ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

Now, if we could just find a way to generate royalties from poetry, Leonie!

Hey, don't avoid Tamworth, a great comraderie of Poets meet there every year to perform, compete or just to socialise and put faces to names. A wonderful time.

Stephen, I was only joking asking what Wheat Wheat Wheat was about. I know that it would be about Barley.

I agree with you that this is a great place to put ideas out into the open. I was only fooling around, never take me too seriously!! lol My comedy poetry on paper breaks every rule in the book, put performance wise, it works fine. That is not to say that I don't put endless hours into crafting it specifically for performance, or that I don't spend weeks or months crafting my serious poems and songs. It's the fun of being a writer!!

Leonie,

On the music side.. I like music, therefore I avoid Tamworth. Mind you, from the programme of spoken word, I think it would be possible to go to Tamworth and not be forced to sit and suffer C&W music. I am having a bit of a joke here as I love many of the bands and solo artists that play at Folk Festivals and I am aware that they are play 'cross-over' music which can fit in the country scene. Providing they sing with an Australian accent I can appreciate all types of music. It is when they sing with a broad US drawl that the hackles rise.

My post was a bit tongue in cheek too, I appreciate most music as well. I don't mind C&W music in relatively small doses, don't even mind the broad US drawl (rather like it in fact) as long as it isn't a non-American faking it.

Neville - you have put that very well!

Zondrae - real music????????? C & W is real music!!!!!
Sounds like you need to go to Tamworth and have a listen!!
But certainly, you could spend most of the time doing the poetry circuit!! And the rest of the time socializing with the other poets!!

I really enjoyed Tamworth (tho' I do like C & W music anyway!!) but didn't actually go to a lot of the concerts. Spent quite a bit of time down Peel street, which I feel is the heart of the festival. So many up and coming artists trying to break into the scene, and some great, more established artists singing also. You could spend all day just wandering down Peel street and enjoying the atmosphere. (if you like country music, that is!!! )

When I went to Tamworth last year, I came home and wrote a poem about Peel street, because it was just so great to see so many people out there busking and entertaining the crowds. Probably posted it before, but will do so again - just to convince you to head off there one day!!!

Catchya
IRene

G'day Irene,

I was only kidding.... I like all types of music. (go on say it. both kinds? Country and Western)
If I went to Tamworth I would probably spend most of my time with the poets in one way or another.
We try to restrict our festival going to no more than one per month. January I am committed to our local festival which is run by the Illawarra Folk Club at Bulli. This is literally five minutes up the road. Is it great to be able to go to a festival and then go home to your own bed.

You must admit that a lot of country music is mournful. And you know what happens if you play a country album backwards, the dog comes home and your husband/wife comes back. Unfortunately you don't win Lotto.

I think a lot of the American artists are great - Steve Earle, his son Justin Townes Earle, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, John Prine. Great singer songwriters - great lyric-writers, as well as musicians.

G'day Stephen...
You raise a point that I struggle with too. As you say, the limitations of standard punctuation can be frustrating. As many will be aware, I am prone to use "..." quite a bit. I do this to indicate not so much a pause as a silent "beat" when I feel that a comma is insufficient. I've been marked down for this in comps, but to me it is the the best way to convey the intended sense. If CJ's opening line of the refrain had been written by me ( ) it would have looked like this...

Wheat...wheat...wheat...Oh, the sound of it is sweet.

It's interesting that in his "A Song Of Rain" the last line of the refrain is printed thus...

"And it's raining__raining__raining!"

No doubting the intended silent beat there! And it has the effect of extending this line beyond the length of the line it rhymes with. But then he was the master of changes in tempo.

The other area where the lack of "notation" can cause some readers problems is knowing where the stresses are intended to fall (and, indeed, secondary stresses). Most of us have had the unpleasant experience of hearing "The Man From Snowy River" recited sing-song fashion...

"There was movement at the station for the word had got a-round"

Might as well be reciting "Mary Had A Little Lamb". The advantage that you have, as do all writers who can also perform, is that you know exactly how you want your words to be spoken, so the listener's experience of the piece doesn't rely on their understanding of punctuation or "notation".

Cheers, Will.