he Australian Folk Music website was initiated by Richard Ayling; Mandolin player, Bicycle designer, environmentalist, entrepreneur, and motivator.
‘Why another Australian Folk Music site?’ you may ask.
‘….. The more sites the merrier ….’ says Richard.
Each site has its own distinctive flavour, however the reason for them existing at all is to put the music out there.
The rationale for this site is to bring your attention to the wonderful music which travelled with the early migrants to Australia. Many of the tunes are recognisable as having their beginnings in Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England. The people that brought them were living websites enriching their new home with the musical memories from one left behind.
The tunes, like memories and websites, became forgotten, lost and re-discovered.
They changed and evolved like any language. Old tunes changed and were played as remembered by generations of Australians. New tunes were written which accessed these memories and Names changed to include and honour the new found place people now called home.
It is still going on today with many fine Australian folk musicians looking back and bringing something new, marrying the Australian bush poets like Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson to the Australian red earth; and perhaps an old refrain or memory from tunes gone by.
The internet has opened up a world of music, this site is no different. It is a box holding many delights. Along with the familiar, there are also the tunes which became part of the Australian story and bush tradition and would be lost without keeping a record of the Informant – the living blogger of old – and the Collectors who were the living search engines.