FAMILY OF JAMMING BUSKERS
AN award-winning busking family say the key to making good music is jamming with other musicians.
The Haystack Mountain Hermits – Kerrie Gambley, her husband David Church and their four children Jackson, Lachlan, Marcus and Ella – recently won the Tamworth Country Music Festival busking competition.
The Mt Tamborine group beat out more than 450 buskers.
Ms Gambley said the key to creating great music was ensuring budding musicians immersed themselves in the genre.
“Nothing beats playing with other musicians,” she said.
“If you can find other people to play with, then you reap the benefits over practising by yourself.
“If you’re by yourself you lack the inspiration and drive, we’re always spurring each other on.”
Ms Gambley said her family played a variety of instruments, ranging from the double bass to percussion to the drums.
Ms Gambley and Mr Church also play guitar and piano, while Jackson plays the accordion and washboard.
Marcus enjoys playing harmonica, Lachlan plays the guitar and mandolin and Ella plays the ukulele.
While everyone in the family had piano lessons, some of the children just picked up instruments like the guitar and taught themselves.
“In terms of the guitar, the boys have run with that and learnt so much from listening to others and on YouTube,” she said.
“They haven’t had formal lessons.”
She said school music and choir classes had also been important in cultivating a love for music.