LAGER, LAUGHS & LIES
CD-REVIEWS 2005"The Rhymer from Ryde"- "Lager, Laughs & Lies-Live"
In these modern times of doom and gloom, it is very refreshing to be sent an album that will actually make me smile. This hilarious album from "The Rhymer from Ryde", called "Lager, Laughs & Lies-Live" is guaranteed to make you split your sides with laughter.
With talent like Graeme's to carry on the Spoken Word, it is no wonder that the Poets Breakfasts attract such huge crowds wherever they choose to appear. Indeed many Fans will leave the comfort of their beds just to be first in line to see these wonderful purveyors of Aussie truths. I had a ball listening to this album and it is with much pleasure that I get to comment on it now. My advice to the Listeners is to go and buy a copy now before they all sell out.
Graeme is no stranger to awards either and in the last couple of years he has picked up a couple of very prestigious ones (that I know of) including the 2004 Banjo Paterson Award and the Leonard Teale Spoken Word Award 2005. Both tracks can be found on the album.
Helen Kay
Local and National Broadcaster
2MCR100.3FM
'Lager, Laughs and Lies, LIVE' with Graeme Johnson.
Album Review.Graeme Johnson, 'The Rhymer from Ryde' elected to go 'Live' with his latest album "Lager, Laughs and Lies LIVE" at the West Ryde Hotel where he enlisted Pat Drummond from Shoestring Records as his project manager in charge of recording and artwork.
From his ever familiar 'G'day folks! How ya' goin'?' Graeme leads his audience and listeners through an original and contemporary compilation of bush verse coupled with a selection of true-to-life humorous yarns and stories relative to keen observations as only a bush poet can display. His attraction to the distractions of the gorgeous blonde living next door paves the way in this respect to his choice of humorous anecdotes and poems.
Graeme's 'Faces on the Wall', his poem for his father, 'Have you seen my Dad' and 'Only a Freesia for Henry' exemplifies a humane understanding and his complete mastery of the written word revealing the more serious side of this popular performer.
Graeme Johnson has been part of the Australian Bush Poetry scene since 1994 when he first discovered 'folkies' reciting from atop the bar in a hotel at the Australian Bush Music Festival at Glen Innes, NSW. Thus inspired and completely obsessed with bush poetry from that time, he has made research and writing a priority with a determined focus on performance poetry at festivals and poetry gatherings the length and breadth of the nation.
Frank Daniel
President
Australian Bush Poets Association Inc.,
CD REVIEW 'Lager, Laughs and Lies'
Graeme Johnson- The Rhymer from Ryde.
Reviewed by Russell Hannah
In any record shop CDs of spoken word perfromances are remarkably hard to find, given that bush verse and performance poetry have made a remarkable impact on the folk scene in the last ten years.
Graeme Johnson's second CD 'Lager, Laughs and Lies,' is a welcome addition to these ranks. Johnson has steered clear of the traditional ballads of the Bulletin days and confined himself, not only to his own compositions, but also to the verse of some of his contemporaries like Frank Daniel and Milton Taylor. However this does not mean that rhyme & meter have fallen by the wayside. Quite to the contrary.
'The Rhymer from Ryde' (Graeme Johnson's sobriquet) reveals himself as a more than competent poet with a keen sense for the killer punch line. His humorous verse has a unique freshness and his more serious material a sense of the poignant. , His 'Faces on the Wall', (a poem about those killed in WW1 from the little town of Corryong Vic), personalises the whole bloody business of war and is the best of an impressive collection. His 'Only a Freesia for Henry' and 'Have you Seen my Dad?' are also finely crafted pieces of verse.
Graeme Johnson has won the 2004 Banjo Paterson Award for poetry and as recently as this year picked up an award at the Henry Lawson Festival for his poem 'Calamari Capers' (also on the CD). His composition 'Oops' about the swearing golfing priest will have any audience laughing.
Graeme Johnson is a performance poet and performance poetry lends itself to live recording. This one was recorded at the West Ryde Hotel and the ambience created by the audience gives the CD extra appeal. Johnson is no shrinking violet when it comes to performing and his recitations, particularly the humorous poems and yarns, have all the vivacity and strength of a revivalist orator.
Its presentation from sound engineering to the fine booklet that is the cover of the CD (it also contains the words of three of his verses) is first classRussell Hannah
Broadcaster 2VOXFM
Illawarra Folk Club Director
Re Australian Bush Balladeers
Graeme Johnson
"The Aussie Character"
By Graeme Johnson
From "Lager, Laughs & Lies"
Shoestring Records SR 61The "Rhymer from Ryde's" second CD is presented "Live", a forum that best suits the Bush Poet's art. It contains 15 tracks with a strong emphasis on humour and combines poetry, yarnspinning and joke telling in the true traditional style of the masters.
The CD contains no less than 7 award winning pieces including-"Faces on the Wall" (a stirring presentation of the Anzac legend) from the Banjo Paterson Bush Poetry Competition 2004.
Graeme has won over 70 commendations for his written & spoken work over the last decade and is a well established and respected member of the Bush Poet's fraternity.Australian Bush Balladeers
Live Show Reviews - FESTIVAL DIRECTORS REFERENCES 2005
".As a professional performer since 1982, I have been fortunate to see and work with Graeme Johnson at many NSW Folk Festivals & Folk Clubs around Sydney since 1994. My impression of Graeme's work has been of a performer totally committed to his craft and dedicated to its promotion and well-being. I have enjoyed, with his audiences, not only the splendid performances of his substantial original works, but also his energetic renditions of the classics."
Yuri the Storyteller
".His awareness of his surrounds and the needs of others, both performers and audience, meant that he was able to select appropriate material from his extensive repertoire and bring out the best in others.Graeme was very adaptable and understanding. A Festival organisers delight."
Pat & Barry Emmett
Sth West Shires Folk Music Club
".I have been involved in organising & running the St. Albans Folk Festival and can say without hesitation that my job would have been that much harder were it not for Graeme's tireless help.Graeme is an absolute joy to be entertained by.I would not hesitate to recommend him to anyone who needs a "think on his feet" kind of Mc/Poet, whose motto is "the show must go on"."
John Greninger, St. Albans Folk Festival
".He has also been developing his skills as an organiser through his involvement with the North by Northwest Poetry & Folk Club at Ryde which started in Nov 97."
Ron Brown, President, Hunter Bush Poets
"I have known Graeme Johnson for nearly ten years and, I must say, he is a refreshing rarity amongst Bush Poets.His most recent poems "Only A Freesia for Henry", "Minahan's Lament", "Convict Love Tokens", "The Currency Kids" & "Faces on the Wall" are just superb. The templates are thoughtful, the research scholarly and the commitment profound.They are I believe, Bush Poems of a standard that most current practitioners of that rough and ready art form would be simply incapable of writing."
Pat Drummond, Singer/Songwriter
"...As a performance poet he holds my complete admiration and I feel confident in recommending him for any position that requires poetic talent."
Milton Taylor, 6 Times Australian Bush Poetry Champion
".I have known Graeme for a number of years through his involvement in the Illawarra Folk Club, the Illawarra Folk Festival at Jamberoo and other folk related activities within the Illawarra area. His recent success in poetry writing competitions exemplifies both his originality and recitation skills.
David De Santi, Director-Illawarra Folk Festival
Australian Folk Festival
".As a performance poet he is without peer.he excels as both poet and Master of Ceremonies with his easy going presentation and style."
Peter Gillespie, President, Majors Creek "Music at the Creek" Festival
".Graeme worked on 2 major projects for Hornsby Council in 2000 as Poetry Director, the Australia Day Bush Picnic and the Olympic Torch Relay Day.both events were extremely successful."
Jo Lester (Events Co-ordinator)/Joanna Crawford (Community Relations) Hornsby Council
".I was impressed with Graeme's performances at the National Folk Festival and invited him to perform at Maldon (Vic) in that same year (mind you, he's been asked back every Festival since).he was well received by audiences and performers alikehis rapport is both entertaining and sensitive."
Richard Leitch, National Folk Festival "Reciter of the Year"
".Graeme has a great talent for reciting.and is a poet of note in his own right. He is capable of tailoring his shows to suit the mood and age of his audience.a "live-wire" poet."
Tony Page, Chairman, Galston Country Music Festival, NSW
".Adapting to a variety of venues and to specific requests for particular themes from our organisers, Graeme is the type of artist festivals love to have. His appeal to audiences, his cheerful disposition and the quality of his work ensures further appearances at our event."
Rollo Kiek, Artistic Director, Mount Beauty Music Muster, VIC
" Over the years Graeme has been seen in many guises at our Festival, Mc, Performance Poet and more recently as a judge. Truly respected by his peers Graeme is the sort of man who can "keep the show rolling" so to speak"
Jan Lewis, Co-ordinator, Man from Snowy River Festival, VIC
N.B (Full copies of references will be provided on request)
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