Don Grieve and Peter Daffy
The historic Darlington pub will come alive to the sounds of folk and roots music this weekend with an inaugural afternoon of "very egalitarian" music. Camperdown-based musicians Don Grieve and Peter Daffy are hoping Sunday's acoustic event will develop into a monthly musical gig to be known as the Darlington sessions. "We're calling all folk and roots musicians for a real, live, old-fashioned music session that's totally informal", Don explained last week. Peter said that the central location and atmosphere of the Elephant Bridge Hotel should entice people from the local area as well as Geelong and Ballarat. Several car loads of enthusiasts were already planning to travel from Warrnambool. The pair is hoping the Darlington sessions will eventually lead to the formation of a Lakes and Craters Folk Club and ultimately the establishment of a true folk festival for the district. "We want to bring it back to the roots -- people playing music of their country", Don explained. Don grew up in Scotland's border area of Selkirk, learning the Border Ballads orally from the age of about five, and competing at a variety of festivals. He managed to entice a mate into teaching him guitar when he was 18 and now also lists the flute, mandolin and tin whistle as his instruments. Camperdown-born Peter admits to being a "late starter" when it comes to music, first picking up the guitar at teacher's college, but never taking a liking to "popular music". "Instead I became obsessed with folk music". He now plays mandolin, bazooka [sic] and guitar. Peter said the idea of the Darlington sessions came from a need to make the district part of a worldwide movement - creating a passport for people to make friends and feel at home. "Millions of people worldwide play at folk music sessions when you can just turn up and pull out a guitar and just join in. I've just thrived on sessions I've experienced in places like America and Scotland and I thought - wouldn't it be great to have something like that here." Don explained that getting young people to play with their peers in front of the public was a very important step, allowing them to further their musical skills and ensure that traditions are carried on. Peter stressed that it was also important for musicians who did not play folk music to keep their mind open to the idea. "Folk music has very strong genes here ... its amazing the number of people who have grown up on heavy metal and now enjoy bluegrass. If you play rock and roll, you'll never, ever get to meet your idol, but if you play folk, you will." The first Darlington session will start this Sunday, running from 2 pm "until stumps" and then continue on the first Sunday of each month.
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