A journal of Takin' Time happenings.

It was great to finish off the year with a flurry of eight engagement leading up to Christmas, and capped off by an impromptu performance with Gavan Arden at the Jindi Cafe on New Year's Eve. This photo was taken at the Woorayl Probus Group Christmas Function in Leongatha, with Bill Anderson on board, playing the bass.

Susan & Colin Parrish officially released their 4th CD at the Darnum Musical Village on Sunday 20th November before an audience of around 80 – about as many as the Musical Village could take. Some of those attending had travelled from as far away as Numurka and Bairnsdale, Inverloch and the Mornington Peninsular to be at the launch. Sue and Colin are the resident musicians at the Village with Albert Fox, and have established themselves as a highly regarded music duo throughout the Gippsland region and beyond in recent years. At the concert they were joined by Brenden Morris on double bass and Yarragon resident John Reid on percussion, both of whom played a pivotal role during the recording of the CD – entitled “From Both Sides”. Sue and Colin were both born in England and have enjoyed living on ‘both sides’ of the world. Australia though, is very much there home these days and Sue has been a resident now in Darnum for 21 years. The launch heralds a busy few months in the lead up to Christmas for the couple with seven engagements through till then.

Their music is also being featured at seven radio stations across Victoria, including 3 BBR Gippsland FM, as well as in Bendigo, Echuca, Inverloch, Glen Huntly (Golden Day's Radio, North West Radio (Glenroy/NW Suburbs, and Mt Beauty FMs (Alpine Radio)

The preceding three months have been relatively quiet for us compared to last year, but in many ways that has been a good thing. Sadly, Susan's father passed away on the 4th July (his birthday!) after a long illness. The funeral was a very moving occasion, but we were able to celebrate his special life, rather than mourn his passing at the age of 81 years. It also became apparent that Susan's mum, Jean, was in a very frail condition and we have had her with us to care for now for the past four months.
But this break also allowed us to complete our 4th CD, which so many people have been asking for. Details below. My feeling now is that it has come through very well indeed, and we will be having a CD launch on Sunday 20th November at the Darnum Musical Village. In the meantime we are waiting for copyright approval and then production of the CD from our record company in Sydney. I'll be uploading a few snippets for our "Music Samples" file asap.
Finally, it is nice to see bookings for several Christmas functions rolling in.

We've had a great few months playing at numerous venues, culminating in a very successful concert at the Old Drouin Butter Factory where we put on a special concert with Gavan Arden - Gippsland's own country music star - as our special guest. It was a great afternoon with in excess of 70 folk enjoying the beauty of Susan's voice and some well rehearsed melodies - featuring Brenden Morris on Double Bass, who had only just completed a round of engagements with the Warragul Theatre Company's production of "Guys & Dolls". Gavan is a pleasure to work with and his music combines good old country style compositions with great humour.

The Boolarra Folk Festival is becoming one of the best in the country and this, the 9th, was blessed with a beautifully sunny, if cool, autumn day. Having played the launch at Yinnar last year we were delighted to have been asked to perform on the main program, and it was a truly exciting and enjoyable experience. Despite a few sound problems at the start we received a tremendous reception from the 1000 plus audience and the feedback we received was very positive, and included an invitation to play at the renowned Tyers Acoustic Music Club in June. We will certainly be looking to play there again next year.

The period from November through Christmas and into 2011 proved very busy for us with 8 shows in December including New Years Eve at the Pig & Whistle down on the Mornington Peninsular; a lull in January, and then on tour with the great country performer Gavan Arden where we played three concerts with him at Poowong, Moe and Bairnsdale. The final performance was up at the Numurkah Bowls Club where we were delighted by the fantastic reception they gave us. The start of March see us peforming at The Boolarra Folk Festival with terry Cupples and Leigh Bechaz, and we have put together a great set. Sue continues to blow them away with her terrific singing, which has reached as far as America, where we received a beautiful email from a guy by the name of Gene Webber - which you can read under our Testimonials.

The past two months have indeed been busy ones for our music with 14 tour groups visiting the Darnum Musical Village (where we provide the entertainment) as well as several other functions. We enjoyed a great night of 'Musical Intrigue' at Gypsy Creek Winery Restaurant at Labertouche; a great reception from the Darnum Music Lovers (many thanks to Bill Anderson on the lagerphone!)together with playing at the closing ceremony of the Lion's Club Convention held at Logan Park in Warragul and a function for the Baw Baw Shire at the Elizabethan. There are a few new photos in the Gallery, and we are heading in to another busy period with the lead up to Christmas, so check out our 'appearances'.

August proved a busy month for us at the Darnum Musical Village, and with two appearances; one at The Barn On Jackson's in Jindivick, and our third concert at the Old Drouin Butter Factory on 28th. The night proved to be immensely successful, with a great audience, who were given a "By Request" set, where they got to choose 15 of the songs they wanted from a list of 40. With Terry Cupples on Bass, and Leigh Bechaz on acoustic & electric guitar, the crowd warmed to their choice of songs and we didn't finish till 10.40 pm, following a 7.30 pm start. Our sincere thanks to Margaret and Ken for allowing us the use of their wonderful venue, and to the audience, who were all very appreciative of our music.

June and July have been two very busy months for us with performances at several venues away from the Musical Village, including some great music at The Barn on Jackson's, with Terry Cupples, and the Morwell German Club with Leigh Beechaz and Peter Drysdale. and the Village has kept us very busy with a whole bunch of tour groups.

Due to an unexpected health problem, April and May effectively became a write off!! But life goes on and the outcome of the surgery I (Colin) had on 3rd May is that I am slowly getting back into the swing of things, and managed to join in with the German Club gig on 30th May. We had Leigh Beechaz and Peter Drysdale with us and managed to put on a great afternoon of music for them. We were very happy to be asked back for another go next year. Up coming are concerts at the Darnum Musical Village, and a return to The Barn On Jackson's in Jindivick on 26th June and 21st August(See Appearances for details.)

We had a busy two months following Valentines Day at Gypsy Creek Winery, with several tour groups visiting the Darnum Musical Village together with support to the vist of the famous balalaika player Yuri Mougerman with his wife Isobella, performing at Fairview Homes for the Royal Children's Hospital Appeal where they raised over $2500 with around 160 people in attendance. Also, another successfull music trivia night at Glenfyne Gardens Cafe/Restaurant.

We were very pleased with the reception we had at the Boolarra Folk Festival Launch on Friday evening 26th Februaryat the Yinnar Art Gallery. Our 40 minute session drew some much appreciated comments. Thanks to Terry Cupples and Leigh Beechaz for their contribution, and Susan's singing and dexterity on the flute and tenor recorder were a hi-light for the audience. We are looking forward to playing at the festival next year as part of the Saturday program.

Following hard on the heals of a busy November we finally completed our 2009 engagements at 7 venues in December, finishing with Christmas eve at Nelson's restaurant in Trafalgar and an impromptu 'jam' on New Year's Eve. In between I managed to fly over to Fiji for four day for my daughter's wedding, at which I was persuaded to get up for a couple of songs. The year started with the launch of our web site in February, and this has been a great success. We also posted three videos on YouTube which have drawn some very positive comments and we are hoping for greater viewings in 2010. Over the course of the year we had completed 46 individual gigs and over 100 concerts at the Darnum Musical Village. Albert Fox came through a 5-way heart by-pass operation and seems fitter than he has been for a long time. Susan and I are still very much in love (aaahh) and would like to thank everyone that has supported us throughout the year, with a special thanks to Bob Tyler who has moved on to other fields.

Finally, a lovely message sent by a guy called George Clark in the US.

"Greetings from Midwest USA

Just recently ran across your wonderful rendition of the American Folk song, Shenandoah on YouTube. Susan's voice is absolutely beautiful and Colin's guitar playing superb. The Torongo Falls backdrop was gorgeous and I am constantly amazed at the beauty of your Australia."

We were very pleased to have been asked to provide the wedding ceremony music and dinner music for the wedding of Laurie and Amy on Saturday 12th December. It was a cool day but the rain held off and both the bride and groom looked great! Congratulations! Check out the picture gallery.

November was again an exciting month for us as, along with Terry Cupples, we provided the entertainment for an engagement party for the Vitale family on the 14th in Drouin; a 6oth birthday party for Stan Waters and Janine at the MaCallister Hotel in Maffra on the 28th, and a 25th wedding anniversay for Mary Garret at the Amberlea Reception Venue in Cranbourne on Sunday afternoon 29th, with Brenden Morris on bass guitar. All three gigs were thoroughly enjoyable and we are looking forward to playing at the MaCallister Hotel again in the New year. Date TBA. As well we had several tour groups at the Darnum Musical Village and great CD sales over the month. Just December to go! I am off to Fiji for my daughter's wedding on the 17th returning on the 20th in time for Christmas Eve at Nelson's Restaurant in Trafalga.

We had a busy month in October, starting with a birthday celebration for the Pakenham Probus Club on the 2nd October. We followed that up a week later providing the entertainment - with Terry Cupples on bass - at a 50th Birthday party at Glenfyne Gardens, which carried on late into the night. Tony & Sylvana were kept busy at the bar and serving food. The following day we played for Hank's 70th birthday at the Warragul RSL. We also played at Glenfyne over the weekend of 24th & 25th October as part of the Baw Baw Gardavilia Festival, and were pleased to accept a wedding booking in December, and a 60th birthday next year. In between there were some great tour groups at the Musical Village. Our YouTube videos are still attracting some interest but it would be nice if we could break the 100,000 mark before too long! (Mmmm,,,,,wishful thinking perhaps!)

We played some very enjoyable gigs during September. Apart from several tour groups at the Darnum Musical Village we enjoyed a lunchtime performance for the Meals On Wheels Program of Baw Baw Shire at the Daisy Patch in Warragul. We were honoured to be invited to perform at renowned local country music artist, Gavan Arden's, 70th birthday party at Rokeby, along with several other well known music people from across Victoria.
A 20th birthday celebration for Pakenham Probus Club, and an impromptu performance at the Old Dublin Cafe in Deniliquin, NSW, in the week leading up to the annual - and now very famous - "Ute Muster" where over 10,000 utes are expected to gather over the long weekend of 2nd - 5th October Thanks Carol!

The weather ceased its erratic behaviour on Saturday 22nd August long enough for the wedding to go ahead in the grounds of Karl Mohr's place at Moe. We had a great afternoon and folks seemed to enjoy the music immensely.

Our first ever "Night of Musical Intrigue" at Glenfyne Gardens and Cafe/Restaurant in South Drouin was a great success. The cafe was just about full and it made for a very intimate evening. The patrons enjoyed some lovely music and great prizes, although one lady commented that she "didn't care about the prizes" because she was enjoying the music so much.

It was a delight to perform some typically Irish music for a typically Irish Senior citizen and her family on 6th June at the Moe Racing Club. Congratulations Brigid on reaching such a noble period in your life. Thankyou Carmel, Pauline and the rest of the family for entrusting us with the music for this special occasion, and especially Carmel for her enthusiasm for what we do!

We enjoyed another great reception at our second "Songs Through The Ages" concert at the Old Drouin Butter Factory on Saturday May 16th. With Terry Cupples joining us on bass, and with Bob on mandolin we were given some wonderful compliments at the end of the show. It's nice to realise what a great sound we can produce in such a lovely venue, and we will be scheduling another concert there in September or October.

We were very happy to have been involved in the Fairview Homes Royal Children's Hospital Appeal. They had been worried that the fund-raising for the Bushfire Appeal would affect this year's appeal, but we were all pleasantly surprised at the figure of $2032 which almost matched last year's figure. A great turnout of residents and relatives.

We were granted a simply beautiful day at the Darnum Musical Village for our concert with the Darnum Music Lovers. And they gave us a wonderful reception with what, we were told, had been their biggest turn out in almost three years (100+), despite it being the Tuesday after Easter. Several groups came down from the Valley to hear Susan's singing and they gave us an encore at the finish. Many thanks to the Music Lovers for asking us to perform.

We had a tremendous reception from the audience at our debut performance of "Medieval To Modern...Songs Through The Ages."at the Old Drouin Butter Factory on Saturday 4th April. With the added support of Brenden Morris on Bass Guitar, we managed to take the audience on a journey of music from the 15th to the 21st centuries. Susan began a little nervously, but by the end of the evening was in full voice with a beautiful rendition of "The Luckiest" by Ben Folds, and an encore with her own composition "Marly." We will be back there next month for a follow up performance.

2008 proved to be quite a tremendous one for us even though we didn't really start performing until March following my (Colin) stem cell transplant in January. Bald as a coote and 10 kg lighter Susan and I (the bald one) and Bob (with Terry on a few occasions) had completed 44 gigs by year's end, ranging from playing to dementia patients at the Springvale Nursing Home, to birthdays, weddings, Senior Citizens Venues, pubs and clubs, a six month fortnightly stint at the Moe RSL, through to The Victorian Tidy Town's Presentation Night in October where we entertained before around 200 guests. The Year ended with Christmas Eve at Nelson's Restaurant and New Years Eve with the Jack Pretty Band at Bonnie Medley's Barn On Jacksons at Jindivick. On top of all that were around 45 sessions providing the entertainment (concert Style)at The Darnum Musical Village. My hair had grown back by then and I'd put on 5 kg in weight. A sleek 64 kgs now! 2008 certainly was a landmark one for us. Sue's singing and flute playing has been capturing attention every where we've played. Here's to a great 2009.

Thanks Max and Elizabeth we had a great time entertaining the excellent crowd at your Y.A.F. Reunion.

We sent our CD "Takin Time" to Eric Bogle not long ago. He has taken time out from his busy schedule to send the attached review. Click the image to read what he says.