My name is Tamsyn, and I've just recently arrived in Hobart from the U.S. to start a year of graduate studies at the University of Tasmania (got here July 09). I was able to carry my mandolin and my whistles on the plane, but given the nature of long-term travel ... luggage restrictions, and fears of fickle airline staff forcing fragile fiddles into the dark belly of the cargo hold .... I wasn't able to bring my fiddle with me to Australia.
I'm wondering if there are any fiddlers in the vicinity who a) might have a spare fiddle and wouldn't mind working out an arrangement for me play it occasionally while I'm here (or maybe even playing together sometime!); or b) know of someplace in the Hobart area where I could rent a fiddle for a reasonable price...
I can assure you I am a most conscientious and trustworthy individual! ... but it might help if I told you a *wee* bit more about myself. I'm 25 years old, originally from Pittsburgh, PA in the U.S., and I'm here on a Rotary Foundation scholarship to study environmental journalism for a year. I just got my Master's degree in journalism from the Univ. of Missouri-Columbia before coming here, and I'll be trying for either a supplemental Master's degree in environmental reporting, or possibly a PhD if I can get awarded a research fellowship from the university.
Any tips, advice, or assistance would be most appreciated (I can't imagine a year without playing a fiddle!). If you have any questions about me or my background -- or if you're in the area and feel like getting together (to ensure I'm not some sadistic instrument-hater!) -- please feel free to get in touch. I can be reached by email, or I have a local mobile number I could supply as well.
I wonder, did you manage to get your hands on a fiddle for Australia?
Perhaps you could get a reference from that lender to send to your 'would be' Tasmanian benefactor?
Or is this just a scam to acquire a Fiddle from each country you visit?
Only joking! - I mean, after all, how many degrees does a person need?
When I went back to uni for a year they got me practicing for two hours every night in International House whether they liked it or not except in exam weeks when I got barred from playing in the music room, so, if noone was about I practised in the laundry while the clothes were atumbling in the drier. Now that's incorrigible.
Cross-posting myself ........ Ah Ha the power! You trying to drop me in it there Scraper? tsk tsk ......Don't you think I've been in enough bother already, around here recently?
Sorry Ptarmi, guess its me done the cross posting after all, but looking at the comments in the sessions section, the Irish Murphy's sess in Hobart has folded, and the other one hasn't got any comments since '04. Could be old stuff. You couldn't have been any more helpful to Tamsyn though, so good on ya.
I wasn't here, on hols, when Tamsyn was passing through, but I left a nice fiddle with a crappy bow for her with a friend. She came and played it, I believe went to the local show with the friend, and later found an Irish muso in town to play with, who I hadn't heard of before or since. So she rocks, Tasmania. Is that recommendation enough?
I was in Hobart in March and even then the sessions in Irish Murphys were no more, and the Guinness there was so damn awful. But the New Sydney Hotel has sessions every week, can't remember what day of the week they're on, but I think it was at the weekend which had a load of musicians there.
The Distillery at the docks had an even nicer session going on, but I'm not sure if that's going on in winter.
My goodness!! .... A flurry of responses I never expected! (This is what happens when the difficulties of acquring internet at one's university off-campus house make regular mail checking a bit difficult!).
Many thanks for all the hellos and tips! Yes indeed .... I am back here in Oz -- happily, for longer this time! Some of you have exceedingly good memories .... otherwise I might have succeeded with my serial plot to pilfer as many fiddles from unsuspecting but would-be do-gooders in foreign countries as possible...... My plan, you see, was to charm the locals, snatch as many fiddles as possible, sell them at overcharged prices, and use the money to repay my student loans! Drat, found out (but I guess it'll be the U.S. government who will lose out on this one )........ I *did* find an old fiddle at a used goods stall in Salamanca Markets, quite a sad little fiddle in a sorry old state .... I suppose I shall be consigned to the likes of this now my cover is blown!
I do have some sad news about that Irish Murphy's session, though: not long after I got there, I tried going there to inquire about a possible Irish music session (and hopefully to locate some local fiddlers), but I was told that the session is no more .... forget why, exactly. I was too dismayed to pay attention. Haven't yet had a chance to find the other one, which I think is in downtown somewhere.
To answer your question, Ptarmigan, yes -- I did find access to some fiddles while here in Australia last time .... thanks to some very kind people, like Old Scraper, Tish, and another friend I made in Alice Springs (Barry McDonald -- quite a bizarre story about that one! Your friend, Marg (was that it?) may be the one to thank, though quite unwittingly ...... Took me to a lovely festival for the day (after playing your fiddle in her back garden!), then dropped me at Sean's pub ..... chanced to run into Barry, who is an ethnomusicologist, involved with the local Aboriginal community there, and has produced a couple CD's of Australian folk music that he researched for his PhD ..... most fortuitous ... and, he had a couple fiddles to spare! Here's a couple links to some info about his music:
I'll try giving those Tasmanian members an e-jingle and see if I can't work something out. Thanks so much for the information! Will also try to find the Saturday New Sydney Hotel session on of these weekends.....
And no worries about the vouchsafing .... I know how protective I am of my little 1920's mandolute, and you just never know in today's world who's out there for what ...... Though, would you believe that about a year or so ago, Gidon Kremer accidentally left his Stradivarius violin on a train he was riding, and someone who found it actually called the police to return it to him?? Most rare ... admirable, but rare .....
Thanks again everyone -- hope to report back with some good news!
Good luck Tamsyn. Yes, I rang Marg very excited when I read your post this morning. It was about two years and two or three weeks ago, I was in Cairns, I think it was at the time of Alice Springs show, but she remembers you. Let us know if you are ever coming this way again, perhaps I'll get to meet you. Sorry about cluttering up your thread cross posting with Ptarmigan. Hope the good news happens soon, can't imagine life without a fiddle. Cheers
Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
Hi there Everyone,
My name is Tamsyn, and I've just recently arrived in Hobart from the U.S. to start a year of graduate studies at the University of Tasmania (got here July 09). I was able to carry my mandolin and my whistles on the plane, but given the nature of long-term travel ... luggage restrictions, and fears of fickle airline staff forcing fragile fiddles into the dark belly of the cargo hold .... I wasn't able to bring my fiddle with me to Australia.
I'm wondering if there are any fiddlers in the vicinity who a) might have a spare fiddle and wouldn't mind working out an arrangement for me play it occasionally while I'm here (or maybe even playing together sometime!); or b) know of someplace in the Hobart area where I could rent a fiddle for a reasonable price...
I can assure you I am a most conscientious and trustworthy individual! ... but it might help if I told you a *wee* bit more about myself. I'm 25 years old, originally from Pittsburgh, PA in the U.S., and I'm here on a Rotary Foundation scholarship to study environmental journalism for a year. I just got my Master's degree in journalism from the Univ. of Missouri-Columbia before coming here, and I'll be trying for either a supplemental Master's degree in environmental reporting, or possibly a PhD if I can get awarded a research fellowship from the university.
Any tips, advice, or assistance would be most appreciated (I can't imagine a year without playing a fiddle!). If you have any questions about me or my background -- or if you're in the area and feel like getting together (to ensure I'm not some sadistic instrument-hater!) -- please feel free to get in touch. I can be reached by email, or I have a local mobile number I could supply as well.
Many thanks, and take care!
Tamsyn Jones
# Posted on July 28th 2006 by tamsyn
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
I see you are making a bit of a habit of this Tamsyn!
http://www.thesession.org/discussions/display/3661
I wonder, did you manage to get your hands on a fiddle for Australia?
Perhaps you could get a reference from that lender to send to your 'would be' Tasmanian benefactor?
Or is this just a scam to acquire a Fiddle from each country you visit?
Only joking! - I mean, after all, how many degrees does a person need?
# Posted on July 28th 2006 by Ptarmigan
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
Hi Tamsyn, so you're back in Oz. If it counts for anything, I will vouch for you. All the best in your studies. Cheers
# Posted on July 28th 2006 by Clear Drops
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
Perhaps your best bet would be to get yourself down to either of these two Hobart sessions & chat up the local Fiddler players:
Irish Murphy's:
http://www.thesession.org/sessions/display/523
New Sydney Hotel:
http://www.thesession.org/sessions/display/870
Must agree, I'd find it very hard to have to go without my Fiddle for a week, never mind a few months.
GOOD LUCK
# Posted on July 28th 2006 by Ptarmigan
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
Cross posted Ptarmi. and I would vouch for Tamsyn without prompting from anyone.
# Posted on July 28th 2006 by Clear Drops
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
No worries Scraper, I was only pulling Tamsyn's leg!
By the way, & while we're at it - do you have someone who will vouch for you?
Well, you can't be too careful now can you, in these troubled times!
# Posted on July 28th 2006 by Ptarmigan
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
The answer, Ptarmi, is definitely not! I'm incorrigible. Sad but true.
# Posted on July 28th 2006 by Clear Drops
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
Och now Scraper, I'm sure thon we scrapper you have, would vouch for you?
# Posted on July 28th 2006 by Ptarmigan
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
And I for her, but she's a tad incorrigible too.
# Posted on July 28th 2006 by Clear Drops
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
Looks like your well matched then! Let's hope this thread can find such a well matched Fiddle for Tamsyn!
# Posted on July 28th 2006 by Ptarmigan
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
When I went back to uni for a year they got me practicing for two hours every night in International House whether they liked it or not except in exam weeks when I got barred from playing in the music room, so, if noone was about I practised in the laundry while the clothes were atumbling in the drier. Now that's incorrigible.
# Posted on July 28th 2006 by Clear Drops
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
Cor, I wish you would stop crossposting and give Tamsyn a chance to find a fiddle.
# Posted on July 28th 2006 by Clear Drops
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
Tamsyn, the following members all live on Tasmania. Why not drop them all an E-mail, .................... you never know!
Chalson:
http://www.thesession.org/members/display/248
Pixi:
http://www.thesession.org/members/display/17390
briantheflute:
http://www.thesession.org/members/display/7165
guadagnini:
http://www.thesession.org/members/display/7705
Shinnick:
http://www.thesession.org/members/display/15179
sechan:
http://www.thesession.org/members/display/20008
bouzouki tom:
http://www.thesession.org/members/display/20794
mcardle:
http://www.thesession.org/members/display/21304
Dirk Flinthart:
http://www.thesession.org/members/display/23098
# Posted on July 28th 2006 by Ptarmigan
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
Cross-posting myself ........ Ah Ha the power!
You trying to drop me in it there Scraper? tsk tsk ......Don't you think I've been in enough bother already, around here recently?
# Posted on July 28th 2006 by Ptarmigan
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
Sorry Ptarmi, guess its me done the cross posting after all, but looking at the comments in the sessions section, the Irish Murphy's sess in Hobart has folded, and the other one hasn't got any comments since '04. Could be old stuff. You couldn't have been any more helpful to Tamsyn though, so good on ya.
I wasn't here, on hols, when Tamsyn was passing through, but I left a nice fiddle with a crappy bow for her with a friend. She came and played it, I believe went to the local show with the friend, and later found an Irish muso in town to play with, who I hadn't heard of before or since. So she rocks, Tasmania. Is that recommendation enough?
# Posted on July 29th 2006 by Clear Drops
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
I was in Hobart in March and even then the sessions in Irish Murphys were no more, and the Guinness there was so damn awful. But the New Sydney Hotel has sessions every week, can't remember what day of the week they're on, but I think it was at the weekend which had a load of musicians there.
The Distillery at the docks had an even nicer session going on, but I'm not sure if that's going on in winter.
# Posted on July 29th 2006 by smuit
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
My goodness!! .... A flurry of responses I never expected! (This is what happens when the difficulties of acquring internet at one's university off-campus house make regular mail checking a bit difficult!).
Many thanks for all the hellos and tips! Yes indeed .... I am back here in Oz -- happily, for longer this time! Some of you have exceedingly good memories .... otherwise I might have succeeded with my serial plot to pilfer as many fiddles from unsuspecting but would-be do-gooders in foreign countries as possible...... My plan, you see, was to charm the locals, snatch as many fiddles as possible, sell them at overcharged prices, and use the money to repay my student loans! Drat, found out (but I guess it'll be the U.S. government who will lose out on this one
)........ I *did* find an old fiddle at a used goods stall in Salamanca Markets, quite a sad little fiddle in a sorry old state .... I suppose I shall be consigned to the likes of this now my cover is blown!
I do have some sad news about that Irish Murphy's session, though: not long after I got there, I tried going there to inquire about a possible Irish music session (and hopefully to locate some local fiddlers), but I was told that the session is no more .... forget why, exactly. I was too dismayed to pay attention. Haven't yet had a chance to find the other one, which I think is in downtown somewhere.
To answer your question, Ptarmigan, yes -- I did find access to some fiddles while here in Australia last time .... thanks to some very kind people, like Old Scraper, Tish, and another friend I made in Alice Springs (Barry McDonald -- quite a bizarre story about that one! Your friend, Marg (was that it?) may be the one to thank, though quite unwittingly ...... Took me to a lovely festival for the day (after playing your fiddle in her back garden!), then dropped me at Sean's pub ..... chanced to run into Barry, who is an ethnomusicologist, involved with the local Aboriginal community there, and has produced a couple CD's of Australian folk music that he researched for his PhD ..... most fortuitous ... and, he had a couple fiddles to spare! Here's a couple links to some info about his music:
http://www.harbourtownrecords.com/marooan.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/australia-music-from-the-new-england-tablelands-of-new-south-wales).
I'll try giving those Tasmanian members an e-jingle and see if I can't work something out. Thanks so much for the information! Will also try to find the Saturday New Sydney Hotel session on of these weekends.....
And no worries about the vouchsafing .... I know how protective I am of my little 1920's mandolute, and you just never know in today's world who's out there for what ...... Though, would you believe that about a year or so ago, Gidon Kremer accidentally left his Stradivarius violin on a train he was riding, and someone who found it actually called the police to return it to him?? Most rare ... admirable, but rare .....
Thanks again everyone -- hope to report back with some good news!
Take care!
# Posted on July 29th 2006 by tamsyn
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
Good luck Tamsyn. Yes, I rang Marg very excited when I read your post this morning. It was about two years and two or three weeks ago, I was in Cairns, I think it was at the time of Alice Springs show, but she remembers you. Let us know if you are ever coming this way again, perhaps I'll get to meet you. Sorry about cluttering up your thread cross posting with Ptarmigan. Hope the good news happens soon, can't imagine life without a fiddle. Cheers
# Posted on July 29th 2006 by Clear Drops
Re: Fiddle to Borrow or Use in Hobart, Tasmania?
If you find yourself in launceston be sure to drop into the royal oak on a sunday afternoon!
# Posted on July 31st 2006 by fionak