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  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Beautifully presented digi-pak compact disc with a multi page booklet featuring subversive cross stitch artwork by Jenny M. Thomas and photography by John Laurie. Design by Russel Bradley.

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1.
I sing of a captain not unknown to fame. A naval commander Bill inks was his name. He sailed where the Murray's green waters do flow did this freshwater shellback with a yo heave a yo, Derry Down Down, Down Derry Down. Oh captain O captain lets make for the shore for the winds they do rage and the winds they do roar. Nay said the captain though fierce winds do blow I'll stick to my vessel with a yo heave a yo, Derry Down Down, Down Derry Down. Oh Captain Oh Captain the waves sweep the deck Oh captain Oh captain we'll soon be a wreck. To the rivers deep bosom each seaman will go but the captain laughed lightly with a yo heave a yo, Derry Down Down, Down Derry Down. Farewell to the maiden the girl I adore. Farewell to my friends I shall see you no more. Derry Down Down, Derry Down Down... and so on on and on....
2.
Botany Bay 04:26
Farewell to old England Forever. Farewell to my rumskulls as well. Farewell to the well known Old Bailey. Where I used for to have such a swell. Singing toorali-oorali adiity. Singing toorali oorali-ay. Toorali-oorali adiity. We're bound for Botany Bay. Taint leavin old England we cares about. Taint cause we misspells what we knows. And just because all you light fingered gentry, ops around with a log on your toes. Singing toorali-oorali adiity. Singing toorali oorali-ay. Toorali-oorali adiity. We're bound for Botany Bay. Singing toorali-oorali adiity. Toorali oorali-ay. Toorali-oorali adiity. We're bound for Botany Bay. So take warning. If I had the wings of a turtle dove. I'd soar on my pinions so high. Slap bang into the arms of my honey love and in her sweet presence I'd die. Toorali-oorali adiity. Toorali oorali-ay. Toorali-oorali adiity. We're bound for Botany Bay.
3.
As I went strolling one evening not meaning to go very far. I spied a pretty young damsel parading her wares in a bar. A watch she took from a customer and she slipped it right into my hand and the law came and put me in prison bad luck to the Black Velvet Band. Her eyes they shone like diamonds and you'd think she was queen of the land. Her hair hung over her shoulders tied up with a Black Velvet Band. She was queen. Next morning before judge and jury for trial I had to appear. And the judge said me fine young fellow well the case against you is quite clear. For seven long years is your sentence and you're going to Van Diemans Land away from your friends and relations to follow the Black Velvet Band. And her eyes they shone like diamonds and you'd think she was queen of the land. Her hair hung over her shoulders tied up. Tied up.
4.
Moreton Bay 04:39
5.
Come all you wild and wicked youths wherever you may be, I pray you pay attention and listen unto me. The fate of us poor transports as you shall understand The hardships that they undergo upon Van Diemen's Land. I and five more went one night to a Squires park In expectation of some game the night the night being so dark But to our great misfortune we they trepanned us with ease And they sent us to Lancaster jail which made our hearts to bleed It was at the March assizes we then, we did repair Like Job we stood with patience to hear our sentence there My being with old offenders my case it did go hard And my sentence was for fourteen years I was quickly sent on board The ship on which we sailed well now the Speedwell it was her name, For full five months and longer boys we sped the foaming main. Neither land nor harbour did we see, I tell you its no lie, All around us one black water, all above us one blue sky. The first day that we landed upon that fateful shore, The settlers came around us being twenty forty score or more, They lined us up like horses and sold us out of hand, and they roped us to the ploughing frame to plough Van Diemen's Land.
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10.
Gather round you sailor boys And listen to my plea now boys When you hear my tale you'll pity me. I was a goddam stupid fool All in the port of Liverpool When first I came home from the sea. It's well I do remember the day When first i met Maggie May A-cruisin' up and down old Canning Place She wore a figure Oh so fine Just like a ringer on the line And me, a sailor well, I gave her chase CHORUS Maggie Maggie Maggie May They've taken you so far away To slave upon that ol' Van Diemens shore You've robbed so many sailors And dosed so many whalers That you'll never see old Lime Street any more In the morning when I woke My heart it was so sad and broke No shirt, trousers or waistcoat could I find And when I asked her where the were She answered me 'well young Sir' They're down at Stanley's Hock Shop number nine. So to the hock shop I did go But no clothes could they show So the bobbies came and took that girl away The jury guilty found her For robbing me a sailor And they paid her passage out to Botany Bay

about

Bush Gothic were originally called 'Jenny M. Thomas & The System'

'Frankly, wars could have exploded, governments imploded, revolutions sparked and faded, Shane Warne could have proposed, the trains could have run on time. I have been deaf to it all. Who do I have to thank for this interregnum? A Melbourne trio, and their supporting cast. The trio are Jenny M. Thomas and the System. The two making up the System are Dan Witton and Chris Lewis. The fruit of their labour is the CD Bush Gothic.' The National Times

'Imagine the most hackneyed old songs of colonial Australia re-imagined as works of exquisite beauty.' Music Forum

'Bush Gothic boldly tackles ten folksongs about travelling to Australia and imprisonment with fresh and inventive arrangements. Memorable piano riffs, sweeping strings, multi-layered and measured (sometimes funereal!) tempos define the sound, and in terms of comparisons, it reminds me of Jim Moray’s debut, P J Harvey’s White Chalk and, in Jenny’s voice, Regina Spektor....it has a certain mesmerising quality that draws me in more and more.' fRoots UK

credits

released August 1, 2011

Jenny M. Thomas: vocal, violin, viola, piano, spoons, Fender Rhodes, guitar
Dan Witton: double bass, vocal, chord organ
Chris Lewis: drumkit
Pria Scwall-Kearney: fretless banjo
Roy John: guitar
Zoe Knighton: cello
Michael Brooks-Reid: violin
Ceridwen Davies: viola

Produced by Roy John and Jenny M. Thomas
Recorded by Dave McCluney at Atlantis studios. Mixed by Roy John at Crackle studios. Mastered by Lachlan Carrick at Moose Mastering

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Bush Gothic Melbourne, Australia

BBC Music Magazine - 5 STARS, World Music Albums of the year 2016,
fRoots Album of the Year 2016: Runner Up. Adelaide Fringe Festival Best Music Weekly Award 2017 & 2018. Defiantly modern, achingly old, Bush Gothic re-imagine songs of heartbreak and tragedy amongst convicts, desperate miners and criminal women. ... more

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