Telstra in Melbourne enters a team each year in the One Ride fundraiser for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and for several years now we've provided music for an auction before the ride, where members of the Telstra community come together to add some extra support for the cause. This year we took the quintet to the 31st floor of the Telstra building in Melbourne CBD, where the view provided a magnificent backdrop to the music and the mouth-watering cycling gear which was donated for the auction!
In April we journeyed down the Surf Coast to the hamlet of Moggs Creek where Suze and her family and friends had hired this beautiful beach house to celebrate a couple of special occasions. It was a pleasure to play in such a warm and friendly environment, and particularly to such a musically sophisticated audience!
On March 4th, the trio travelled up to Porepunkah in the lovely Ovens Valley to play for Bron's 50th birthday party. On a hot and steamy evening we set up our battery-powered bandstand in the shade of a walnut orchard by the river and provided the backdrop to a celebration that was relaxed and casual yet somehow magical.
On Easter Monday our quintet made the trip down the Mornington Peninsula, where Genevieve was hosting a bucks-hens night for her friends Peter and Colleen at her beautiful house in Flinders. I always love bringing live music into people's backyards and living rooms, and it was a special treat to have the whole quintet onboard this time. Our thanks to Genevieve for having us, and best wishes to Peter and Colleen for your future together.
On the Saturday after St Patricks Day, the Geelong Racing Club held a special meeting and I was asked by Peter Hooper from SpiderJazz to bring along my newly-assembled battery-powered rolling PA rig and provide music inside the gates as punters arrived, then wheel up to the trackside corporate area and play between races. There were lots of people dressed for the occasion, including a bucks party of matched Luigis in Irish green, who I had to include in the video. Thanks to the GRC and SpiderJazz for a great day. Read on if you'd like to check out my extended discussion of battery-powered music.