Young Folk These Days

I started my journey to become a Patron of the Arts because I had come to realise that there was a whole world of musical expression and fun times that I was missing out on.  It is easy to stay at home on drizzly Sunday afternoons and watch a movie or the footy on the giggle-box.  Not that there is anything wrong with that it's just that it is a very limited world.  New ideas are slow to germinate and there is a depth and vibrancy missing from the world on my couch no matter how comforting it is.  One particular Sunday afternoon I took a chance and went out to explore the world.  I joined the beanie, boots and puffer jacket crowd at Willie Smiths Apple Shed in Grove.  It was also encouraging that they offer a range of delicious local ciders.


I walked through the door to see four young men about the age of 12 playing the blues. If I had not ventured out on that drizzly Sunday I might never have discovered this marvellous ensemble.  This was not your usual recorder-inspired aural catastrophe that you often hear from a 12 year old musician but really tight blues.   The band, Lonely Bay, also did a great instrumental of a Coldplay cover but their blues numbers were the best.  It was no great surprise that they were implored by the audience to give an encore.  The drummer taking a swig of his nonalcoholic ginger beer, the keyboard player straighten his flat-cap and vest and they proceeded to give the audience what they wanted.

Seeing such wonderful young talent on display made me think of Drummer Kid. His neighbours recently wrote a letter to him to tell him that he is a "public nuisance" and that he should refrain from practising the drums.  This note has indeed discouraged Drummer Kid from his musical pursuits. It is appalling that a couple of small minded people can intimidate a young man from creating music and developing an interest in the Arts for the sake of relief from a little afternoon noise.  I wonder whether they would rather have him playing violent computer games or out on the street with nothing to do looking for entertainment.  Drummer Kid is a young man who is interested in contributing something; in a world gone mad with daily terrorist attacks, in a world where the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer I would have thought that his interest in the arts would be seen as a good thing, noble, even.  Shame on them!

Another fabulous young man is Yirrmal.  He always performs with such joy and optimism and with an inner determination and pride.  He performed shoeless as usual despite the chilly weather.  He had hot cup of tea on standby rather than the rock n roll standard of a beer or bottle of bourbon if you are the lead singer of Cold Chisel.  Yirrmal always starts with a thank you to the traditional owners of the land through a song.  It is overwhelmingly beautiful and gives me a path back to times gone by, a history that is not mine but yet mine just the same.  This is the lot of the immigrant Australian, feeling connection to a land as old as time but yet not having a substantial connection to the culture and history beyond the past 200 years.  My ancestor came to Australia from England in 1827 and did not have a great relationship with the indigenous population.  He died as a result of wasting away after a spear wound.  Whilst I am proud of my ancestors' bravery and pioneering spirit, whilst I am grateful for what I have been given as a result of that bravery, I find it difficult to find a true connection with the older story of my country.   Yirrmal's music gives me connection to land and culture through his storytelling and I am grateful for that. I love the way that he shares this heritage without asking anything in return other than an open heart.   This is musical creation and Arts Patronage at its purest I would have thought and surely worth getting off the couch for.