visit to the Valley last week by the Bushwhackers' Band from Sydney. The Bushwhackers' Band plays traditional Australian songs and ballads on
traditional Australian instruments. A half an hour broadcast overstation
2LT Lithgow created wild enthusiasm for Australian songs and many people
came straight from their radios to hear the Band perform in person at the
Eureka Youth League Dance held that night. Recollections of the old-days, stirred by the songs the Band performed,
kept many of the older people at the dance till well after 11.30.The crowd
at the dance called for item after item from the band. The Lithgow Workingmen's Club presented the band as part of their Sunday
show, to a crowd of wildly enthusiastic trade unionists. Only the regulation
closing time of the club kept the band from performing for another few hours
after the concert had finished. The Workingmen's Club is noted lor the high standard of items presented at
their functions, mostly provided by extremely talented local amateur artists
who at this function expressed great interest in the Australian songs the
Bushwhackers performed. The Club is discussing inviting the band to come back again towards the end
of the year. The band expressed warm appreciation for the hospitality shown
them by the people of Lithgow. They collected over a dozen new songs and parodies of songs as well as traditional
verse during their visit, and said Lithgow was a veritable "gold-mine" of
Australian songs. Notes
From the NSW Newspaper The Tribune 27 Oct 1954 p. 7.
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