhood Centre
· Bellingen Shire Council
· Arts Mid North Coast

The Dorrigo Multi Purpose Service (Hospital) was approached so that the older residents can be interviewed for participation in the Project. Residents are excited about this opportunity.

During the initial session of workshops in July, Andrew & Tonchi met with school students from Dorrigo Public and Dorrigo High and various members of the Dorrigo Historical Society. The students visited the Society’s Don Dorrigo & Guy Fawkes Museum and found out lots about the history of Dorrigo as well as seeing the displays and reference material. For many students it was their first visit, and there was a wonderful connection between the some of the older and younger residents of Dorrigo.
Tonchi and the students from the High school spent time with Mark Flanders, an Aboriginal education officer to gain knowledge and understanding of the history of the local indigenous population and to share stories and facts about the Gumbayngirr people and their particular history on the plateau. Dorrigo Mountain Top Landcare representatives including Ruth Holmes also discussed some of the restoration work that has been undertaken on the Plateau.
Collating all these ideas, and with guidance in songwriting provided by Tonchi, school students are writing their own songs exploring these themes.

During the next round of workshops from 3rd to 9th September the main focus will be recording students performing their own songs and the recording of oral histories with many of the Plateau’s older residents.

The Lonely Horse Band

Andrew Hull, based in Bourke, is a talented Poet, Songwriter & Musician with experience in the writing and recording of oral histories

Tonchi McIntosh, based in Melbourne, is an accomplished Musician & Songwriter who has been involved in writing material and delivering song-writing workshops.

Mick Daley, based in Lismore, is a skilled Songwriter & Musician with experience in the writing and recording of oral histories

Brief Background

The Lonely Horse Band is a writing collaboration conceived at the 2006 Tamworth Country Music Festival by Andrew Hull, Tonchi McIntosh and Mick Daley. They quickly formed a loose objective of producing more original music relevant to the ‘One Horse Towns’ of regional and remote NSW. A few beers later and The Lonely Horse Band was formed.

All three artists had a lot of goodwill invested in the Bi-Annual Nymagee outback Music Festival. This community then became the focus for the first ‘Living Memory’ project which, after securing some funding from the CASP program, conducted three days of interviews and song writing workshops in the village, resulting in the Pomegranates and Peppercorn Trees Album which also featured a series of radio documentary pieces produced by ABC radio.
The trio conducted another tour through remote communities of Western NSW in March 2007 entitled ‘Saddle Sores’ which saw them visit drought ravaged farming communities such as Brewarrina, Hermidale, Nevertire and Gulargambone.

In 2008 the ‘Living Memory Project’ was replicated in White Cliffs culminating in the release of UNDERGROUND – A Living Memory of White Cliffs, a double album featuring songs and poems about the community as well as a disc of radio documentary pieces.