Tom Walsh
Tom Walsh, 1927-2018, was a potato farmer and fiddler who lived his life on Railway Farm, Trentham, Victoria. Tom's musical history lay in an Irish ancestry that emigrated to Australia in the 1850s and 1860s. They took up land in the on the rich red loam soils that form the hills north west of Melbourne. His musicality came primarily from his mother's side. He learned fiddle from the local nuns before being swept up by local musicians into house concerts. This interest a turned into bands that played for community balls and dances for socials, birthday parties ans kitchen teas. Tom played all sorts of music, jigs, reels and set tunes from Ireland and Scotland and England. He did not read music and learned tunes by ear, from the radio and from those around him.
