itscountry.com.au Open in urlscan Pro
103.25.58.127  Public Scan

Form analysis
0 forms found in the DOM

Text Content

 * Home
 * Search all events
 * Add an event
 * News
 * Login
 * Register
 * Newsletter
 * Information
    * How to add an event
    * FAQ's
    * About ItsCountry
    * Privacy
    * Terms of Use
   
   
   
   
 * 





THE BONA FIDE TRAVELLERS – STRAIGHT OUT OF HISTORY


Back in the old days, when there were rather strict laws regulating when a pub
could or could not serve liquor, there emerged a character known as a “bona fide
traveller”. There were different variations of the law in different countries or
localities although, in a nutshell, serving liquor on a Sunday was prohibited
except when the customer was a “bona fide traveller”. Although there were many
lawsuits in the succeeding years trying to pin down the definition, a bona fide
traveller was basically a person coming from outside of the restricted locality
on the way to somewhere also outside the restricted locality, but who needed to
wet his whistle along the way.






Thirsty men and bartenders being what they are, it was not long before loopholes
were found in the law and the bona fide traveller began to acquire a rather
shady reputation. In Ireland and Great Britain, for instance, all a thirsty soul
had to prove was that he traveled for three miles from where he spent the night.
The bartender on the other hand only had to show that he “honestly believed”
that the customer was a bona fide traveller. And so, like the highwayman, the
bona fide traveller became a fixture in history.





As if straight out of the pages of music history, The Bona Fide Travellers have
burst upon the scene. A group of country musicians who earned their spurs before
the term “alt country” was coined, they were entertaining audiences at the same
time as The Dingoes, Greg Quill's Country Radio, Dead Livers, Bluestone and
others. Between them, the members of the group have almost a century of musical
performance. That explains the broad range of the mix they play from old-time
country and hillbilly to traditional folk and cowboy songs all the way to
acoustic blues.





The leader of the group, Graham “Snowy” Townsend has played in bands that span
generations, like The Wild Beaver Band and One-Armed Bandit in the 70's when he
also made a splash at a Bacchus Marsh Country Festival departing from the
traditional country music acts of the day. Townsend's musical band width
extended well into the 90's with The Operators. He has been on tour with outlaw
country rockers like JJ Cale, The Amazing Rhythm Aces and Steppenwolf.






The group has at bass Mike Parker who also appeared onstage with The Operators
and who first moved from New Zealand to Australia with The Slippery Sam Blues
Band. Shane Fitchett who handles drums, banjo-ukelele and backing vocals for the
group broke his teeth with Detroit garage, was last with The Swing Club then
came out of retirement to perform with The Bona Fide Travellers. Don Farrell who
plays lead guitar is a much sought after guitar teacher with over twenty years
behind him as a professional musician. He has played with Mick & The Aces, Sons
of the Outback, The Dead Livers, The Silverstring Outlaws and also played lead
guitar for Neil Murray and Monique Brumby in their touring outfits. Tony Persic,
a member of The Straight 8's for sixteen years, handles electric guitar and
brings a new dimension to the group's sound. Michael Schack takes care of dobro,
acoustic guitar and bass and is a founding member of The Dead Livers, the
legendary Melbourne outlaw country rock band. Mike also played with Kenny Joe
Blake and played in a backing band for Leslie Avril many years ago!





The BFT are playing at The Jug (acoustic trio) this Sunday arvo for a pretty
relaxed session from 2pm-4pm and stay tuned to find out more about their 2 new
video clips (Snowy Originals) which they have just finished shooting.





Check the Gig guide for the Bona Fide Travellers other upcoming gigs on
ItsCountry or visit their website Bona Fide Travellers





UPCOMING EVENTS

No events
Subscribe to RSS Feed

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back to Top

© 2024 ItsCountry