Bill Case
Bill Case, (1917-2001) along with Maureen Aston & Don McBain, Mt Gambier, SA provided details of some of the Australian tunes in this archive, collected by Alan Musgrove and Rob Willis. Bill also recorded some of the tunes.
Bill Case was the son of a rabbit trapper, growing up in a family that experienced extreme poverty. Bill's father played button accordion and fiddle. Bill could play and accordion at age 6, developing a good deal of flourish. He was often reprimanded by his father for being 'too flash' in his performance. He took up the fiddle, among other instruments, becoming an accomplished dance musician, developing a style of his own - he played tunes entirely on the two higher pitched upper strings, which meant that his fiddle could be heard above the accordions and piano. -- John Harpley in "Verandah Music, Roots of Australian Tradition", p45, Ed. Graham Seal and Rob Willis, ISBN 1 920731 97 0
You can view a 15 minute video of Bill Case playing both button accordion and fiddle The Versatile Bill Case.
And another with a yarn about pie floaters AU Bill Case - Yarnspinner.
