Ben Cherry
From Australian Traditional Music People
Jump to navigationJump to searchBen Cherry (1909-), Armidale, NSW provided details of some of the Australian tunes in this archive.
The National Library of Australia holds aural recordings of interviews conducted with Ben Cherry. He was interviewed by:
- Barry McDonald in February and August 1987, [1], "Folkloric recording: Ben Cherry plays the accordion, sings, whistles and recites Australian folk songs and recalls local history around Armidale, New South Wales, accompanied by his wife Dorothy Cherry, Cathy Ovenden, Chris Sullivan and performer Mark Rummery; Ben Cherry discusses his violin playing and his technique; musicians in Kingstown; his family's record collection; the instruments he can play; working on a station and for N.S.W. Railway; his family; various dances; violin and accordion playing; concertina players; the instruments played around Kingstown and Uralla; accordion players; his childhood; old bush MCs; Victor Cherry; people attending dances; the decline of bush dances. Ernie and Violet Baker of Kentucky; his home; being a rabbiter; a Kangaroo hunting song and other hunting stories; the songs his family used to perform; the sociable nature of country dances; the job of an MC at the dances; picnic sports day; fights and feuding; waltzing competitions; Dorothy Cherry tells a story; Ben Cherry discusses the Aboriginal Faulkner family from Uralla; Aboriginal dances; musicians from the Armidale region; playing technique on the concertina; Aboriginal singers; the technique of vibrato; fiddle playing and tuning techniques; railway stories; playing for the last time at a dance in 1957 or 1960; working as a drover; Bill Smith; demonstrates vibrato on the violin; and discusses his preference for violins."
- Barry McDonald in June 1987, [2], Folkloric recording: Ben Cherry plays the violin, mouth organ, sings and whistles Australian folk songs and discusses local history in New England, N.S.W; his violin playing style; one armed accordion player Sam Smith; learning to play the mouth organ from Jimmy Frost; playing at dances; the death of Victor Cherry, uncle Bert and his grandfather Ben.
