Chris Duffy Tribute & CD Launch

Banjo Time is full of dash and dazzle, a testament to the late Chris Duffy's eclectic taste, his talent, his wit and intelligence. So set your clocks to universal banjo time, sit back and enjoy! Note: DOORS OPEN 2.30pm, and SHOW STARTS 3pm. FEATURING CHRIS’S FRIENDS – IAN TREDDINICK, PETER DAFFY, PAUL WOOKEY, JOHN KANE DOUG WALLACE, PETE FIDLER, RICK DEMPSTER, COOLGRASS, FAT CHANCE & MORE!

There’s a twang in the air and that’s because Chris “Digits” Duffy had pulled another treat out of his bag after years of playing mostly jazz guitar!!!

This tribute gig/CD launch features some of Australia’s great Bluegrass musicians and bands including John Kane, Paul Wookey, Ian Treddinick, Peter Daffy, Doug Wallace, Pete Fidler, Steve Gilchrist, Rick Dempster and many more who played with Chris at one time or another. Bands including Coolgrass and Fat Chance will also
be there. It promises to be a great Bluegrass afternoon!

About Chris Duffy: Chris Duffy played the banjo for about 40 years and was one of the first generation of Bluegrass banjo players in Australia. He toured Australia extensively – with Sim Dusty’s band as well as in his own right – and was Australia’s first National Banjo Champion. He performed in long-running Broadway musicals, made movie soundtracks and wrote for TV shows and had five albums released before Banjo Time. Chris was also well known for bringing and touring artists to Australia – Vince Gill, Byron Berline, Dan Crary, Bill Keith, Mark O’Connor among them. Chris was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in April 2012 and died on 24 July, just a few days before Banjo Time was completed, but he saw the final cover and heard the final mix. He liked it and so will you!

Banjo Time will be available for sale at the gig at the special price of $20 (or available online from www.australianbluegrass.com at $25).

Here’s what someone else had to say about the album:

… this beautiful, swingy, happy little instrumental gem … would, of course, be what Chris Duffy would do. What he’s done here is original and stimulating: he combines repertoire that ranges from classical themes to swing standards to bluegrass, and all with upbeat, swingy arrangements that grab you with their ebullience and sass. Chris plays progressive three-finger banjo, jazzy archtop electric guitar, and even a little acoustic guitar flatpicking with a mix that hangs nicely together, is way cool and lays a nice interpretation on the music … you hear the voice of God humming along, quietly, down behind the strings. —Dan Crary

Updated performance times for the day (subject to change):

3.00 – Fat Chance

3.25 – Gutbucket Jugband

3.50 – Brendan Shearson and Don Gula

4.00 – Paul Wookey and John Kane

4.30 – Peter Daffy and Steve Gilchrist, Rick Dempster and friends

5.00 – Coolgrass

5.30 – John Kane, Ziggy Treddinick and friends