Music
It may have taken me 6 months to finally be able to get Gary Burrows (and Pongo lol) to sit down long enough to record this interview, but it was definitely worth the wait! Gary is a legend here in South Australia, and a well respected musician Australia wide. Born and raised in Adelaide, Gary first began to play drums in the 60s. His first working band 'The Evergreens' released a single that he wrote called "Country Lane", Gary has written over 200 songs. Gary had a 2 year absence from bands when he was 20 due to the then mandatory requirements for Australian men to serve in the Army. Being a drummer meant that instead of marching every day, he got to play the snare drum that all of the soldiers marched along to. When he returned to Adelaide he joined 'Brass Carnival', this band regularly supported visiting national and international artists during the 70s including; John Farnham, Robin Jolley, Pussyfoot, Cleo Laine, Bev Harrell, and many more. The band moved to Sydney (minus the brass section), and began touring up and down the East Coast. It was during this time that Gary got to see a lot of bands perform, he really enjoyed the different music, especially The Radiators. He eventually left the band and came back to Adelaide, he then joined 'Cradle' who soon changed their name to 'The Boys'. The Boys became very popular, and it wasn't long before Gary was back on tour, this time the tours were Australia wide and they travelled on the bands own tour bus for 5 or 6 years, along with their entourage which included their roadcrew and manager. Gary scored the perfect job during this period, he became an APRA Music Consultant, and was able to combine performing and his licensing role with APRA when he was off stage. Gary remained with APRA for 33 years. Gary is the Chairman of the South Australian Chapter of 'Support Act', a Core committee member of the 'Adelaide Music Collective' (AMC), a committee member on the 'Music Industry Council' (MIC), has been inducted into both the 'SA Country Music Hall of Fame' and 'SA Music Hall of Fame', and a recipient of the SA Music Associations 'Lifetime Achievement Award'. Gary continues to work tirelessly for the music industry, and his work with the AMC and Support Act keep him very busy. In May 2020, Support Act received a Grant of $10 million from the Australian Government through the Office for The Arts, to provide crisis relief and wellbeing support to artists, crew, and music workers impacted by Covid-19. I have included a link below for anyone who would like more info about this, and the other support services that are available through Support Act. These days Gary performs with 'The Masters Apprentices' (who are performing tonight at the Arkaba Hotel), 'The Rustlers', 'The Boys', his tribute to John Lennon 'Oranges and Lennons', and can be heard every Sunday evening on 'RadioKSA' along with co-host Cheryl Lee, on their 2 hour Music Show 'Rockaholics'. Music: Intro "Band It About" written and recorded by Catherine Lambert & Michael Bryant, "Emily (I Saw You Last Night)" during the interview, and Outro "Tears For Elvis", both written by Gary Burrows, performed by 'The Rustlers'. Links: Support Act: COVID-19 Crisis Relief Grant all of their services can be found on this website https://supportact.org.au/ https://www.facebook.com/TheRustlersOfficial/ https://www.facebook.com/orangesandlennons/ https://www.facebook.com/themastersapprenticesofficial/ To Support Band It About --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/dianne-spillane/message