Well it would appear that the idea of this forum is wasted on people out there. No-one seems interested in it at all. I'll give it till the end of February to see if anyone else puts up a post. If not, I will close it and move on.

Cheers
GT...

I only just found it I hope it picks up.

Hi Geoff.
I just found this forum through a link on the CMAA website.
I hope I'm not too late and that it continues.

I've been spending most of my time in Brisbane over the last 15 years looking after our 2 instrument shops up there, but now I'm going to be back in Melbourne permanently and I'm desperately searching for gigs and clubs down here with not much success.

I was a member of Pioneer Village in Qld and I used to love going to their socials and attending their rehearsal nights etc. There's a lot of young talent up there and I got a real kick out of helping the kids improve.

If anyone knows of any similar clubs in Melbourne can they please let me know.

Cheers.

Graham

Hi Graham,
         I do hope this forum does not die. It is so hard to find country music musicians these days. Perhaps it will just take a long time to get the word around since they are all so well hidden out there.

The pioneer village is a great place but a fair drive from where I live on the southside. The fact that there is so much young talent around makes me wonder why they are so hard to find. Anyway, I will try to keep this board running in the hope that eventually it will become a great meeting place for us all.

Cheers
GT....

Geoff.
If you think it's hard getting people interested you should try living in Melbourne.
I can't even find a country music gig to go to down here.
The genre just doesn't seem to stretch south of the NSW border for some reason.
Still, I'm not giving up, even if I have to start a club myself. Although I posted a notice on the Vic musicians wanted board and although it's been viewed over 20 times there hasn't been one contact made with me.

Frustrating.

Graham

The country scene is a little slow in a lot of places. And I too am surprised at how hard it is to find other musicians interested in country music. Thats easy to see considering there are only 20 members on this forum.

Keep battling on.
GT

Hi GW and Geoff,

We are a group of 40+ guys who have been together as a band for about 4 years.  We are based in Melbourne and slowly building a range of venues that are friendly to our music.  We play Country, Country Rock, Southern Rock etc and are about to launch into an originals CD to supplement our covers CD that we demoed earlier this year.  You can check us out at www.myspace.com/thelastchanceband

GW is right about Vic being a lot less country music friendly, but I think this is slowly changing.  We are surprised at the number of younger people who get right into it at gigs.

Ive just found the forum via the CMAA links page.  Glad it exists and I will the rest of the guys know.  We are not full time but your points on the site about payment rates is quite valid.  For us a gig is getting to the venue late afternoon 4-4.30pm so that it doesnt interfere with the meals period at the venue, then packing up and finishing about 1am.  Thats a days work and yet the venue managers view it as a 4 hour gig.

Anyway we still love doing it and are gradually getting our name out there.  We plan to compete in the country rock comp at Tamworth this year so onward and upward.

Cheers

Warren

Hi Warren.
Nice to see you on the message board. Make sure you let me know when you're playing around town next. I'll do my best to come along.
Graham

Hi, Geoff and everyone else.

It would be a shame to have the forum fade away.  "Forum dying" ... made my heart bleed a bit.   Felt impelled to register and give you a bit of a "chin up, Mate!"  

My wife and I really ought find a country music club near enough to where we live (inner city 'burbs, Briz).  We've never been to one before though so we'd feel a bit out of place.  Can you recommend any near us?  So hard to find *any* via the web.  Should probably use Yellow Pages or something ... the paper version.

About us: We're Kathy and Grant.  We both play geet-tarr and sing ... both poorly!       However, it would be nice to hear what other folks (songwriters and performers) are doing and gauge our stuff with theirs and maybe have someone do a decent job of playing and singing ours.  Do clubs do that sort of thing?

I assume you have our email address from the registration.  Feel free to drop us a line!  And all the best to all you nice folks who've supported the forum thus far.

Regards
Grant and Kathy

PS - Can't help but think you look like Johnny Cash, Geoff!  I wonder why?  

G+K

Yes, sad time for Country pickers in Melbourne. I heard it was pretty good during the 80's - try getting a gig down here now. I've sent out promo packs, followed them up, the pub owners/agents reply "Yes mate, got that - we'll give you a ring if we need you." This is IF you're lucky enough to GET a reply. I suppose the truth is that Melbourne is a blues/roots city. Country doesn't interest many folks down here. I still play Merle's "Workin' man Blues" at every show I do though. Have done for the last 15 years or so. Regards.