Dawson family
The Dawson family (Edie Dawson (1925-2018) & Paddy Dawson (1919-2011), Tasmania provided details of some of the Australian tunes in this archive.
Portrait 1. [1], "A circular saw took off all Paddy's fingers of the right hand except about one & a half, yet he can still keep pace with Edie when they rattle off some of their fast tunes."
Portrait 2 [2], The Dawsons: "Ivy, Paddy, Edie and George, plus "Louie" the dog, of Franklin, Tasmania. Paddy, Edie and George are all versatile players on the button accordion, and have a big repertoire of their parents' old tunes."
The National Library of Australia holds aural recordings of interviews conducted with Paddy Dawson [3]. They were interviewed by:
- Andy Mortimer in 1980 [4], Dawson folklore collection.
- John Meredith in November 1985, [5], Edie and Paddy Dawson interviewed.
- John Meredith in March 1986, [6], Edie and Paddy speak about the various tunes during recording.
- John Meredith in November 1986 [7], Edie and Paddy Dawson interviewed.
- Rob Willis in Jan 2003, [8], Paddy Dawson and Edie Dawson interviewed. In the Jan 2003 recording Paddie and Edie Dawson recall their family background; family musical influences; the importance of music in the family; singing and playing the melodeon; family life in the early 20th century; traditional songs, tunes and dances.
- Rob Willis in 2004, [9], Dance session with Paddy Dawson and Edie Dawson,
- Rob Willis in 2004, [10], Paddy Dawson and Edie Dawson perform traditional dances in Franklin
- Rob Willis in April 2008, [11], Dance session with Paddy Dawson and Edie Dawson
Rob Willis notes "Claude Road (near Sheffield Tas) was a hotbed of players including the McCoys and other families. Most of the families were related in the area by the way - Dawson, McCoy and Powell, Febey all had connections". See Eileen McCoy, Gordon Powell & Wally Febey.
See publications:
- 'Tasmanian Dance Tunes', NFF 2010, by Stuart Graham & Julie Edwards
- "Apple Shed Tune Book", 2nd edn, Steve & Marjorie Gadd (eds), March 2004
