 Michael Franti
On stage at Byron Bay Bluesfest, Michael Franti shares his distinctive blend of good vibes, good messages, and good music. Isn’t it funny how we experience a “kinship” with identities whose views and/or behaviour we admire? And, how we feel a “connection” with personalities whose faces are visible in the media or whose opus with which we are familiar? We “know” these people – even though they have no idea who we are.
Music is so evocative that its is no surprise that – although it is a very public medium – it speaks to us at a very private level; particularly if it is music with a message with which we identify. Certainly, music speaks to a time and place, and we often know exactly where we were or who we were with when we first heard a particular song or band.
I confess: I don’t listen to the radio much, unless I am in the car driving. And, I’m more likely to listen to news, views, and music I am familiar with, than I am to listen to anything avant-garde. It is not the norm for me to be up with trends until they are tried-and-true (i.e., no longer trendy!). So, it was pretty unusual for me to be hunting down a band that wasn’t across every bodies lips in 1994, after hearing a short snatch of song that had come through on a clock-radio – tuned to Triple J, an Australian platform for new music – before it turned itself off for the night.
(Double click for the audio clip: Hole in the Bucket, from the 1994 Spearhead album Home.
I was captured by both the tune and the clever lyrics. It was a sort of reggae-rap; again, not my normal fare. My mental associations with the lyrics, as happens with a good poem, shot off in a non-linear manner, connecting to all kinds of images and memories.
The track’s chorus comprises the traditional children’s song: “There’s a hole in the bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza….” Harry Belafonte’s well-known 1961 rendition of this song was on one of the very-few non-symphonic, non-operatic LPs that I had access to as a child. Later, as a young adult, I saw Belafonte perform it live in concert. So, hearing the refrain embedded in a rap song – about a man deciding whether or not to give spare change to an indigent beggar on the street corner – got my attention.
The song is called “Hole in the Bucket”, as I discovered after trying to hum a few bars to the owner-operator of a local independent record store (Do you remember those?). He was able to point me to the disc: Home, the first studio album by Spearhead, Michael Franti’s (then) newly formed band.
I fell in love with the whole album. Whether it is a well-written book or a skillful lyric, I am easily seduced by artfully-crafted words – and the words on that album are adroitly composed: sharp and insightful, with enough honesty to stop short of being maudlin, and enough empathy to keep from being just clever.
“I’m not responsible for the man’s depression
how can I find compassion in the midst of recession?”
In 2000, I dragged a girlfriend out to a Sydney nightclub because Michael Franti and Spearhead were playing. We were amongst the oldest fans at the venue, and were flattered and amused (even though we knew the bouncers were kidding) when we were age-carded at the door. The band were on their third album by then, but had lost none of their energy, or social consciousness. The political messages – and the warm humanity – were still in evidence.
That was a long time ago, and we’ve all grown older since then. But, unlike many of us who become more cynical with age, Franti seems to have retained – and expanded upon – his positive energy. In the intervening years, he has written a children’s book on recycling, helped fund a birthing centre in Bali, produced an award-winning documentary on the effects of war in the Middle East, and sponsored and promoted various fair-trade, whole food, and healthy lifestyle endeavours.
I was thrilled to see that Spearhead, now on their eighth studio album, were on the Byron Bay Bluesfest 2014 lineup. Rolling Stone agrees that Michael has mellowed, and his “formative punk rap … [has] veered toward full-on jam pop.” But, the review of the “All People” album continues: “Well-crafted, unfailingly likable, the music hints at his activist-sage roots; check out the apocalypse-minded, Matrix-produced rap-along “11:59.” For those who plan to go down dancing, he’s a solid man to have on the mic.”
I can’t argue with that! His Sunday night set in the Crossroads tent was one long party.
 Michael Franti
Centre stage in the Crossroads tent, Michael Franti has the crowd jumping up and down with positive energy from the very beginning.  Michael Franti
He performed the songs from the most recent album, All People.  Spearhead
Michael Franti has always surrounded himself with excellent musicians. J Bowman
The current lineup of Spearhead includes guitar virtuoso J Bowman, who also acts as production partner to Franti. J Bowman
He contributed an infectious energy to the gig. Michael Franti
The performance moved forward with exuberance and without pause, … …alternating between “big” moments from the stage … … and more intimate moments from the floor … … as Franti climbed down into the crowd. Six-foot-six, habitually barefoot, Michael Franti is a regular yoga practitioner. Backlit, J Bowman wails his guitar. Henry Wagons
In true festival fashion, eccentric Australian showman Henry Wagons was invited to join Spearhead on stage… Rocking On!
… after meeting Michael at an afternoon session of Rockwiz, an Australian television quiz show series. Carl Young on Bass
Versatile musician Carl Young has been with Michael and Spearhead since 1994. Franti in the Crowd Kids on Stage
Franti calls all the kids in the audience onto the stage for one of the final songs… Sara Agah; Behind every Good Man…
As part of the “after party”, while Michael gets back into the audience, his partner, Canadian nurse and jewellery designer, Sara Agah, and the other “back stage” people, are called out front. 
Happy music with positive messages –
How could you help but leave smiling?
Pictures: 20April2014
Posted in Music,Performance,PortraitsTags: American,blog,environmental portrait,environmental portraits,music,musicians,people,Photo Blog,portrait,portraits,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall
Women around the Stepwell
The Chand Baori stepwell, built between 800 and 900 AD, gives us a glimpse into Rajasthan’s past. One of the pleasures of ground travel is the access you get to those places outside city centres. Ancient treasures and glimpses into the old ways of doing things can often be found just “off” the usual paths.
The ancient Rajasthani village of Abhaneri is only a fifteen minute detour off the main Jaipur – Agra highway. Abhaneri is home to a ruined tenth-century temple to Harshat Mata, Hindu Goddess of Joy and Happiness – and home to one of India’s largest and deepest remaining stepwells.
Stepwells. If you have never heard of them, you can be forgiven!
When I was doing background research on the Chand Baori stepwell in Abhaneri, I came across one site that called it “famous”. And, according to Wikipedia it was featured in the movie Paheli. I had to look that up as well: turns out it is a Bollywood film from 2005. Famous, perhaps – but not in my usual sphere.
Another useful website I found was entitled: India’s Forgotten Stepwells. So, not so famous after all! I’d seen pictures of women in saris against the Escherian-like steps leading into the well’s bottom – but I’ve never given the architecture or the purpose much thought.
Stepwells are found in arid regions of South Asia, extending into Pakistan, but are most common (according to Wikipedia) in western India. They were built to help solve the problem of having an unpredictable water supply in regions with long periods of dry heat, alternating with weeks of monsoonal rain. Surface water evaporates quickly in the dry season, and regular wells made water hard to access when the water levels dropped dramatically.
The earliest stepwells most likely date to about 550 AD, but the most famous were built in medieval times. It is estimated that over 3,000 stepwells were built in the two northern states [of Rajasthan and Gujarat]. Although many have fallen into disrepair, were silted in at some point in antiquity, or were filled in with trash in the modern era, hundreds of wells still exist. In New Delhi alone, there are more than 30.
I had never seen a stepwell before, and was keen to visit this well-preserved example of Indian architecture.
Girls Going to School
It always amazes me how crisp and clean students’ uniforms are in the mornings as they walk through the wet, dirty streets to school; Abhaneri, Rajasthan. The Chand Baori Stepwell
Common in western India, stepwells not only provided access to cool water, they were a gathering place and the centre of many cultural activities. Enter Escher…
This well was built by King Chanda between 800 and 900 AD and then dedicated to Hashat Mata, Goddess of Joy and Happiness. The 3,500 steps extend 13 storeys – about 100 feet or 30+ meters – into the ground. Family on the Walkway
Access to the steps is now fenced off for safety. The day we were there, no one was allowed in: no “women on the wall” photos for us. Young Woman in Green
Daily use of the stepwells was discontinued under the British Raj. Authorities, worried about hygiene and water quality, installed pipes and pumps to replace the communal wells. This change might have make life easier and safer, but it disrupted traditional social and religious practices. Young Woman in Blue
Instead of walking down into the well, the brightly-clad visitors promenade around it, … Young Woman in Pink
… happily stopping to have their pictures taken. Pavilions in the Stepwell
Covered “pavilions”, accessed by narrow ledges, provide a social function in giving shade, while also buttressing the walls against the intense pressure of water when the well is full. Stone Frieze Pieces
Build before the rule of the Muslim Mughals, the stepwell was richly decorated with Hindu art. Stone Frieze Pieces
Stone carvings of deities that have come off the original structure, are placed around the upper walkway. Blue Door The Potter and his Wife
Across the road from the stepwell, a potter works his wheel while his wife smokes a clay pipe. Working the Wheel
Everything is done by hand – even the spinning of the potter’s wheel. Repeating Circles
Each pot is shaped by hand, then placed on the board before firing. Hands of the Potter The Potter The Potter’s Wife The Potter at Work Woman Smoking
This clay pipe is one of the potter’s making. Firing The Clay Pots
These little clay pots are used for drinking chai, that wonderful sweet, spicy tea that is a staple of my diet when I visit India. The Potters Wife and the Wares
Samples of the potter’s wares sit on the edge of the firing pit as his wife smiles at the visitors. It was a short detour –
– but an interesting glimpse into the old ways; simpler, more social and communal, but much more labour intensive.
It’s a trade off, really. One that is being re-evaluated in today’s world.
Artisans are looking to age-old crafts for techniques and inspiration; social-scientists are studying traditional societies for models of social cohesion; and environmental planners and contemporary architects are re-examining India’s old stepwells as a potential solution to continuing concerns about access to water.
We can all learn from the past.
Namaste!
Pictures: 16November2013
Posted in Architecture,Every Day Life,India,TravelTags: architecture,arts and crafts,blog,environmental portrait,environmental portraits,people,Photo Blog,ruins,travel,Ursula Wall
With a Banjo and Flute
Hat Fitz and Cara Robinson are crowd-pleasers wherever they go – and we love ’em. Music festivals are a great opportunity to try new sounds on for size, but they are also a great place in which to give oneself up to the comfort of old favourites.
We did both at the recent Byron Bay Bluesfest; because we had indulged ourselves and pre-purchased five-day tickets for this year’s annual Easter Weekend music festival, we were able to pick and choose from a broad range of musical options. Of course, it is always wonderful to see the old classics – those living legends who embody the very history of “Blues and Roots” music – and to get a peek at, and a listen to, current hit-makers and chart-toppers. And we did both (Full Blast and Full Colour). We also enjoyed some “other-worldly” options that might not otherwise have crossed our paths (Cambodian Space Project).
But, we also looked forward to – and thoroughly enjoyed – some familiar, homegrown favourites. When I say “homegrown”, I mean resident Australian – though their roots, origins, and musical influences are far more wide-ranging. And, though they may be homegrown, rubbing shoulders with the international stars and musical legends at festivals has given them world-class polish and lustre.
Take Hat Fitz and Cara Robinson, for example. I first saw Hat Fitz perform at the 10th Byron Bay Blues and Roots Festival, in 1999, many years before he met his current wife and musical partner Cara Robinson at (the story goes) a music festival in her native Ireland in 2008. He has a voice of gravel; she has a vocal range and power that often has me choked with tears. Together, they are captivating. My husband and I first saw them together at the 2012 Thredbo Blues Festival, and we made sure to introduce our friends to them at last year’s Byron Bay Bluesfest, and this year’s Thredbo Blues.
Hat Fitz and Cara
The pair performed three times at this year’s Bluesfest. Early Friday afternoon found them in the heat of the Juke Joint: the Aussie “wild man” in his usual hat, shorts and thongs and the Irish “angel” in her 1940s-style curls. Cara Robinson
The couple have had some difficult times recently, and the resulting emotions have been written into some of their newest songs. Hat Fitz and his National Steel Guitar Cara on Washboard
The duo’s music crosses genres, but has been described as “shabby hill-country blues”. Cara’s washboard compliments Hat’s gravel tones on “Wiley Ways”.
(Double click to start Wiley Ways from the album of the same name by Hat Fitz and Cara.)
Their latest compilation, “Do Tell”, hadn’t yet been released by Bluesfest, so I give you (above) a sample from their previous album, which I have uploaded before.
Hat Fitz and Cara
The powerhouse pair opened the Delta Stage on Saturday. Cara’s vocals soared while Hat’s guitar sang. Banjo and Flute
Sunday, the couple were first-up on stage at the big Crossroads tent. Hat Fitz
The patter, story-telling, and cross-fire between the two as they change instruments between songs, is as entertaining as their music. Oh, Joyful Sounds!
Cara singing while on washboard. Cara on Pipe
Cara whistles us out on a traditional pipe. Another local act we’ve been privileged to hear before, is the young Genevieve Chadwick. The first time we saw her, at another Thredbo Blues Festival (2013), was the day she got the news that she had been chosen as one of only three Australians to participate in the international “Playing for Change” project. We also caught her first Bluesfest performance last year.
(Double click to start Down to the Bone from the new Playing for Change Presents Genevieve Chadwick album)
“looks like an angel”
Barefoot, sweet-faced Genevieve … … roars like a lion …
… has a powerhouse voice when she lets loose. … and plays guitar like a demon! At last year’s Bluesfest, our friends steered us toward a very local group: The Round Mountain Girls; Round Mountain being about an hour’s drive from the festival venue at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm. We were sufficiently captivated to want to get in early for their only performance at this year’s Bluesfest, early on the last day. As before, they made me smile.
Round Mountain Girls
Chris Brooker, Chris Willoughby, Chris Eaton, Rex Carter, and Rabbit Robinson of Round Mountain Girls… Round Mountain Girls
… are five grown men having way too much fun! Rabbit Robinson
Master of stringed instruments and party animal, Rabbit plays like one possessed… Rabbit Robinson
… occasionally catching the spotlights as he bounces around the stage. Chris Brooker
The mandolin-playing Chris (Brooker/Boker/Broker) is also a song-writing contributor to the band. Jamie Symmonds
Performing on harmonica, guest Jamie joins the “Girls” for a few songs. Chris Eaton
Lead vocalist and player of banjos and guitars, … Chris Eaton
… Chris Eaton writes many of the Girls’ original pieces. Chris Eaton
Born in Liverpool England, Chris still embodies that innocent enthusiasm that epitomised the early Beatles of his home town. Round Mountain Girls
They are having such fun, you can’t help but smile!
[audio:https://www.ursulasweeklywanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Faith_Mail_Chimp.mp3|titles=Faith|autostart=no]
Audio clip: Faith, from the Round Mountain Girls album, One Step Closer.
It is impossible not to get caught up in the enthusiasm, the energy, the raw joie de vivre that is live music –
But then, why would you want to resist it?
Keep smiling!
Pictures: 18-21April2014
Posted in Australia,Music,Performance,PortraitsTags: Australia,blog,environmental portrait,environmental portraits,music,musicians,people,Photo Blog,portrait,portraits,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall
Flying the Flags
The Jersey flag flies high over Elizabeth Castle, while the Union Jack presides over the courtyard. Jersey, the southern-most of the Channel Islands, packs a lot of history into a tiny space.
Much of this history is because of the island’s strategic location: only 12 nautical miles (22 km; 14 mi) from France. Functionally part of the United Kingdom since the Norman conquest of England under William the Conqueror in 1066, this little island in the English Channel has been an integral player in the ongoing European border disputes since that time.
Elizabeth Castle, built in the late 1500s to protect the island against the threat of French invasion, is a good example. The castle’s pedigree is like something out of a Masterpiece Theatre Historical Drama: the fortification was named for the Tudor English Queen, Elizabeth I, by the infamous explorer and courtier, Sir Walter Raleigh, who was Governor of Jersey from 1600 until 1603.
Elizabeth Castle was built on a rocky, tidal islet in St Aubin’s Bay – the same islet that was reputedly once home to the sixth century hermit and martyr, St Helier. The castle replaced Jersey’s original principal defensive structure, Mont Orgueil Castle, which had been built high over the harbour of Gorey in the early 1200s. That castle became indefensible, however, with the development of gunpowder and the possibility of ships with cannons attacking the growing city of St Helier.
King Charles II took refuge in the Governor’s House at Elizabeth Castle during the English Civil War; French prisoners were kept on the island during the Seven Years’ War; and the German occupying forces re-fortified the bunkers during the World War II.
Causeway to Elizabeth Castle
At low tide you can walk from St Helier, Jersey’s capital, to the rocky islet in St Aubin’s Bay – or you can make a crossing in one of the amphibious ferries at any tide. Cobbled Slipway
A steep slipway climbs up to the main gate, Elizabeth Castle. Hospital Building
A two-story barracks hospital building, constructed in the early 19th century, stands outside the main bastion. Crests on the Wall
The battlements around the castle date back to the 1590s. Flowers on the Corner Through the Arch to St Aubin’s Bay Guard Turret Elizabeth Castle, the Cannon Battery, and the Barracks Rocky Shore
The hill over the Grand Battery affords views back to St Helier. Visitor Resting in the Grand Battery Cannons along the Grand Battery
Some of the old cannons in the castle are maintained and are still in use; there is a demonstration of the firing daily. Cannon Insignia
Elizabeth Castle was built at a time when cannon fire was the main threat during warfare. View from Below
Looking up to the top of the castle where the Jersey flag flies against a rainy sky. Parade Ground
The old barracks, first built in the mid-1600s, now house museums on War and Peace; Granite and Gunpowder; and Militia. “Invaded”
Inside one of the exhibits, a 2012 Jersey Heritage ‘newspaper’ is displayed. It is written as if it were a contemporaneous account (6 January 1781) of the Battle of Jersey. The French invading force was attempting to remove the British threat to French shipping during the American Revolutionary War. Weeds on the Roof
The old buildings host some wonderful colours and textures. Window in the Wall
Looking back towards the city of St Helier. Grated Window
Looking towards St Helier’s Hermitage. View from the Castle
It’s an impressive – if breezy – view over St. Aubin’s Bay from the top of the castle. Buildings at the Back
Behind the barracks, the stairs in the wall lead down to the hermitage and the breakwater. Weeds on the Wall The Hermitage Rock
The back of St Helier’s Hermitage and Elizabeth Castle can be viewed from the breakwater. The Hermitage
The steps up to “St. Helier’s Bed”, the hollow in the rock where the ascetic hermit Helier sheltered, are steep and slippery. Helier was martyred in 555 AD, and the stone medieval chapel was built soon afterward. Pilgrims still visit annually on July 16. Elizabeth Castle from the Back Captains Quarters
Working our way back through the barracks, we go through re-constructed residences… Sergeant at Arms
… arriving at the Parade Ground in time for a fire-arm talk and demonstration by a “Sergeant at Arms”. Jersey Cow
The island’s eponymous cow is well represented in the gift shop… Main Gate and Ticket Office
… which we check out quickly … “Charming Nancy”
… before we catch one of the amphibious ferries back to the city. 
That’s how I like my history: in a form I can wander around, climb over, and poke into.
It’s like a ramble into the past – and Jersey sure has a fascinating past.
Photos: 31August2013
Posted in Architecture,History,Jersey,TravelTags: architecture,blog,defence,history,Jersey,museum,Photo Blog,travel,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall,war
Cliff Dwelling
Visitors to the Frijoles Canyon in Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico, explore the cavates: cliff rooms that were dug out of volcanic tuff some time during the Ancestral Pueblo Period. . . .
There is something intriguing about walking in the footsteps of prehistoric people – people who have left no written records and whose lives we can only pretend to reconstruct from the buildings and artefacts they left behind.
I had read about the Cliff Palace, a complex of cliff dwellings built by the ancient Anasazi – more properly called the Ancestral Pueblo People (APP) – in what is now the Mesa Verde National Park in Colorado. I had been hoping to visit the complex on our last driving trip across the United States, but the site was too far off the route we needed to follow. Fortunately for us, archaeological remains and monuments can be found all across Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico.
Bandelier National Monument is just an hours’ drive out of Santa Fe, which made it accessible to us. Managed by the US National Parks Service, the 33,000 acre reserve protects the remains of an ancestral settlement that was occupied between 1150 and 1550 CE. The park was named for a self-taught anthropologist and historian: Adolph FA Badelier, who was introduced to the settlement in the Frijoles Canyon in 1880, and whose pioneering work helped establish the foundation for southwestern archeology.
Native American Pueblo people say that their ancestors have always lived in the arid “Four Corners” region of the Southwestern United States. Modern archeologists, however, think that nomadic hunter-gatherers migrated into the region some 10,000 years ago.
Wherever they originated, sometime before 1200 CE, the Ancestral Pueblo People built their homes into the canyon walls and floor. They began to practice agriculture up on the Pajarito Plateau and in Frijoles Canyon, cultivating corn, beans, and squash. They domesticated turkeys for food and feathers, and dogs to help hunt and for companionship. Like their hunter-gatherer fore bearers, they hunted deer, rabbit, and squirrel, and supplemented their diet with native plants.
New Mexico Vista
The landscape around Santa Fe is typical of the area: dry mesa and green river canyons. Sides of the Frijoles Canyon
The geology here in the Pajarito Plateau is the result of two massive eruptions of the Jemez Volcano, fourteen miles to the northwest, over a million years ago. The pink walls of the canyon are not sandstone, but compacted volcanic ash. Mule Deer Hiding
We walked along the Nature Trail, which follows the Frijoles Creek, through a forest that hides animals … American Robin (Turdus migratorius) in a Gambel Oak Tree (Quercus gambelii)
… and bird life. Ponderosa Pine (Pinus ponderosa) Bark Look Up!
The Ancestral Pueblo people used the wood from the tall, straight, ponderosa pine trees as roof beams for their homes. The Ladder
Soon we come to the first … Up the Ladder
… of four wooden ladders … On the Ladder
… that lead 140 feet (42.7 metres) up the canyon wall to Alcove House, a circular ceremonial chamber or kiva. Access to the most interesting part of the site was fenced off when we were there, but at least we had the view over the canyon before heading back down the way we had come. Frijole Canyon Floor
Once we are away from the creek, the landscape changers dramatically. Cane Cholla (Cylindropuntia Imbricata)
Although considered “famine food” in modern times, it is thought that the Ancestral Pueblo People (APP) made good use of the yellowish-green fruit of the Walking Stick cactus. It could be eaten fresh or dried for winter. Pictograph
This painted design (now covered in perspex for protection) would have been part of a back wall. The viga holes in the cliff-face, which once held rafters, give an indication of how wide and high this multi-story long-house was. Walkway
The evidence of housing stretches along the south-facing wall of the canyon, where occupants would have benefited from the afternoon sun, especially in winter. Back Walls
In addition to the painted designs and the viga holes, we can see niches and carved patterns and drawings, which probably held some special significance. Textured Walls
Tuff, the compacted volcanic ash, has a gritty texture and is easily eroded by wind and rain.. Erosion Cave Kiva
Traditionally, a kiva is a room used by Puebloans for religious rituals. This one is reconstructed based on the assumption that it was used for sacred weaving. Through the Canyon
Navigating the narrow pathways can be as challenging as climbing the steep ladders. Cliff House
Families explore nooks and crannies in the “cavates”, or cave rooms. Tyuonyi
The stone outlines of the village Tyuonyi can be seen on the Frijoles Canyon floor. Tyuonyi, probably built around 1380 C.E., was home to about a hundred people until the area was abandoned about 1550. Rock Sculpture ~ Volcanic Tuff Talus Houses
These buildings were reconstructed in 1920 to give visitors an idea of how cliff houses may have looked. However, it is now thought that entry would have most likely been through doorways in the roof, not in the walls. Through the Housing
At the side of the path, you can see the stone walls that once formed part of the oval plaza of Tyuonyi. The circular city-complex was three stories high in some places. American Kestrel (Falco Sparverius)
Back at the Visitor Center, we meet a rehabilitating kestrel. Feathered Head Gourd Mask
In the giftshop, modern renditions of traditional art forms bring the past into the present. The Pueblo people stopped living at this site over 450 years ago – and no one is quite sure why. But, from the beginning of the 1500s, they moved away from the Pajarito Plateau – many think they migrated to the expanding economies along the Rio Grande – and left the the Frijoles Canyon empty…
… empty – except for the Ancestral spirits who are still thought to reside there.
“Movement is life. Movement is seen everywhere… Movement was characteristic of our ancestors, who moved across the landscape like the clouds across the sky.”
 — Tessy Naranjo, Santa Clara Pueblo
Pictures: 20May2013
Posted in America,Nature,pre-history,USATags: ancient,architecture,blog,National Park,nature,Photo Blog,ruins,Travel Blog,Ursula Wall,USA
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