The Bony Mt Shufflers

Another cracking Uke School at the Bony Mountain Country/Folk Festival. 

I love this festival, a week of bush style camping and the joy of seeing a bunch of (mostly) novices start the week beginners and finish fully fledged Festival performers.  That’s right Mick and Marg guide the group through five days of learning and rehearsing a set of songs culminating in a performance on the main stage as part of the Sunday night concert.  This year we even had a couple of return students. 

As usual we were set up in the Blacksmith’s shop (Mick’s Uke School) with an assortment of lounges and chairs and this year the luxury of carpet thrown down on the dirt floor. Mick brings the projector and ipad and I bought a whiteboard so we could skill the students up . 

As usual they were in disbelief that a transformation from novice to performer was possible and they surprised us with their progress. This year was a particularly talented bunch of singers and “Marge The Sarge” was not required to ‘encourage’ them to remember to sing as well as play.

One massive highlight for me was a student from last year Fe. She was an enthusiastic participant with a goal to improve her singing and accompany herself on a festival tour. Joining in on as many open Mics as possible. She returned this year winning a spot as a featured artist on Stage with other seasoned performers. 

We had several past students drop by to say hello, its such a friendly and relaxed festival. 

Mick and Marg led by example with Mick making the girls swoon with his rendition of Josh Turners’s Your Man, and Marg getting in on the Country Vibe with Pony by Casey Chambers.