And it's a wrap.....

The final meeting of the Brisbane Folk History Project group was held and the decision made to hand over our assets to the Australian Cultural Library, based in Rosewood, their official opening being held on Saturday 24 February 2024.

The committe would like to thank those who supported us through this epic enterprise and we wish the Australian Cultural Library all the best with their collective adventures.

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Book Launch 8 December 2018

Brisbane has arguably the most vibrant folk scene in Australia. From humble beginnings in the ‘50s, Queensland has generated a passionate and organised community of singers, dancers, musicians, songwriters, instrument-makers and – yes, historical recreationists. People from many walks of life, countries of birth and shades of political persuasion identify as ‘folkies’, bound together by a common ethos as powerful and enduring as it is hard to define.

Yet folk functions as an underground movement, barely recognised by mainstream culture. Ask someone on the street about ‘folk music’ and they’ll say it wandered into the sunset humming I Shall Be Released around 1975. The folk interviewed for this book, aged 9 to 90, tell a different story – in fact, hundreds of them.

Here for the first time the Brisbane folk community reflects on this creative, cohesive, multi-generational sub-culture. How has folk music shaped and been shaped by the state’s political evolution? Where does the Brisbane folk scene intersect with Queensland, Australia, the world? And what’s coming next?

Packed with shenanigans, insight, tragedy, love and phone-tapping, with its blood alcohol content perhaps a little high but its heart firmly in the right place, Brisbane Folk will make you feel the music.

Where and when ...

Sunday 8 December 2019

3.00 pm
(doors open 2.30 pm)
REd Hill Community Sports Club
Fulcher Road, Red Hill

Proudly supported by

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March 2019

What’s the Brisbane Folk History Project up to?

We’re glad you asked...

We’re about to launch the amazing Brisbane Folk History Project YouTube channel. which will take the form of a fabulous folk fundraising party with food, trivia, tantalising samples from the video collection, wonderful old photos, singing,  dancing and an all-in session.

YouTube Launch Date is

Sunday 30th June
4.30 - tpm
(doors open 4pm)
REd Hill Community Sports Club
Fulcher Road, Red Hill

Meanwhile you can get ahead of the crowd by subscribing to the channel, which currently hosts more than 70 videos including Folkies Old and New Concerts, festival concerts, sessions, dances and other mayhem.

It’s all here https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCv_oeBO5aJOBiNLUQtgjiMA

The manuscript for Brisbane Folk: Folk music in Brisbane 1950 to now is complete, rich with the memories of over 100 Brisbane folkies across seven decades and three generations. Sadly we haven’t been able to interest a commercial publisher as hoped; however, an excellent local publishing house is willing to partner with us, and together we’ve submitted an application for a grant. If we don’t get this one, we’ll keep trying, and one way or another we’re going to print and distribute this work of love. The book is likely to retail for $39.95, but you can pre-order early and receive your copy at a bargain price. Stay tuned for more info.

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Update
May 2018

We’re about to launch the amazing Brisbane Folk History Project YouTube channel. Watch this space for a confirmed launch date, which will take the form of a fabulous folk party with food, trivia, tantalising samples from the video collection, wonderful old photos, singing, dancing and an all-in session. Meanwhile you can get ahead of the crowd by subscribing to the channel, which currently hosts more than 70 videos including Folkies Old and New Concerts, festival concerts, sessions, dances and other mayhem.

The Brisbane Folk History Project (BFHP) is thrilled to announce that we were recently awarded funds from the Brisbane City Council Brisbane History Grants Program to support phase 4 of our project; the digitisation and dissemination of our video collection via a dedicated You-Tube channel.

This exciting project will enable our community and the public to freely access this wonderful resource. Members of the Brisbane folk community have donated a number of historical videos, dating from the early 1980s. The videos, which come from private collections, contain footage of both amateur and professional musicians from Brisbane performing folk music (bothoriginal and traditional) as well as some videos of dances.

Proudly supported by

Here’s a reminder of our project goals and a summary of what we have been up to in recent times.

What we do

The Brisbane Folk History Project (BFHP) commenced in early 2007. Since inception, the project has worked to document, through a variety of media, the history of folk music in the Brisbane region.

Documentation of the history of the Brisbane folk scene is proceeding through four interconnected projects:

• the production of a book based on oral histories
• the collection and digitisation of photographs and ephemera
• the collection and digitisation of audio recordings, with the eventual aim of compiling a CD of Brisbane folk music spanning seven decades
• the digitisation and dissemination of Brisbane folk music videos from the 1980s to now

The response to the project has been overwhelming. Members of the folk community in Brisbane and beyond have donated time, recordings, brochures, photographic material, posters and pamphlets from the period, along with their own personal stories via interview. The volunteer BFHP committee have struggled to cope with the amount of information and support supplied.

The book, Brisbane Folk, complete with photographs and other illustrations, will paint a vivid picture of Brisbane’s folk heritage. It is anticipated that the book will be launched in early 2019 with a photographic exhibition and folk music event. The project has amassed a vast collection of photographic, printed and recorded material, which has been catalogued and housed in the John Oxley Library. Very little material on folk music in Queensland had previously been publicly available, making the Queensland Memory – Music team’s collection of this material almost entirely a direct outcome of the Brisbane Folk History Project. Information about the collection can be found at the JOL website http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/services/library-spaces/john-oxley-library.

The major focus for the current phase of the project is the collection and digitisation of unique video recordings, and the hosting of these via a You-Tube channel to enable public access.

Who we are

A volunteer Management Committee manages the Project operationally and strategically. The BFHP is an incorporated body, with the Management Committee elected annually at the Annual General Meeting. A large team of volunteers supports the Committee.

Other key partners on the project include the Brisbane folk community, Brisbane folk venues, Woodfordia Inc., the National Folk Festival and, the State Library of Queensland (John Oxley Library Music Queensland Memory – Music team). The Brisbane City Council and the Queensland Government have also generously supported the project via grant funding.

What we have done so far

The BFHP team has collected over 2000 photographs, conducted and transcribed more than 50 oral history interviews, donated a four-drawer filing cabinet of materials to the State Library, and digitised nearly 30 video recordings of folk concerts. We are privileged to be the custodians of recollections, notes and biographies concerning at least 200 members of the Brisbane folk community over 3 generations.

In 2012 BFHP partnered with the John Oxley Library Queensland Memory - Music team, which committed to helping the BFHP committee preserve, store, catalogue and make available to the public much of the documentation and material collected via the project. BFHP continues to work with the JOL to collect, digitise, catalogue and publicise these materials. In 2013, BFHP participated in a video installation at State Library of Queensland, "Live! Contemporary band culture!" which showcased the history of Brisbane bands across a range of music genres. In 2015 BFHP presented A Night in the JOL, with music by contemporary Brisbane folk musicians and a ‘white gloves’ display of collected materials. Again in partnership with the Queensland Memory team, BFHP presented at the International Association of Music Librarians conference in 2016.

How have we done it?

The project has had the amazing, ongoing support of a small army of volunteers, along with a consistent and dedicated Management Committee.

Financial support for the project has been generated through a series of fundraising activities (folk music concerts, raffles, donations).

The BFHP team is also grateful for a number of grants provided through local and state community grant programs. We have successfully acquitted three Brisbane City Council Grants for earlier stages of the project. The first (2007) assisted with the costs of purchasing digital recording equipment and designing the questionnaire. The second (2009/2010) employed a part-time coordinator to coordinate volunteer interviewers and manage the storage of electronic data, and enabled the transcription of a significant number of oral history interviews. The third (2012) employed a professional writer to convert the oral history interviews into the draft manuscript for the book Brisbane Folk. A small grant was also awarded by the Queensland Government Gambling Community Benefit fund (2012) to cover the costs of purchasing a digital camera and hard-drives to support the project. All grants have been successfully acquitted and have demonstrated high-value outcomes.

In March 2018 the project was awarded a BCC Brisbane History Grants Program grant to publish our collected music video recordings online via a dedicated You-Tube channel.

What next?

The committee is about to apply for funding to prepare and publish our book Brisbane Folk.

After over a decade of hard work, the committee believes it is time to close this phase of the project! It is anticipate that the book, compilation CD and You-Tube channel will all be launched and publicly accessible by the end of 2018.

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Update July 2017:

What we have been up to

The Brisbane Folk History Project (BFHP) commenced in early 2007. Since inception the project has worked to document, through a variety of media, the history of folk music in the Brisbane region.  

The response to the project has been overwhelming. Members of the folk community in Brisbane and beyond have donated time, recordings, brochures, photographic material, posters and pamphlets from the period, along with their own personal stories via interview. The volunteer BFHP committee have struggled to cope with the amount of information and support supplied.

The book, Brisbane Folk, complete with photographs and other illustrations, will paint a vivid picture of Brisbane’s folk heritage. It is anticipated that the book will be launched in early 2019 with a photographic exhibition and folk music event. The project has amassed a vast collection of photographic, printed and recorded material which has been catalogued and housed in the John Oxley Library. Very little material on folk music in Queensland had previously been publicly available, making the Queensland Memory – Music team’s collection of this material almost entirely a direct outcome of the Brisbane Folk History Project. Information about the collection can be found at the JOL website http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/services/library-spaces/john-oxley-library.

The major focus for the current phase of the project is the collection and digitisation of unique video recordings, and the hosting of these via a You-Tube channel to enable public access.

What we have collected

The BFHP team has collected over 2000 photographs, conducted and transcribed more than 50 oral history interviews, donated a four-drawer filing cabinet of materials to the State Library, and digitised nearly 30 video recordings of folk concerts. We are privileged to be the custodians of recollections, notes and biographies concerning at least 200 members of the Brisbane folk community over 3 generations.

In 2012 BFHP partnered with the John Oxley Library Queensland Memory - Music team, which committed to helping the BFHP committee preserve, store, catalogue and make available to the public much of the documentation and material collected via the project. BFHP continues to work with the JOL to collect, digitise, catalogue and publicise these materials. In 2013, BFHP participated in a video installation at State Library of Queensland, "Live! Contemporary band culture!" which showcased the history of Brisbane bands across a range of music genres. In 2015 BFHP presented A Night in the JOL, with music by contemporary Brisbane folk musicians and a ‘white gloves’ display of collected materials. Again in partnership with the Queensland Memory team, BFHP presented at the International Association of Music Librarians conference in 2016.

How have we done it?

The project has had the amazing, ongoing support of a small army of volunteers, along with a consistent and dedicated Management Committee. 
Financial support for the project has been generated through a series of fundraising activities (folk music concerts, raffles, donations).

The BFHP team is also grateful for a number of grants provided through local and state community grant programs. We have successfully acquitted three Brisbane City Council Grants for earlier stages of the project. The first (2007) assisted with the costs of purchasing digital recording equipment and designing the questionnaire. The second (2009/2010) employed a part-time coordinator to coordinate volunteer interviewers and manage the storage of electronic data, and enabled the transcription of a significant number of oral history interviews. The third (2012) employed a professional writer to convert the oral history interviews into the draft manuscript for the book Brisbane Folk. A small grant was also awarded by the Queensland Government Gambling Community Benefit fund (2012) to cover the costs of purchasing a digital camera and hard-drives to support the project. All grants have been successfully acquitted and have demonstrated high-value outcomes.

What next?

The committee is about to apply for two new grants; one to prepare Brisbane Folk for publication, and the other to publish our collected music video recordings online via a dedicated You-Tube channel.

After over a decade of hard work, the committee believes it is time to close this phase of the project! It is anticipate that the book, compilation CD and You-Tube channel will all be launched and publicly accessible by the end of 2018.

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NOTICE:

The Brisbane Folk History Project Incorporated
Hereby notifies any musician or performer who does not want a copy of their video-recorded or audio-recorded performance to be included in material donated to the State Library of Queensland
to contact the committee by 1 December 2015.

Contact can be made via info@brisbane.folkhistory.org.
Video-recordings currently in the possession of BFHP include any public performances from a variety of sources, including, but not restricted to:

Folk Rag Old and New (previously Folkies Old and New) concert series
Imbil Acoustic Music gathering – early 1990's
Colonial Balls
House Concerts
Jam sessions at festivals

Please pass this message on to any performer you know who may have played a set in these concerts.
The committee thank you for your wonderful support of the project!

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Update
June 2015

The BFHP committee has been busy in the first half of 2015 raising funds and organising events to promote the project. In March we ran a bumper raffle with a basket of CDs generously donated by local artists – and raised over three hundred dollars! These funds will be used to run the project’s website and digitise some more video recordings of folk performances, with the remainder going into the kitty for future expenses.

Brisbane Folk, the book based on oral history interviews we’ve been collecting over the last six years, is now in draft format. A handful of interviews remain to be conducted so the book’s author, Andrea Baldwin, can fill in gaps in the story line. Last chance – get in touch if you have a story to tell or want to be interviewed! We aim to finish the book by late 2015.

Our relationship with the State Library of Queensland is strengthening. On the evening of Tuesday 15th September, the Brisbane Folk History Project will be showcased through the A Night in the JOL series with a conversation between Rebecca Wright and Sue Wighton called Brisbane Folk Music: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. The evening will include a Q&A session, followed by an exhibition or “white gloves experience” with selected exhibits from the history of the Brisbane folk scene in the library’s collection. We’d love to see you there.

The Library Board of Queensland and the BFHP have formalised a Deed of Gift with the State Library. The material donated under the Deed includes a vast array of material from the Brisbane folk music scene: printed material (posters, brochures, magazines), audio recordings (cassettes, CDs), and photographs.

In the coming months the committee wishes to donate to the library video and DVD recordings of folk and acoustic concerts which have been collected from various sources and donated to the project. The usage and reproduction of these concerts (or part thereof) requires the BFHP to demonstrate to the library that we have notified all performers filmed in these videos of our intention to make them available to the public via the library archives.

We will be putting notices in the print media and on social media with the following message:

The Brisbane Folk History Project Incorporated

Hereby notifies any musician or performer who does not want a copy of their video-recorded or audio-recorded performance to be included in material donated to the State Library of Queensland to contact the committee by 1 December 2015.
Contact can be made via info@brisbane.folkhistory.org or our website at http://brisbane.folkhistory.org/
Video-recordings currently in the possession of BFHP include concerts from a variety of sources, including:

Folk Rag Old and New (previously Folkies Old and New) concert series
Imbil Acoustic Music gathering – early 1990’s
Colonial Balls

Please pass this message on to any performer you know who may have played a set in these concerts.

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UPDATE
August 2014

The committee are delighted to announce that they have recently acquitted a Brisbane City Council Community History Grant. The funds were awarded during 2013 to further assist the Brisbane Folk History Project in meeting its aims. Funds were used to engage a qualified writer to create text for a book and website, from collected oral histories.

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February 2014

Brisbane Folk History Project membership drive and fundraiser

Sunday 9th March 2014
3PM - 8PM

The venue :
New Farm Bowls Club,
home of the BUg and the Brisbane Music Bureau.

With a fabulous program, terrific prizes and an opportunity to become a fully fledged BFHP member.

Put it in your calendar!!

Tickets will be $20 each or $15 concession
or $25 with 2 years membership.

Great line-up: 

The Company
Rebecca Wright and Donald McKay
Cloudstreet
3 Miles From Texas

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January 2013
BRISBANE FOLK HISTORY PROJECT FUNDRAISER CONCERT

Brisbane Folk History Project has had a big year. We’ve strengthened our relationship with the State Library of Queensland, contributing a filing cabinet’s worth of memorabilia to the Music collection. We’ve participated actively in the exhibition Live! Queensland Band Culture, and we’re part of ongoing discussions about how to build on this successful showcase of Brisbane music history. We secured a small equipment grant through the Gaming Fund, for a camera and some hard drives, and a Brisbane City Council Community Heritage Grant to create Brisbane Folk, a book based on the oral history interviews we’ve been collecting over the last five years. None of this would have been possible without the support of folkies like yourselves – thank you!

In the remaining two years of the project, we need to raise more funds for specific purposes: transcribing oral histories (and collecting a few more), digitising the old recordings we’ve gathered (and collecting a few more!), and leveraging another grant to support publication of the book.

To keep the FUN in fundraising, we’re holding another mini-festival afternoon with great bands at great value for a great cause. We’d love to see you there!

Like a mini-festival, there will be several wonderful bands over the course of a Sunday afternoon. Feel free to come for the whole time or just your favourites. To assist your planning, the line-up and times will be posted here. You can also join our Facebook event page ‘Brisbane Folk History Project Fundraiser’ for more information.

When: Sunday 9th March, 3pm – 8pm
Where: New Farm Bowls Club (home of The BUG)
Cost: $25 - including 2 year membership of Brisbane Folk History Project
$20 concert only
$15 concert only concession.

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June 2012
Brisbane Folk History Project at the
National Folk Festival

The Brisbane Folk History Project applied to the 2012 National Folk Festival, and was invited to host a stall in the Conference Centre outside the Trocadero venue. A project team consisting of Mary Brettell, Alison MacKenzie, Mark Anderson and Andrea Baldwin organised a stall to promote the project, and show off some of the great material that has been collected so far. Several of our local 'Queensland year' attendees also helped out with the stall – thank you, you know who you are!

Response to the stall was very positive. The team met some wonderful and supportive people who offered all sorts of assistance. As just one example, festival attendees identified many of the "mystery" folk in Mary's photos, which date back to the 1960s.

You will soon be able to see some photos of the stall and the festival here ...

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FABULOUS FUND RAISER FOR FOLK

25 MARCH 2012

The concert held
Sunday afternoon concert
25th March

at the Danish Club,
36 Austin Street,
Newstead.

was a wonderful success and the Brisbane Folk History Project committe would like to sincerely thank the members of the bands who so generously gave their time and talents and the folk who cam along to enjoy the entertainment and make the day a great success.

Participating Groups

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Update February 2012
Queensland State Library Interest

The Brisbane Folk History Project has been contacted by the Queensland Music Coordinator in the State Library, Laurel Dingle.

The collection Laura is working with is the John Oxley Library specializing exclusively in Queensland materials.

The reason for this current focus is to fill retrospective gaps in the State Library’s Queensland music collection, and to create networks and structures which will ensure that they collect as comprehensively as possible from this point on. The ultimate aim is to create a collection which authentically reflects the cultural memory of all Queenslanders as it relates to music.

This means that they house the material in ideal conditions for its preservation into the future and make it accessible for use by current and future musicians and researchers.

Laura and her team are interested in housing the material collected and produced by the Brisbane Folk History Project in the State Library. The library frequently exhibits material from the rich John Oxley collections. Also, public programs, usually involving performances, are often organized to bring these materials before the mainstream public.

Folk music in particular carries so much historical content that helps to define the essence of being a Queenslander. Laura states that is exactly what they are aiming to collect for future generations.

Andrea Baldwin, Mark Smith and Mary Brettell met with Laura on 22 January 2012 and negotiations for the hand-over will continue.

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UPDATE 2011

The committee are delighted to announce that the Brisbane City Council, funds through their Program Grant program, have awarded funds to further assist the Brisbane Folk History Project in meeting its aims. Funds will be used to employ a part-time project coordinator as well as to cover the costs of transcribing previously collected interview recordings.