Zig Zag Community Arts Inc.
Black Chook Chutney
December 2009
Black Chook
Chutney at the 2008 Zig Zag Festival - Rotary Checkerboard Stage
Photo Copyright Gillian Berry 2008
Photo Copyright Gillian Berry 2008
What do you call a band that grows out from what was a jam session?
What if someone brought a nice drop of red that had been left too long after opening and had gone a bit off; and instead of pouring it away, the concertina player took it to add to the chutney that was simmering at home?
Recipe
Then after learning a few tunes together, we were asked if we'd fill a gap in the schedule on the acoustic stage at the 2008 Zig Zag Festival. And we said yes, but...
What are we going to play?
What were the tunes we liked?
Were we good enough at them?
We had all collected earworms, those tunes that stay in your head and won't go away, even when you play something else to drown them out. All the best folk music traditions have their earworms. We compared notes (please excuse the unintended pun there) and found we had many shared earworms.
The next question was: did we like the tunes? surprisingly we did.
So that left us with: are we good enough to play them in public? And we realised we better practise!
But wait: what do we call ourselves?
And that was when the Chutney came back ...
By the time we got to the Festival we had played all the tunes enough to lose the fear, so this was it. We set up with a few props, explained the history, and the purpose of the group, and we made a good go at it.
Mark (accordion) Jenny (flute) (Photo (c)2008 by Gillian Berry)
Kevin played mandolin and mellodion (Photo (c)2008 by Gillian Berry)
We were happy with the performance, in spite of the nerves. (No-one threw fruit) and we got applause. People came and talked with us afterwards, and asked about the Music Sessions.
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Then in December 2008, we were asked to come to the Hills Folk Club, that's the Folk Club that meets on the First Friday of the month at Falls Farm, Cagney Way, Lesmurdie.
This was getting serious. Did we need more repertoire? Did we know any of the people who would be there? Can we practise that number again, and if the theme goes round and round, how do we know when to stop?
Thats a view of the
right side
and thats the left side of the group
There are at least 2 videos, some of which may appear here later (is this when we sign up for U Tube?)
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Are there plans for more outings?
Before term started who could say; term is just starting and there are requests for 2 more gigs, one promotional, one a fund-raiser.
OK! We'll be in it! Can we all come?
HeART in
the Park 15 February 2009and thats the left side of the group
There are at least 2 videos, some of which may appear here later (is this when we sign up for U Tube?)
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Are there plans for more outings?
Before term started who could say; term is just starting and there are requests for 2 more gigs, one promotional, one a fund-raiser.
OK! We'll be in it! Can we all come?
The Black Chooks under the trees in Stirk Park. We played for nearly an hour, and the sound with no amplifiers was great. Twelve of us turned out (thirteen if you include me) and we had a great time.
Tom, unaware of the amazing colours behind him
David Hoffman leading the charge on the keys
Another group shot, this time looking back towards the other activities
Complete Album on Dragancaor.net (thank you Gillian and Cory)
Meantime they danced
to us playing Nigun Atik
That's (L-R) Jen, Jo, Alina, and Mike.
The next gig was as the support band at the Zig Zag Bush Dance. OK, so we played dance numbers; and we played cool-off numbers between the dances. The practice CDs got faster and the dance numbers got longer. Thank you Numguts for inviting us!
Check out the pictures of the Bush Dance, we were there too!
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Playing at the Hills Folk Club on 3rd July 2009
Photos by Peter Goodall (C) 2009
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That's (L-R) Jen, Jo, Alina, and Mike.
The next gig was as the support band at the Zig Zag Bush Dance. OK, so we played dance numbers; and we played cool-off numbers between the dances. The practice CDs got faster and the dance numbers got longer. Thank you Numguts for inviting us!
Check out the pictures of the Bush Dance, we were there too!
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Playing at the Hills Folk Club on 3rd July 2009
Repertoire was
entirely comprised of American tunes - in recognition of
their independance day. So inevitably we had to dress the part!
Among the Chook chunes we scratched out were Turkey in the Straw, with lots of verses, and great participation from the packed audience.
Among the Chook chunes we scratched out were Turkey in the Straw, with lots of verses, and great participation from the packed audience.
Photos by Peter Goodall (C) 2009
Many thanks to the Hills Folk Club,
and Peter for the photos.
Phone-cam video of Black Chooks at the 25th October Zig Zag Festival
file is MP4 (plays in Quicktime player or Windows Media Player 9 or 10)
Chooks on the Checkerboard playing Kolo (Bosnian Trad)
December 2009
On 5 December 2009 Black Chook Chutney were Busking at the Guildford Heritage Festival, this recording (phoe cam again) they are playing the three Tuar Mor Polkas
video (C) 2009 Michael Cheffins
Phone-cam video of Black Chooks at the 25th October Zig Zag Festival
file is MP4 (plays in Quicktime player or Windows Media Player 9 or 10)
Chooks on the Checkerboard playing Kolo (Bosnian Trad)
December 2009
On 5 December 2009 Black Chook Chutney were Busking at the Guildford Heritage Festival, this recording (phoe cam again) they are playing the three Tuar Mor Polkas
video (C) 2009 Michael Cheffins
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