Background Information (written so it can be used as an extended Press Release)

“The Loosely Woven phenonemon is rather unusual. In fact, there is really no such group as ‘Loosely Woven’ – it is merely the name given to whoever I am able to round up for a particular concert.” So explains founding member Wayne Richmond.

“It all began about 10 years ago. A few of us would get together every now and then to participate in a live-to-air concert on the local community radio station. After one of the more successful of these Judie suggested we put on a public concert. A couple of months later we did and having decided that we should give ourselves a name a friend who had recently heard a rock band called ‘Tightly Packed’ suggested ‘Loosely Woven’. Since that time Loosely Woven has performed three to four major concerts each year at various venues on Sydney's northern beaches. The group's main home, however, is St David's Church in Dee Why, a building with brilliant acoustics ideal for what we do. Mainly through word of mouth, Loosely Woven's reputation has grown over the years and now 150-200 people come along each concert, eager to lap up whatever it is that we have prepared for them.

“The nature of any particular concert is a direct reflection of the people who happen to be involved at the time. Invitations to participate are circulated followed by a planning meeting during which everyone has an opportunity to contribute to the program. A number of us then set about arranging the items and preparing the music for the first rehearsal a few weeks later. Blue Skies came about as a result of us wanting to do more than just a concert. We wanted to include elements of Music Hall/Vaudeville. The result is a concert that not only includes a giant singalong medley of Music Hall songs but also two wonderful original plays - one by Harry Dingle and the other by his son Tully. The concert will also feature two original songs by Loosely Woven first timer Trevor Swadling and another by Shad Haumu.

“One important characteristic of Loosely Woven concerts is that they are performed strictly acoustically. Apart from the keyboard amp (an unfortunate necessity) no other amplification is used. Not only does this mean that the audience has a rare opportunity to actually hear the sound of vocal chords and violin strings vibrating (instead of the usual speaker membrane!) it also finds itself on an equal footing with the performers when it comes to the many opportunities provided for joining in. There will be lots of opportunities for audience participation in Blue Skies and when they do it will sound fantastic for all of us!

Any instrumentalist or singer who would be interested in participating in a future Loosely Woven event should get in touch with Wayne Richmond on 9939 8802.