You may have heard there was a bit of rain up in Queensland a few weeks back. The man who brought you World Party, that all-round good guy (despite being a lawyer) Stephen Estcourt has leapt to the rescue and organised a little soiree at the Hobart Town Hall in aid of the cleanup.

It’s on Saturday 5th of March,  and tickets are $45 each, which is approximately 15 lattes, so rather than drink 15 coffees and give yourself a heart attack, you should go and hear some lovely music and help tidy up a bit of the mess in Queensland at the same time.

The lineup is Michael Kieran Harvey, Emily Burke, Jamie Allen, Liz Gormley, Michael Lampard, Brian Ritchie and Ensemble, Karen Smithies, Hobart Chamber Orchestra and the UTAS Jan Sedivka Camerata Chamber Ensemble.

Tickets available here and the official facebook page is here. You can expect a tight but polite event security team to keep everything running smoothly and safely.

Fred Smith has just finished a stint working with the ADF attempting to bring prosperity and peace to Afghanistan and is now back saving the world through the medium of folk singing.

For those who don’t know, Fred is a bit like Paul Kelly if Paul Kelly were Fred Smith and moonlighted for the Department of Foreign Affairs, occasionally in war zones. He’s quite hard to describe, so best pop along and see for yourself.

I’m only passing this on as I’ve already got tickets to the show. Do yourself a favour, etc. I have cut and pasted the official blurb below….

Fred Smith and the Spooky Men’s Chorale
present:

Urban Sea Shanties

Hobart CD launch – Wednesday 19 January – Polish Club
Fred Smith teams up with the Spooky Men’s Chorale to present songs from their collaborative album Urban Sea Shanties – a project that began as a conversation in the session bar at the National Folk Festival and turned into an award-winning album.

Urban Sea Shanties is a collection of thinking man’s drinking songs.  The album was awarded the National Film and Sound Archives National Folk Recording Award.
Early acclaim:

“A delightful collaboration between two of the hottest acts on the Australian Festival Scene. Switch off your finer sensibilities and tune into your base chakra”

…Andy Copeman, Daily Planet Website

“Urban Sea Shanties shanghaies the listener into a rich musical journey from the bars of Birmingham to the flooded streets of New Orleans, from the Mosques of Karachi to the Dapto Dog Track. Fred Smith’s distinctive lead vocals switch between narration and singing, creating different voices and characters from around the globe. With vocal arrangements by the Chorale’s Stephen Taberner, the Spooky Men inhabit various roles in the cast, painting a musical picture of adventurous travel exploring a wide, colourful world. The CD is beautifully recorded, capturing in rich sound the various vocal and instrumental contributions.”

…John Hogan, National Film and Sound Archives

Fred Smith emerged into songwriting respectability after returning from peace keeping work on war torn Bougainville Island to release the award winning “Bagarap Empires” CD. He has released several recordings since:

“It is about time Australia caught up with Fred Smith. This remarkable singer-songwriter – who at various times reveals influences that range from Paul Kelly via Lou Reed to Loudon Wainwright III to Leonard Cohen – keeps releasing amazingly accomplished albums”

…Bruce Elder, Sydney Morning Herald, August 2008

The Spooky Men’s Chorale are a legend of the Australian Festival circuit. Their collaboration with Fred Smith began as a momentary lapse of reason in a festival bar that turned into a gig and then into an album.

Together they will be presenting songs from the new album:

Urban Sea Shanties CD Launch
Fred Smith and the Spooky Men’s Chorale,
Polish Club, New Town Road, New Town, Hobart
7:30 Wednesday 19 January 2011
Tickets at the door $30/$25 concession/$10 kids
first half: the Spooky Men; second half: Fred+Spookies+band

Adventure Bay Hall, Bruny Island
7:30 Tuesday 18 January 2011
Tickets at the door $20/$15 concession/$8 kids
first half: the Spooky Men; second half: Fred+Spookies+band

Fred Smith and the Spooky Men’s Chorale will also be appearing together and separately at the Cygnet Folk Festival

The winning haiku from last year is shamefully late, but has finally been delivered to winner and public service feng shui expert Alecia. Here ’tis.

There are some originals left from the exhibition, they’re here – available originals not marked with an asterisk.