Casual club playing the blues

FOR twelve years, a dedicated group of musicians has been regularly meeting, bonded by their love of the blues.

The Bendigo Blues Club holds monthly jam sessions at the Allies Hotel in Eaglehawk, led by Roy Webb, otherwise known as Chief Billyroy Buzzard.

Webb said he was inspired to create the relaxed, social club after realising a lot of Bendigo musicians weren’t playing together.

“A lot of musos in the area sort of knew each other, but they didn’t play together,” he said. “So I thought I’d start just a blues jam.”

“It was really quiet the first few times, 10 or 15 people, but then it built up and a lot of good players started coming along, so the standard was really good. There are good players in the area.

“Players would come from all over the state, it has a good reputation as being a friendly blues club.”

The club first started at the old Newmarket Hotel, before eventually moving to the Gold Mines Hotel, where Webb organised regular gigs and shows.

When the owners moved on, Webb moved the club to the Allies Hotel.

He said younger musicians have been involved in the club, including Rhyley McGrath and Bill Barber.

Webb also runs the North of the Tracks Musicians Club, which has started hosting open mic nights every Thursday at the Casa Diverso café.

“My main concentration now is to have a localised music scene this side of town, rather than the centre of town,” he said.

Webb rejects the idea of a committee run club, as well as the idea that music is about making money.

“We’re not after packing the joint out, we just want to play the music,” he said. “Money’s not involved in this… if you want to play music, you want to play music to enjoy it.”

The Bendigo Blues Club 12th birthday jam session takes place on Sunday, 12 June at the Allies hotel from 2pm.