IT’S a fine balancing act between encouraging new young players and members and keeping older audiences happy, but the Perth Folk and Roots Club seems to achieve just that.
Its next session, Sunday August 24, will feature the mature sounds of Freewheeling, a bunch of 50-plus blokes belting out a mix of roots, bluegrass and folk, with a little jazz, blues and rock.
Audiences will also get the chance to hear the sounds of up-and-coming 18-year-old Lauren Arthur.
“It’s old folksy versus young folksy,” president Keith Anthonisz jokes, adding on a serious note: “It’s a way of engaging with the community.”
The fresh-faced Arthur epitomises a crossing of the divide, by day she studies contemporary music at the WA Academy of Performing Arts, where her speciality is an instrument usually associated with rock or heavy metal–bass guitar.
But the singer/songwriter has a softer side and enjoys the chance to play her own songs solo, at times on piano: “When I play solo it’s easier to do folksy things.”
Her dad got her interested in folk four years ago at the tender age of 14, and she really hasn’t looked back and, along with recording her first CD, she performs regularly at various shows including at the Folks and Roots at the Perth Cultural Centre.
The Perth folk club came into being in 2012 after a split with the WA Folk Federation, not that things were acrimonious, it was just that the federation was hills focused “[and] my idea was to bring something to the city,” Mr Anthonisz says.
The club has links to international and national artists such Neil Murray, Kavisha Mazella, Kerrianne Cox, Peggy Van Zalm and Ken Nicholl (Steeleye Span), according to its webpage.
The Oxford Hotel was home to the club for years, but it’s settled into its new home at the Mt Lawley Bowling Club, which—following renovations that enhance its art deco features and improved its acoustics—is attracting more performance artists.
For more info go to http://www.perthfolk.org or phone Keith on 0409 676 380. Or get on down to the Mt Lawley Bowling Club, Sunday August 24, 5–8pm. Entry free.
by JENNY D’ANGER
Perth Voice Interactive 
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