By TANIA PHILLIPS
FOR a lot of us our first glimpse of the Perch Creek Family Jugband came back on Spicks and Specks but for others in the valley it was a long time before that.
Perch Creek sits on the other side of the Tweed out beyond Uki and in fact the band – made up mainly of siblings recorded their last album, as legend has it, in a house out the back of Doon Doon.
Camilla Hodgkins, one of four siblings and five lead vocalists in a band of young people singing songs from a bygone era and a lot of their own creations, says the next album will probably be in a house somewhere.
However this time it will be in Victoria – where they have relocated, for the culture and the opportunities. They better make their mind up soon – they have recently emerged from a week-long song writing session in a rented house nestled in the sand dunes of the Mornington Peninsula and hope to record before the end of the year.
They already have a single “Big Things Calling” and are touring to support it coming to Bangalow and the Gold Coast this week. No Tweed this time – maybe when the album comes out – before they head overseas next year.
Like the creek itself, the Perch Creek Family Jugband are at times raging and relentless and at others placid and haunting. Featuring their five lead vocalists whose voices combine in sublime harmonies over instrumentation as diverse as the trombone, frailing banjo, washboard, double bass, overdriven blues harp, musical saw, tap dancing and a whole lot of other stuff including, of course, the jug.
Big Things Calling will feature on the band’s upcoming album due for release later this year, but in the mean time the track will be available free to download from www.perchcreek.com as of the 31st of May. The band will be previewing a selection of brand new original songs as well as (you guessed it) Big Things Calling at The Bangalow Bowling Club.
Who: Perch Creek Family Jugband
Where: Bangalow Bowling Club
When: Tix: $18 (+bf) Pre / $22 Door
Avail: www.kupromotions.com.au and the venue
Doors 7pm / Show 7.30pm (check their website for details of the GC gig).
