Saturday, November 11, 2006

Sensitive New Age Cowpersons rock!


This will be a quick post because I'm teaching in Bendigo all day today but I wanted to tell you about the performance I witnessed last night. Picture four men dressed like a geriatric western version of the Wiggles.
They play music " as God intended it to be played... Bluegrass Style!"...
The red Wiggle ... I mean Cowperson ...looked like a bit like Arthur Dent in the original Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy would have looked if he was wearing a western shirt instead of a dressing gown, and as you can see, the Blue Wiggle / Cowperson looked a lot like Willie Nelson minus the braids.
Apparently these guys discovered there wasn't much call for authentic Bluegrass in Australia and so they do bluegrass 'covers' of music as diverse as Abba [ Mamma Mia ], Queen [ We are the Champions ] Elvis [ Burning Love ] AC/DC [ Long Way to the Top ] BeeGees [ Stayin' Alive - and the falsetto was unbelieveable] as well as spoof versions of Advance Australia Fair and their own alternative version of the National Anthem interspersed with some funny stage business..
It was loud and funny and very very clever. So okay, the patter isn't always very polished and is occasionally a bit repetitive but the whole package is marvelous. These guys are seriously good musos and their vocal harmonies are superb. The energy they put into the show is staggering.
Being a devotee of Clogging [ Appalachian Tap ] my feet were tapping away under the seat all night.

btw They are hanging up their spurs after this tour so if you get a chance to see them in the next month, grab it.

7 comments:

Sheepish Annie said...

Sounds like an absolute riot and a good time! Too bad they won't be embarking on a US tour. :(

catsmum said...

see I knew we liked the same things Caity :]
If you're ever likely to head to Central Victoria, it needs to be the 3rd weekend in September because we have the Banjo Jamboree !

Erica Spinks said...

Have these guys been on TV on Spicks and Specks? I'm sure I've seen them (or some group just like them) banging out covers on that show. They were fabbo.

catsmum said...

I must've missed 'em on S & S. Bugger!

sheep#100 said...

Neatnik is four.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like fun, love a good parody. I may not be as into country moozak as you, but love live bands, when people really have fun with their music it tends to be catch on.

Speaking of parodies, almost time to dig out Aussie jingle bells :)

Brenda said...

The SNACPs do a great version of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" on the "Dirt Music" compilation CD. I'd love to see them live.