| Thank you Lindsay for all your efforts to organise Canberra gigs for our American guest, Roy Eaton. On behalf of Kosciuszko Heritage Inc. - Ernestyna Skurjat-Kozek. Some excerpts from Lindsay's emails to me and to Roy. I did not possess a great deal of knowledge about Mr Eaton but I have recently visited his website and I have been greatly impressed with what I have heard and read about him. I am not a classical music buff, preferring jazz and blues, but I have been truly impressed by his masterful ability and I was very impressed with his versatility and the quality of his album comprised of the works of the famous ragtime musician, Scott Joplin, the composer of the ragtime hit ‘Entertainer’ which was featured in the classic 70’s film ‘The Sting’.
And just so that you know a little about me – in addition to being an ACT public servant and before sailing into the world of event management and special projects, I worked as an audio visual producer for the Australian Defence Department for 20 years, specialising in corporate video production. I am also a seasoned musician – I have played drums and percussion for over fifty six years, specialising in blues, southern style country rock, funk and soul and cajun.
Interestingly, I do not read music, I have always played by feel and inspiration and I am completely self taught. I am also a diehard Jimmy Buffett fan, have been for 35 years and also love the music of Billy Joel, especially his early albums. I also love the music of Diana Krall.
Like you, I served in the military when I was younger – 4 years in the Royal Australian Air Force as a photographer. I spent some time in the USA back in the early eighties and I travelled extensively on the West Coast, Texas, Louisiana and some time down in Mexico and later, I travelled to South America and later to Norway, Germany, The Netherlands, Austria, Hungary and Romania, where I worked for an aid agency.
Music is the foremost inspiration in my life – I wake up with it, have it streamed into my computer at work and I listen to my CD’s at night. I love to listen to most genres but particularly calypso, creole, reggae, jazz and blues. When I was a boy, my grandmother, who was English by birth and a great piano player, greatly inspired and influenced me with various genres of music including skiffle, boogie and swing and introduced me to the music of such greats as King Cole, Winifred Atwell, Fats Domino, Nina Simone, Harry Belafonte and Count Basie and many other greats of that era.
She also got me onto my first drum kit when I was just three years of age. I was fortunate in my younger years to see the late and great Buddy Rich play drums in Canberra. I am married to a beautiful woman, one of the great Thai chefs in Canberra, who is 18 years younger than me. We have been happily married for 17 years. We have two lovely daughters, aged 12 and 14 years and I have older children from a previous marriage. You might just get the opportunity to eat some of her wonderful food at the National Multicultural Festival when you perform. Well, that’s me in a nutshell – and I am 59 years of age but think young about life always.
My dear wife and friends have been urging me for years to write a book and to inject all of the humorous little stories and events that have happened along the way – my exploits have been many!
Our Ozzie friend- Lindsay Burge. Photo F. Molski |
The American Ambassador introducing Roy Eaton. Photo F. Molski |
Roy waiting to play at the Canberra Multicultural Festival. Photo F. Molski |
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