It’s been a huge year! Thank you to everyone who helped make it so

By slim dime | November 28, 2018

It’s been an epic year of gigs and Festivals – thank you to everyone who came along to our shows, bought our music and gave us hugs! We’ve both hit the end of the year feeling very blessed, grateful for a wonderful year and looking forward to shows next year after a good rest.

We had a fantastic time in Tasmania in April, and with a little help from our friends some great shows.

Tasmania is astoundingly beautiful, everywhere we went was a pleasure, the food gorgeous and the folk were welcoming and kind.

Our first gig was to record a Live to air – with C.C. Thornley from the most splendid band The Black Swans of Trespass on Hobart’s Edge Radio 99.3 FM– on his weekly show, The Naked Folks. We are blessed to have good friends, Christina Chiavassa was kind enough to organise our mini-tour for us and we loved playing at Bright Eyes at The Brooke Street Pier – great venue and wonderful listening audience.

We played a great show in gorgeous Cygnet at The Red Velvet Lounge, a lovely cafe/bar/restaurant. We were so pleased to be received so warmly by the locals who hear some truly world class music at the annual Cygnet Folk Festival.

Everywhere we go I (Jen) takes photos, which began as a part of our last album, a photographic Travelogue – photos here on instagram. A incredible highlight this year was a 2500km round trip to White Cliffs in NSW for the White Cliffs Music Festival. For the first time we felt as if we were seeing Australia, the red dirt country. It was alive with wildlife. Big sky. Extraordinary.

We staying in an amazing house that was a retired opal mine, underground. We had the penthouse suite, above ground, an eyrie….. Thank you Anne Baker for your incredible Festival! Playing our Gospel songs in the tiny stone church in Whitecliffs was extraordinary, that it was a part of a service about Elvis’ deep love and appreciation for Gospel Music featuring an Elvis Impersonator in full Vegas white jumpsuit mode was…….. Royden Donohue has the most gorgeous voice and an audible love for the King.

Although we were only away for a week it felt like years had passed, it was a live changing experience.

A few local standout gigs, a support for our most excellent friend Teresa Dixon to launch her beautiful album “Bass Straight”, Rezza House Concerts invited us to support the amazing Western Australians Belle Harvey & Helen Townsend. We also discovered a nifty new bar in Castlemaine – The Taproom at Shedshaker Brewery, thank you to Steve Charman for his interview on his show “Open Tuning” on Main FM. It’s always a pleasure to play at our old local, Oscar’s Alehouse, with old friends The Burning Bridges and new friends Flying Home. Festival Season is always a blast and the Kelly Country Pick is a cracker – thanks Peter Hisco for another brilliant year.

Rezza House Concert with Belle Harvey & Helen Townsend

The Priory is a great place to stay & Beechworth is beautiful. We stayed up late and picked ’til it hurt! oh boy, did it hurt…….

The Guildford Banjo Jamboree is a crackerjack pick, we had a ball. Thank you Jeanette Gillespie for another fantastic year! Castlemaine is a favourite place of ours to visit.

We played at our first Uranquinty Folk Festival this year and really enjoyed this laid back little festival. Thanks to Peter Hood! Then we traveled to Kinglake for the Foggy Mountain Music Festival. We had a great time jamming all day and night, it’s a lovely festival and we always enjoy heading to Kinglake. Thank you Mark, Brad and Sarah for all your hard work! The best part of a good Festival is staying up all night and havin’ a pick with other musicians. It has been an amazing gift meeting so many awesome players to hang out with.

Mountaingrass is always a highlight of our year, we stayed in posher digs than we are accustomed! The weekend was a great success, a new venue for Mountaingrass meant that it had a lovely air of excitement and anticipation. The lovely gardens of May Day Hills were in full bloom, the air perfumed and honeyed. Although it did play havoc with the sinuses it looked glorious. We were extremely lucky to receive a great live review from Listening Through the Lens – thank you to Rob Dickens and Jim Jacob for the photograph. Thanks to the Mountaingrass crew for an amazing effort – special thanks to Evan, Helen & Susan.

“They also doff their hats to traditions and they clearly know and appreciate their musical antecedents………. Her voice is melodious and his playing very accomplished, making their work look effortless as do the best performers. The harmonies are sweet and nuanced, like the A.P. Carter vocal drift to and from the microphone that they use.” – Rob Dickens – Listening Through the Lens

so, another fantastic year and with a little help from our friends next year is lookin’ pretty awesome too… with plans to record again and some tasty gigs booked already!

Tasmania here we come!

By slim dime | April 21, 2018

We’re off to lovely Tasmania – but before we do we’ve got a special gig at Mountain Pickers – hope to see y’all there

Mountain Pickers Association

Ferntree Gully Bowling Club – 2A Glenfern Rd , Ferntree Gully

For Table Bookings ring – 9753 5888

Members – $10 Non Members – $15 Concession – $12

Feature Act – Last Tuesday Club Night

April 24th from 7pm

We love Tasmania, the last time we were in Tassie was for the Cygnet Folk Festival last year.

For all you Taswegian Folks a list of our upcoming shows follows. Special thanks to Christina for organising all these awesome shows for us – with a little help from our friends…….

“I’m A Stranger in This Town” original song by Slim Dime. Filmed by Peg Leg Productions.

Director of Photography – Joshua Collings. Camera A – Joshua Collings. Camera B – Tristan Pierce. Post Production – Joshua Collings.

Sound Production & Mix – Stovepipe Studios – Matt Walker & Rowan Matthews.

Live to air- with C.C. Thornley

Edge Radio 99.3 FM- The Naked Folks

Airs – Friday 27th April 6pm

Bright Eyes – Hobart – Tasmania

Friday 27th April 6-8 pm

Red Velvet Lounge – cygnet – Tasmania

Saturday 28th April

doors open & dinner from 6pm

to book a table phone – 6295 0730

music from 7-9:30pm

$10 at the door

Bright Eyes– Hobart – Tasmania

Sunday 29th April 4-6 pm

Live at the Wharf – ulverstone – Tasmania

The Gnomon Pavilion at the Wharf, Ulverstone, Tasmania

Friday 4th May 5:30 – 7:30pm $5 donation entry

“Jump Up Jimmy Creek” original song by Slim Dime. Filmed by Peg Leg Productions.

Director of Photography – Joshua Collings. Camera A – Joshua Collings. Camera B – Tristan Pierce. Post Production – Joshua Collings.

Sound Production & Mix – Stovepipe Studios – Matt Walker & Rowan Matthews.

Festivals, Road Trips & Videos – Mountaingrass, Yinnar & Foggy Mountain

By slim dime | December 3, 2017

It’s the end of a great year for us – and with the help of our friends we’ve done some amazing things and been to some gorgeous places. We recorded some videos with Pegleg Productions that have come up a treat! We’re really excited to share some of the new songs we’ve been writing.

“That Ole Train” original song by Slim Dime. Filmed by Peg Leg Productions.

Director of Photography – Joshua Collings. Camera A – Joshua Collings. Camera B – Tristan Pierce. Post Production – Joshua Collings.

Sound Production & Mix – Stovepipe Studios – Matt Walker & Rowan Matthews.

‘That Ole Train’ – is an original tune about the last great ride we all take. All aboard! Get ready for some yodelling……Huge thank you to Josh & Tristan from Pegleg Productions and Matt & Rowan from Stovepipe Studios.

“Jump Up Jimmy Creek” original song by Slim Dime. Filmed by Peg Leg Productions.

Director of Photography – Joshua Collings. Camera A – Joshua Collings. Camera B – Tristan Pierce. Post Production – Joshua Collings.

Sound Production & Mix – Stovepipe Studios – Matt Walker & Rowan Matthews.

‘Jump Up Jimmy Creek’ is a tune Chris wrote that includes some of the place names we’ve discovered on our travels – that ole Big Rig Mama’s rollin’ down the line. Again a huge thank you to Josh & Tristan from Pegleg Productions and Matt & Rowan from Stovepipe Studios. Cameo appearance from our cat Mazzie who approves every song before anyone else does – if she doesn’t like it, we won’t share it – she has impeccable taste in music & we trust her judgement (we also call her the Folk Cat).

As we always say about our music – these songs are new, but sound as though they’ve always existed, somewhere on a mountaintop……

We headed to the Gippslands town of Yinnar,

as guests of the mighty Strzelecki Stringbusters in September – those boys know how how to have a good ole time!

The town of Yinnar has invested in some amazing public art – it’s fantastic to see a small town support the Arts!

home again jiggity-jig

In October we traveled to Foggy Mountain Bluegrass Festival in the lovely town of Kinglake.

Had a great weekend of pickin’ and came home tired but happy – lovely to catch up with old friends & make some new ones! The weather was a little wild but no-one’s spirits were dampened.

The cottage in Spring is lovely, gorgeous flowers, the grass was growing too fast to keep up with. It’s a bit ‘Fairy Tale Cottage’ up here on the hill………

It’s great to get booked for a private function & do somethin’ a little different, we played a wedding at Yarra Valley Estate which was a great night – lovely couple who requested banjar & liked our tattoos

The end of our year & a real highlight was Mountaingrass Bluegrass & Old Time Music Festival – it’s a great Festival & we felt really honoured to be invited to play there in the company of the world’s finest pickers.

More wild weather……… and gorgeous countryside…

Just managed to pitch the tent before the thunder started rollin’ in

As always the best thing about an excellent Festival is catching up with friends, havin’ a pick & meeting new people who love music.

We played ’til our fingers hurt! Some of the highlights for us were being included in the “Purely Acoustic” Concert hosted by Tony O’Rourke alongside some of the best pickers in Australia and the CD Launch of the Women in Stringbands Project – we are so proud to have been included on a compilation with an amazing array of women who play in string bands in Australasia.

A safe journey home in startlingly bright (and warm) sunshine, exhausted, happy and sore.

To our little cabin on the hill

now we finish writing our next album and catch up on our sleep!

Festivals and Photos – Travelogue

By slim dime | September 19, 2017

We love to travel and play in different places with different folk. Road trips are our kinda fun – Chris likes to drive and Jen likes to take photographs.

We’ve been very lucky over the last few months to be able to travel to some fantastic places, we live in a beautiful place and appreciate it all the more when we return after a road trip!

It’s a real challenge to get a good photograph from a moving vehicle and very satisfying when it works well.

The Kelly Country Pick is in beautiful Beechworth – always a real pleasure the visit a gorgeous town and have a pick with excellent musicians. KCP is all about the pickin’!

Kelly Country Pick 2017 — Beechworth, Victoria

We had a great time, a perfect mix of pickin’ and performing.

It’s lovely to live in a beautiful place – very inspiring, going away often inspires us to experience our area at home with fresh eyes.

We were very lucky to be invited to return to Wirrina Bluegrass & Acoustic Roots Festival this year- a great time and really great performers – we felt blessed to be in such excellent company!

So we hit he road again – headed for South Australia.

Wirrina Cove is on the gorgeous Fleurieu Peninsula, a real pleasure to visit.

Despite some incredibly wild, wet and windy weather – we endured…..

Thanks to Lisa Martin for recording us on Sunday, in the wild windy tent! Jen was very ill all weekend with the flu but we endured! This is our version of the Ola Belle Reed song – I’ve Endured, which was inspired by South Australia’s own Cherry Pickers version of the same.

It’s always a pleasure to jam with great musicians and Wirrina was no exception.

Slim Dime - Jen — At Wirrina 2017 – photo thanks to Ian Fisk

Slim Dime - Chris — At Wirrina 2017 – photo thanks to Ian Fisk

As usual the most intrepid Ian Fisk was there documenting both festivals. He has become a stalwart presence at most events.

After a wild weekend of weather the sun peeped out briefly……..

and the wild weather followed us home again.

for a fortnight of unusually cold weather all the way from Antarctica.

Which bought some fantastic clouds our way and some welcome rain.

We headed north, but not too far to our first Guildford Banjo Jamboree.

We had a fun banjo-centric set all prepared.

We enjoyed playing with fine folk all weekend.

And appreciated the gorgeous historic area.

As always all photos by Jennifer Land unless otherwise credited

Jen on instagram

Travelogue……….the journeys continue

By slim dime | February 7, 2017

01home

The Travelogue continues – we are blessed to have the opportunity to travel to some incredible places to play our music.

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We headed north to Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival in October travelling through Kelly Country and were diverted by floodwaters.

DarlingPoint

Jerilderie

We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival, caught up with old friends and made some new ones too.

Dorrigo

Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival

photo thanks to Kym Watling

Luckily living in a beautiful part of the world, it is always a pleasure to return home after some travels.

We were really lucky to be booked to play at Happy Wanderer Festival.

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Small, friendly and very welcoming – a lovely Festival.

08happywanderer — Happy Wanderer Festival

Having moved house in the last six months we took a little time to play shows a little closer to home….

Appalachian Heaven String Band were kind enough to invite us to join them at Open Studio for a night of ole time string band music – it’s a real honour to know one of Australia’s finest bands that play old time string band music.

MOTH – Music on the Hill has very quickly established itself as a premium venue for live acoustic music.

12moth

We supported the incredibly talented Tresses featuring Ella Hooper, Melody Pool and Gena Rose Bruce.

Next stop Tasmania for the Cygnet Folk Festival.

Tasmania would have to be one of the loveliest places to visit in Australia – incredible food, gorgeous natural environment and fantastic music – we had an absolute ball.

14penguintas — Penguin in Penguin Tasmania

Friends have just bought an old bank in Queenstown Tasmania and have opened an amazing gallery called Q Bank Gallery.

We found an old church on a hill in Gretna…..

Cygnet is a beautiful town and Cygnet Folk Festival has really grown since we had been there about 10 years ago. We were spoiled by the most glorious weather!

We stayed in Dover.

The little church on the hill…..

As always all photos by Jennifer Land unless otherwise credited

Jen on instagram

Travelogue – Slim Dime released 2016

CD Baby – Travelogue on CD Baby

iTunes – Travelogue on iTunes

Bandcamp – Travelogue on Bandcamp

Festivals – Have guitars (and banjo), will travel!

By slim dime | September 14, 2016

We have been very fortunate this year and have been accepted into some fantastic festivals! The best part of playing at a Festival is the opportunity to meet and jam with other fantastic players.

It also takes us to places we may not have traveled to otherwise. Here’s a wee Travelogue of the journey so far and a list the Festivals we’re playing 2016.

on the way to Great Alpine Pick at Bonny Doon

While at Great Alpine Pick – Mt Hotham While at Mt Beauty Music Festival

At Kelly Country Pick 2016 - photo thanks to Ian Fisk — At Kelly Country Pick 2016 – photo thanks to Ian Fisk

Lake Sambal in Beechworth while at Kelly Country Pick

At Second Valley while at Wirrina Bluegrass and Acoustic Roots Festival

At Lady Bay while at Wirrina Bluegrass and Acoustic Roots Festival

wirrina201601 — At Wirrina Bluegrass and Acoustic Roots Festival photo thanks to Ian Fisk

Rapid Bay while at Wirrina Bluegrass and Acoustic Roots Festival

Great Alpine Pick

Friday 15^th April to Sunday 17^th April 2016

Mt Beauty Music Festival

Friday 29^th April to Sunday 1^st May 2016

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Kelly Country Pick

19th August – 21st August

Kelly Country Pick – art by Howard Rains

Wirrina Bluegrass and Acoustic Roots Festival

2nd – 4th September

Foggy Mountain Bluegrass Festival

14th – 16th October

Dorrigo Folk & Bluegrass Festival

21st – 23rd October

Happy Wanderer Festival

28th – 31st October

Cygnet Folk Festival

6th – 8th January

kellycountry201601 — At Kelly Country Pick photo thanks to Ian Fisk

All photos by Jennifer Land unless otherwise credited

Jen on instagram

4am and Pickin’ Oakum – Live at the Harrietville Caravan Park!

By slim dime | May 20, 2016

4am & Pickin’ Oakum – Two Instrumentals – Live at the Harrietville Caravan Park!

Instrumental songs are like picture books: they tell stories without words.

here’s one that is light

and one that is dark

and a story in pictures

all photographs taken in April 2016 while at the Mt Beauty Music Festival

by J. Land – instagram

“Estelle” – Live at the Harrietville Caravan Park!

By slim dime | May 18, 2016

We recently traveled to Harrietville for GAP – the Great Alpine Pick. We stayed in the most excellent on-site caravan. It was so terribly awesome that we filmed some videos there.

It had an autumnal burnt orange vibe that absolutely matched the beautiful Autumn weather.

I fell in love with it and took WAY too many photographs of it’s 1970’s splendor.

I particularly loved the bedside lamp.

“Estelle” is a song we wrote a few years ago and with the encouragement of our Goddaughter we dusted her off and added another verse. We recorded it recently and it will appear on our new album ‘Travelogue’ – which you can preview here.

Travelogue on Soundcloud

A classic folk song about share house living that tells the true, but sad story of Estelle, who owns only a few photos and a stained t-shirt as a result of her last few houses having burned down.

“Estelle” – Live at the Harrietville Caravan Park!

One of the reasons that we named our album ‘Travelogue’ is that we like to travel & I always take photographs as we go……. Here are some from that journey

Bonnie Doon

Mt Hotham

all photographs taken in April 2016 by J. Land – instagram

Beautiful Beechworth – Kelly Country Pick 2015

By slim dime | August 25, 2015

We recently traveled to Beechworth Victoria for the 2015 Kelly Country Pick, whenever we go on a road trip I take photographs. I always put a few on Instagram & Facebook, it’s become part of the journey for me. The images feed into the songs we write, themes emerge. With Chris’ encouragement I thought I might begin to share what we see when we head off for gigs or Festivals.

I have always thought in pictures and struggle to think of words to describe…… stuff