Australian Bush Music was pioneered (some would say revived) by bands such as The Bushwackers and Redgum (and many others). It pretends to be from the convict days and the gold rush, but most of it was written this century, notably in the big nostalgia binge during and after the First World War. Much of it is dance music, and the dances are mainly either progressive dances such as the heeltoe polka (aka cancan polka) and barn dances, and set dances such as strip the willow. One of our specialities is the Pride of Erin, which worked well as a bridal waltz recently. As well as these common dances there are others with a distinctly Australian flavour. Scottish Country Dancing and American Square Dancing are close relatives to bush dancing, but by tradition bush dances are far less formal.
In theory bush music also includes many beautiful ballads, but we have normally found people would rather dance. We have played anything from a single 25 minute set to a full 5 hours with breaks for the dancers to get their breath.
The beauty of bush music is that it appeals to an enormous variety of tastes and abilities and to all age groups. Even the young teens who regard it as uncool find they enjoy it (they may not admit how much). Learning the dances is easy, we assume no prior knowledge. We have played for intellectually disabled groups quite successfully, and also for groups who spoke little english. Sheepdip, another Sydney bush band, has done a dance for people in wheelchairs. They say the Mexican Hat Dance was the biggest hit.
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