News

Rochester rocks ‘moosic’ muster

By Campaspe News

Jan 9, 2023

Making moosic: Rochester musicians Paul Colyvan and Glenda Bancell at the Girgarre Moosic Muster on the weekend. The pair not only appeared on stage, but conducted workshops for the hundreds of music enthusiasts that descended on the town for the annual festival.

Award-winning Rochester performers Paul Colyvan and Glenda Bancell played a major part in tutoring and entertaining participants in last week’s Girgarre Moosic Muster.

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Paul and Glenda, who started up their vocal and instrumental lessons at Rochester just before flood waters hit the town last year, are highly regarded in the United States for their sound — described as “Red Dirt’’.

Glenda is a performing arts teacher with a talent for vocal coaching and Paul a drummer and guitarist whose sound marries up perfectly with Glenda to form Born n’ Bred — the name of their act and music business.

“Glenda’s work at OLSH (Our Lady of the Sacred Heart, Elmore) as a performing arts teacher is well known. She has been in Rochester for the last couple of years,’’ Paul said.

“I came up to Rochester full time in October. We had about 12 students, but have had to put everything on hold. We will be back, though,” he said.

The songwriters and singers are regulars in and around Melbourne venues and took the Girgarre festival by storm with their energy and sound.

Commonly described as “music with attitude’’, the pair conducted workshops and performed half-hour sets at Friday evening’s Girgarre park concert and at Sunday’s market.

They signed with CMG Records Nashville in April 2012 and had travelled back annually pre-COVID to perform in the country music capital.

Together with lead guitarist Sebastian Fowler they have a strong following in the US and produced a debut CD with10 original songs.

Their first single Someday debuted at number 21 and won Best Alternative Country Song at the 2014 Canberra Blues Festival.