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| Donna and Vikki Simpson. (Photo Tamara Dean, courtesy Sydney Morning Herald) |
By Kate Forrester
In 1991, two Albany locals drove to a farm on the outskirts of the city, 400 kilometres south of Perth, for a 21st birthday.In the boot of their 1964 Beetle were two guitars and a small speaker.
The sisters went on to become members of one of Australia's most-loved bands, The Waifs.
Donna and Vikki Simpson were in their early days of performing together, picking up gigs and trying to make a name for themselves, when they played that birthday show.
"I remember getting a hand-drawn map in the mail, we drove miles and miles out of town, looking for the sign saying 'Guy's 21st,'" Donna Simpson said.
"We played for hours and hours in this shearing shed, I'll never forget the smell of the lanolin in the wood."
The Waifs have gone on to tour internationally and win multiple accolades. (Supplied: The Waifs)
A different kind of stage
Since performing at Guy Tilbrook's 21st, Donna Simpson has gone on to tour the world with The Waifs, releasing countless albums.
"I wish we still played shearing shed gigs, I think it would make a fabulous independent tour, going to sheds around Australia," she said.
While reminiscing about years past on ABC Story Stream, the musician said bringing back larger-scale rural gigs could help put country towns on the map.
"I know they are hosting the festival of small halls, there's someone who runs opera nights down near Borden in the Great Southern," Simpson said.
"Bring back celebrating the shearing shed — it could be a great thing to put a little town in the spotlight.”
"You could have a market day, have people come and learn about what's going on, on the farm."
The shearing shed circuit
The Waifs are among many bands hailing from Western Australia's Great Southern.
Musician and author Kevin Gomm is attempting to capture some of their history for a book, to be published later this year.
"I didn't realise how many bands there were from this area — so far I've documented over 180 bands from the 1960s until now," he said.
"What we are looking at doing is getting all the musicians together and have a red carpet night later this year to coincide with the book launch."
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| Kevin Gomm will release a book later this year about bands from the Great Southern. (ABC South West: Kate Forrester) |
The author said a lot of the musicians he had interviewed for the project were part of the shearing shed circuit.
"Bands have cut their teeth on those type of gigs — it was a big part of the music biz," Mr Gomm said.
But he said the live music scene in regional WA had undergone a seismic shift.
"Like the whole live pub rock industry, it's nothing like it was back in 80s or 90s," Mr Gomm said.
"The social changes … like the internet and the media, have changed it."
Rockstar farmer
Juggling farming and music has been a long-time passion for Great Southern farmer Andrew Bradshaw.
He was a part of a band in the 1980s that travelled the state playing regional gigs.
"It wasn't about the money, we just enjoyed each other's company and the fun we had along the way," he said.
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| Andrew Bradshaw has played in countless shearing sheds across regional WA. (ABC South West: Kate Forrester) |
Bradshaw, who still plays gigs independently and in groups, said it was a way for him to decompress.
"It was a fantastic hobby — at rehearsal you'd sit around and talk about farming for half an hour, we were all wool growers comparing notes," he said.
"At the time I used to work as a shearer, so I'd spend all week in a shearing shed, head to another shed [at night] for rehearsals, and play shearing shed gigs on the weekend."
Bradshaw is among those included in Mr Gomm's book about bands in the Great Southern, due to be released around June this year.
First published at ABC News, January 17, 2024
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