MEMORABLE MOMENTS In My Musical Career:

Successfully broke the drought while performing a rain dance at a Meredith Community Street dance back in the '80s. The rain poured down after a 14 month drought, right on top of the band and the locals.

Most Bizarre:

Playing flute for the Geelong Funeral Parlour Christmas party at the morgue. The Champagne flowed freely from the brightly chromed coffin hoist!

Nicest Memories:

Garden Weddings, all places, all tastes, late brides, stressed mothers, cute babies, with harp, guitar, piano, dulcimer, banjo, mandolin accompaniment.

Greatest Buzz:

Busking on tin whistle in the London Underground with a group of gay men from US, London and Ireland...what a hoot. Public address announcement at Camden Station: "Would the street musicians at the end of the tunnel please remove yourselves."

Most Rewarding:

Playing at the Old Folks Homes. They really get into the swing.

Funniest:

Watching the dancers disappear one by one into the pool as the couples swung to the end of the set.

Scariest:

Being greeted by Ned Kelly thrusting his shot gun into our car on the night of the fancy dress New Year's eve ball at Seaspray farm.

Most Coincidental:

Driving for 2 days to Queensland then immediately bumping into a good muso friend - Terry Jacob from Brisbane (Fiddler/singer in Morton Bay Band) when I arrived at Maleny Folk Festival. He invited me to play with his band at that New Year's eve ball.

Most Exciting:

When the lyrics of a new song "Living in the Bush" came pouring out of my pen as the students came walking down the corridor towards me. 25 years on and my students still enjoy singing it.

Most Amazing:

The sound from my first hand made plastic flute. Great that Tadek and with his engineering skills has helped me develop a beautiful flute. Recently I have been asked to test a computer program for a physics student at the University of NSW. If this works well, all wind instruments will be able to be made to precise measurements and Beethoven will roll over in his grave.

Lost Moment:

When our band played on at the Victoria Hotel while the patrons threw money at us during a Port Fairy Folk Festival back in the early 80s.

One of the Craziest:

Performing in Adelaide's Lord Hindmarsh hotel with the "fun loving" Irishman, Peter Dennehy from Co. Cork, Ireland. All so spontaneous, and we were asked to do a regular gig there, but we only went over on the night train for a weekend visit.

Most Beautiful Weekend Gig:

Tasmania's Port Arthur penal settlement where the Irish festival was staged. Playing with Billy Moran (box) and Patrick McCusker (dec). for Eileen Moran's set dancing workshop. Meeting Irish comedian Geraldine Doyle in the haunted jail ruins. Boat trip to deadman's island - a poignant reminder of our grim colonial past and the atrocities.

Most Appreciated:

When I gave John McKinnon my old Mezon 1 row accordian after he lost all his instruments in the Ash Wednesday bushfires, February 1983.

Most Successful:

When the band wrote and performed a jingle for the Environment Group in Lara. Plans to put a toxic waste dump in Lara, a residential area only 10 minute drive from Geelong (population 175,000) were stalled.

Weirdest:

The scanned image of my concertina in the New Zealand airport x-ray machine. "What is this?" they asked, as 35 small wires showed up like a lot of hairy spider legs. They had been great gigs playing in pubs in and around Napier along the north Island east coast, at the time when the volcano was erupting, although the throat was quite dry and sore from the sulphur fumes that lay low over the towns.

Longest Musical Friendship:

With Liz and her Polish friends. We met during the Musical rehearsals at Teachers' College when we were teenagers. I was singing and Liz was playing Italian Accordian in the orchestra. More recently we performed with Tadek (trumpet) in the Polish dance band, and we found Agon again after losing him for 20 years - mean bluegrass fiddler, and we performed as a trio accompanying Mr Karpinski's Polish choir.

Most Extraordinary:

Meeting Ursula Saxer from Zurich Switzerland in the Ennis Station, County Clare, Ireland and although she spoke German and a smattering of English, we had a great time at the Willie Clancy Festival in Milltown Malbay, Ireland, July 1986, finding that everyone thought we were twins. We both played tin whistle, even had similar dogs and similar houses, hers in UK and mine in Australia. Thanks to email and telephone, we remained in contact for nearly 20 years and I managed to travel to UK and visit her just before her death from ovarian cancer in October 2004. A dear friend who is sadly missed.

Most Inspirational:

Playing tin whistle for the young patients at the Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne, Paddy's Market Appeal.

Most Confusing:

Playing organ at the Irish Mass for the Melbourne Irish Language Association. If you think English is tricky, try the Irish language. Luckily, I met Maurice Scanlon, a beautiful Irish Sean nos singer, whose first CD was released in 2002. He now performs regularly in Ireland.

Wettest Experience:

Flooded out at the Sunderland Music Festival near Sydney about Easter 1984. Tony and Michelle borrowed my tent and next morning they woke with a mouse swimming next to their pillow. Session with the Greeks, Irish also Steve Cooney playing his guitar.

Best Recent Session:

Port Fairy Festival 2001 when 30 musos from around the world knocked on my door at midnight and we played until the sun rose over the Moyne river. Caoilthe Ó Súilleabháin (button accordion) is an inspiration to all.

Most Bizarre:

Hiring a house and finding a voice at the other end of the phone was my former uni tutor - Julian Yu. Julian tutored me in music theory at La Trobe University in 1983. Unfortunately the music department no longer exists. I leased his house 14 years later and became neighbours and now best of friends. Julian, a talented composer has gone on to win many international awards for his compositions including opening theme at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. His compositions have been performed by many world leading symphonic and chamber orchestras.

Best Technical Experience:

Meeting Dave Findlay from Toronto, Canada via web cam.(Sound engineer, composer, musician and independent film producer) with his films featured at Cannes Film Festival 2004. Designed and managed his first web site and he instructed me on teaching trombone via web cam. I have had to teach brass instruments although I am a woodwind teacher. Here's hoping I don't lose my embouchure.

Best Computer Buzz:

Playing with musicians around the world via the internet, such as rock and roll guitarist Ole Andersen, Denmark, a long time chat friend. Planning on using technology to play with my internet friends on my CD (in pipeline), Mike in Belgium (Piano), Peter in Cork, Dave in Sweden (Piano).
Gloria's choir in Nova Scotia, Canada may perform my song, "Magpie in Harmony", plus local musos.

Luckiest - Relatively speaking:

Finding my cousin after 30 years and now regularly chatting on the internet.

Uncanny - :

Sitting next to Bernhard in the Dubliner pub in Bangkok. After chatting we realised that I had been promoting his band "Smokey Finish's" first rock celtic album on my celtic website for the previous 4 years. We both enjoyed a few fine weeks playing with the Tedsy's "Lost Abode Band" in Bangkok, Thailand.