For a small regional area the Byron Shire and Northern Rivers have had an outsized impact on the culture and music in Australia.
Local author Tricia Shantz is launching her latest book Musicland. When the Music Came to Byron 1970-1995 at this year’s Byron Writers Festival, a follow on from her first book Neverland about Australian and American surfers in Byron Bay from the 1960s and ’70s.
‘Musicland is unashamedly a follow-on to Neverland,’ Tricia told The Echo.
Neverland finishes in 1974 with Danny Doeppel buying the old Norco piggery in Byron Bay with the dream to start an arts factory. Then around 1975 Gary Deutscher, the Melbournian musician purchased land at Coorabell with a dream to create a music recording studio, now known as The Music Farm which celebrated its 50th birthday in May.
‘Rusty (Tricia’s husband) and I lived next door to the Music Farm for 30 years. I’m always wanting to tell the story of who the unsung movers and shakers were, the contemporary people who were part of our social history and the cultural shift. About how we got to the big music festivals like Bluesfest, Splendour in the Grass, and the Mullumbimby Music Festival – what’s the genesis of that? You don’t go from zero to 100 in one go.
‘It was the interconnectedness of everyone that was involved, the friendship networks, and the networks of creation. The first music festival happened in Mullumbimby in 1973, then there were the Fowlers Lane concerts which started in 1976 and went for about six years, they were the Woodstock of our area.’
‘Danny and Gary brought big names, not just Australian bands, they were bringing big names like B B King and Blondie to Lismore.’
As Tricia points out this is a significant part of our area’s history and it was an extraordinary hotbed of music in the ’70s and ’80s.
‘We ended up being on the world stage for music. So, I wanted to discover why? How did we get there, and who were the people? It’s not all the stars, it’s the people who came here and built lives and brought their influences that changed the place and created the culture.
‘It’s not just the story of music here, it’s part and parcel of the music story of the ’70s and the ’80s in Australia. We’re a part of it, and all the big names were here.’
To come along and enjoy the launch, get your tickets at www.byronwritersfestival.com.
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