Music
BUSHLAND BOOGIE
Bushland Boogie is a band that has been around for almost a decade. Along the way there has been a successful debut album called 100 Years Australia which made it into the Top 10 of the Band Section of the Gold Guitars in Tamworth in 2004 and also won writer Graham Scobie a Tamworth Songwriters Association Award for the title song.
But Bushland Boogie is much more than a country band as you will see from the backgrounds of the five members:
Graham Scobie is the lead singer and main songwriter of Bushland Boogie. He has a music career going back more than 30 years since he made his debut as a busker in the London Underground in 1977 He still plays the same guitar he bought in London as well as mandolin and harmonica. He also has two solo albums to his credit, By the Banks of the Billabong which was a finalist in the 2001 Tamworth Songwriters Association Awards and Aussie Gospel Bloke which won an Australian Gospel Music Award in 2006.
Michelle Roberts also sings lead in Bushland Boogie, plays guitar and writes songs. Her entertainment career started in the Johnny Young Talent School in Sydney as a dancer and has developed over the years as a singer and musician in church. Outside the band she is a teacher, tutor, dog breeder and also works in the banking industry.
Bud Dumas is the Bushland Boogie drummer. His career spans almost half a century, starting in his homeland of the United States and continuing through just about every style of music imaginable including jazz, rock, gospel, country and bush. He is a qualified architect, artist and town planner and has made his mark in Sydney in these three fields over a 38 year professional career. Contemporary Christian music and his spiritual journey play an increasingly large part in Bud’s musical life.
Keith Joliffe plucks the bass in the band and also has an extensive career mainly in the fields of folk and jazz and he is a member of the Moruya Jazz Festival committee. He commenced his music life in Canberra while doubling as a school principal. Keith holds a PhD in Education Administration.
Josiah Oddy is the classical musician of the band who, while still at school, already has an impressive list of performances as a solo artist. In fact, he has the rare distinction of being school captain of St Peter’s Anglican College at Broulee two years in a row. He was chosen for the 2006 Sydney Classical Guitar Society Scholarship, was one of only two musicians in Australia to be selected for the 2007 Australian Talented Youth Project a the ANU in Canberra and he is also a two-time finalist in the St Cecilia Scholarship.
Between them the members of Bushland Boogie are able to construct a performance of live music that can suit a great variety of occasions ranging from pubs and clubs to weddings and bush dances. The easy rapport between the band personnel ensures a lively atmosphere and a guarantee of a good time for all present.