Don McBain
From Australian Traditional Music People
Jump to navigationJump to searchDon McBain (1938-), along with Bill Case & Maureen Aston, Nelson, Vic provided details of some of the Australian tunes in this archive. [1]
The National Library of Australia holds aural recordings of interviews conducted with Don McBain. Don plays the button accordion. He was interviewed by:
- Rob Willis in September 1995 [2] 1. McBain recalls his parents and grandparents, his school days, vintage aeroplanes, how by 1954 he got interested in music which he largely learnt from Bill Case, describes his mother as a musician, how he was a professional fisherman for about 30 years. 2. Music: Antonio (accordion). 3. Music: Waltz. 4. Music: Waltz. 5. Primrose waltz (learnt from Bill Case). 6. How he plans to set his woodshed up as a local dance venue, how he holds dances regularly with aim of spreading music through the community, local musicians are invited to also play but no new vogues allowed, the dance floor can hold up to 40-50 dancers, how he encourages young people to both play and dance, holds mulberry eating competitions. 7. Music: My dream (waltz; learnt from Bill Case). 8. Music: What a wonderful place is Australia. 9. Music: Waltz.
- Alan Musgrove in August 1996, [3]
- Rob Willis in April 1996 [4], also available online [5]
- Rob Willis in May 1996 [6], Bill Case plays the accordion accompanied by Don McBain. Don McBain tells a story about pie floaters then a story about a fight, discusses the duties of a Master of Ceremonies at a dance, the local area in which he normally performs, the Bill Case Band, how he learnt the fiddle from Mr. Prince and explains his techniques, discusses the songs Springtime in the Rockies and Red River Valley. Also available online [7]
