Bush band Stone the Crows has been celebrating all things Australia with continuous performances on Australia Day at the Grand View Hotel, Cleveland for the past 25 years.
This year is no exception with a performance from 11.30am. Then it will be the Aussie Tribute band from 2.30pm.
Stone the Crows guitarist, fiddler and vocalist Allen McMonagle said playing the old Australian songs (Click Go the Shears, Waltzing Matilda) brought back memories of school days.
“You don’t get to hear these songs so much any more. When I was 12 we would listen to them played on the ABC at school,” McMonagle said.
McMonagle, 66, said he was the ‘baby’ of the group with its members now aged in their 70s.
“That just means we have plenty of years of experience with this sort of music. Singing together is a nice feeling and the Grand View is the perfect venue. There is an old feel about the place and lots of gum trees and a breeze,” he said.
McMonagle said he remembered a time when there was no Australia Day and he was proud to celebrate it.
“We got our photo in the paper once because we had some billy tea and damper at work,” he said.
Stone the Crows met through the Redland Country Music club and has played as a group since 1988, specialising in bush dances and family events. Repertoire includes traditional Australian folk songs and tunes on fiddle, banjo, mandolin and whistle and a smattering of Irish music and American bluegrass.
McMonagle is joined by Bill Turner on guitar, vocals, whistles and harmonica, Fred Hudson on Banjo and vocals, Neil Wills on guitar, mandolin and vocals and Tom Steginga on bass and vocals.