Newport Storytellers Podcast

Jackie heads off to Point Cook in a sound effects helicopter to interview Cameron Sharp at Louche Budgie Productions HQ. Cam plays a selection of scenes from the new comedy podcast, The Ladies of Burdoo Springs featuring the voices of Alan Davies, Kate Lawrence, Jackie Kerin and ... you have to guess. Alan tackles the nonsense song for this final episode.

Lana Woolf talks about her role as a story worker in the Pacific region, LGBTIQ+ people and humanitarian and development aid. Dharma takes us to Kilkelly, Ireland.

Ted Smith’s Australian ballad reminds us that the cycles of drought, rain and fire have always been part of life in Australia. Adrian Newington’s original song has us up and dancing while Susan Hall tells a classic tale of discontent. And Dharma has more nonsense!

Cameron sets up a recording studio in Jackie’s sunroom, and Em delivers a trickster tale. Dani makes bilingual storytelling sound easy. Martin Case records Carman Parsons’s original song, and Dharma is tasked with singing a nonsense song.

Matt and Jackie set off to find where the old car ferry used to cross from the east side of the river. Storyteller Mary O’Meara grew up in West Footscray and has a swag of family stories. Dharma puts a tune to a song written by her 7-year-old niece Matilda Phrapone. Alan Davies’ multi layered story takes us to the Lerderderg Gorge and Sarah Depasquale plays us out with the exquisite Bovalglie’s Plaid.

Matt and Jackie are feeling a little maudlin as this is the penultimate episode in the series. David Demant gives us the story of a hoarder in Siberia who has a thing for soft paper. Alan interviews local folk singer and songwriter, Simon Leverton who remains passionate about the environment. Kate Lawrence weaves history and folk tale into a story that remembers the building of the Great Ocean Road.

Jackie and John explore Newport Lakes Park. Tarius McArthur shares a traditional story from the American South from the African American community. Alan interviews Megan Slattery about her song Indigo Blue. And father and son Alex and Miles Kharnam unite to tell a Japanese folk tale. For this episode Dharma recorded Kumbaya and please, stick around after the credits for a special zoom surprise!

Matt assures Jackie that Dave Davies is the go-to person for the true history of Newport and Alan records the questionable result over Zoom. We unearth a beautiful story by Cam Sharp recorded in the Newport Community Hub in 2017 and Jackie gets to bang on about lyrebirds and together with Matt, wax lyrical about the Newport Bush Orchestra. Alan has a ripper of an interview with musician Bruce Williams and a very sweet song with a glorious instrumental.

Matt and Jackie share the story behind the Newport Power Station, and Alan settles in for a chat with Bruce Williams about his tune Road to Lewisberg, our podcast theme. We hear Roslyn Quin interview herself and her story recorded at the Eltham Library on a dark and stormy night. Later we get to hear Matt rockin’ it at The Moth Grand Slam in 2018. Dharma Picking and David Kidman record a song over Zoom across hemispheres.

Welcome to the Newport Storytellers Podcast – six episodes of an audio patchwork of stories told and music harvested from archival and new recordings created by the people of Newport (Victoria, Australia). Jackie introduces Newport – the place. We hear storytellers, Dave Davies and Durgah Devi Palanisamy, recorded in performance at the Williamstown Literary Festival 2017.