[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] T [/dropcap]ake a generous serving of Scottish and Irish music, add a dash of jazz and a pinch of Reggae and you might have something close to the magical formula of Likely Celts, although I doubt it.

That’s because the individual talents behind this funky three-piece band are what makes it so special.  In what should be an unlikely – rather than a likely – combination, Likely Celts brings together three seasoned, but very different South-West Victorian musicians in Merran Moir, Irishman Glenn Hudson and, more recently, Tim Conlan.

Merran (Scottish small pipe/tin whistle) comes from a background steeped in traditional Scottish music and she grew up as possibly the only girl at Warrnambool High School in the late 1970s to have mastered the bagpipes. Glenn (vocals/guitar) has the rich Irish accent of someone who moved to Australia only 10 years ago, but his musical heritage is rock, while local Tim (double/electric bass) cut his teeth on a diet of Pink Floyd, Frank Zappa and The Beatles.

The trio – so fresh they have only just created a Facebook page – have focussed their energies on honing a mix of traditional and original songs and tunes that have proved both foot-tapping and mesmerising for those lucky enough to see them live.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] T [/dropcap]heir most recent gig at Fifteen Minutes of Fame at Crossley brought the house down with Merran’s blazing finger work on the tin whistle and her skill with the bellows pipes that, to the uninitiated, appeared to involve far more co-ordination than humanly possible.

Upon closer inspection, it is revealed that the “bag” is tucked under her left arm, while a small pair of bellows is tucked under her right – with both working in unison to create the “wind” – as her fingers run up and down the pipe to play each note. Got that?

“And you have to remember to smile while you’re playing,” Merran adds with a chuckle.

Of course you do.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] L [/dropcap]aughter, however, is never in short supply around Likely Celts, who have immersed themselves in the “trad” (traditional) Irish music scene in South-West Victoria purely for the joy of playing.

“Music is all about thoughts and feelings – how it makes you feel when you play it, and when you hear it,” says Glenn.

For Tim, it is an opportunity to stretch himself musically:

“It’s a whole new style to what I am used to, but I like getting out of my comfort zone.”

In earlier years, Merran performed and recorded with John Farnham for You’re the Voice, but it has been at least 10 years since she has done any regular performing due to all the other commitments life throws our way.

Likely Celts appears to be the right fit.

“There are no rules – we mix it up a bit and just have a great time,” she said.

So does the audience.

[box type=”bio”] You can find the Likely Celts on Facebook here. [/box]  

Can’t wait that long? Check out this sampler on Youtube: 

 If you enjoyed this story, you might enjoy:

Inside sculptor Meg Finnegan’s Port Fairy studio

Glenn Morgan: Art as Medicine 

Shelley Knoll-Miller: cartoonist, illustrator, straw-bale house builder

Merran Koren: Carving out a creative life

From Panmure to Dubai: the art of Kathryn Ryan

Life through a surrealist lens: Berit Hampel

Each week we post a Gumtree gem:  an odd, funny or unusual item we have found on Gumtree, the online buy/sell/swap site. Most are from South-West Victoria or not far beyond.

This week, we uncovered a side line of skimpy wear available from an unexpected location….

[box] Black tutu skirt, brand new in packet. Multi sizes. 

Local pickup from Geelong @Waterworld (Norlane pool) $12. [/box]

  Find more Gumtree gems here…

Cheapest house ever?

Couch with an ouch

All I need is the air that I breathe

Always check the auto-correct!

Too short for this Hill’s Hoist

12 things for $12

Can’t afford a real horse?

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #A5CECD;”] T [/dropcap] his week’s quiet hero was summed up to us as being “a really incredible Mum”, but –  being relatively new to Warrnambool – we had no idea just how incredible.

Kylie Thulborn has four children, but it is her youngest son, Harvey McCorkell, that has attracted national attention because of his Mum’s determination that he be able to participate fully in life despite being born with heart and lung disorders that deprived him of oxygen and caused multiple disabilities.

As he grew older, Harvey, like any kid, wanted to surf, swim, skate, cycle – and Kylie found ways for it to happen.

She tracked down specialised sports equipment and programs  in Australia and overseas for children with disabilities. She also tapped into a supportive, global online community aimed at helping kids just like Harvey to live their dreams.

As a result, and through the use of adaptive sports equipment – including a Mike Box wheelchair designed specifically for wheelchair sports – Harvey, 12, has become a hard-core skater and year-round surfer. He has even cut a few waves off the coasts of California and Costa Rica.

His inspirational story and Kylie’s blogs about their journey were captured by ABC Open and went on to win a national media award.

Since then, Kylie has also recorded her story for the Surfworld Museum at Torquay.

She also continues to be involved in helping others with disabilities to “Share the Stoke” down at the Warrnambool foreshore.

Boy, Kylie deserves a coffee…and our admiration.

[box] Our quiet hero will receive a voucher for coffee and cake from this week’s sponsor, Rocksalt cafe, Port Fairy – thankyou for your support, Rocksalt.[/box]

 Meet some of our other quiet heroes…

The Drylies and creating art with kids

Susie Alexander fights cancer…and aims for a fun run 

Holden Club helps out

Caring for the environment

Embracing diversity

Our Blue Tunes this week is by another enduring artist who, in his latter years, may have become associated with the seniors set…but hey, he can still sing like a charm.

Try listening to any of his big hits without singing along: it is impossible.

Here is good old Neil Diamond and one of his hits that featured the word ‘blue’ in the title.

Can you name the other one?

Click on the image to be taken to the clip.

 Catch up on more blue tunes …

David Bowie: Blue Jean

Joni Mitchell: Blue

Willie Nelson: Blue Skies

Indigo Girls: Tangled up in Blue

Emmylou Harris: Blue Kentucky Girl

Etta James: Misty Blue

Flunk: Blue Monday

Linda Ronstadt: Blue Bayou

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DDCE8D;”] A [/dropcap]mid all the arguing about whether Warrnambool City Council should send a delegation to Miura, Japan, for Sister City celebrations, a simple question is yet to be answered: what do we gain from our two Sister City connections?

And, more importantly, what do we expect?

Trying to answer the first question is harder than you think, as there is no single, easily accessible reporting mechanism that documents the achievements of the Miura link that dates back more than 20 years (our Sister City link with Changchun, China, began last year).

Instead, you have to trawl through two decades of council minutes and newspaper archives to discover that our Sister City relationship with Miura has pretty much done what it set out to do, which was to build “friendship, cooperation and understanding” between two very different cultures.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DDCE8D;”] I [/dropcap]n a pre-Internet world, it was considered money well spent to invest ratepayer dollars in building harmonious relationships with cultures so unlike our own as to be exotic. School kids have a chance to visit another country, and to host international students in return. We have a lovely, if hidden, Japanese friendship garden, and Miura has some Norfolk pine seedlings. Funds have been used to host and attend civic functions, both here and in Miura.

That’s what a Sister City relationship used to be about and what ratepayers’ money has been spent on, although whether – in the wired, highly mobile world of 2013 – it is still money well spent, is open to debate.

Which brings us to the second question: what do we expect?

This is where things have shifted.

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DDCE8D;”] T [/dropcap]he July edition of the Council’s newsletter, C2C, was almost breathless in its description of our newest Sister City, Changchun, as a place of 7.5 million people, spread across 20,571sq/km, and pumping out 2.8 million and 2500 train carriages a year. Who wouldn’t want a piece of that action?

Indeed, the newsletter cover gave a tantalising taste of what we might look forward to, with a mock image of a Chinese bullet train speeding into Warrnambool railway station. Wow, this would be so much better than the current V-Line service that is one of the poorest performing in the state because of its breakdowns and delays.

This new Sister City relationship is not only about friendship and goodwill, but promoting “common prosperity and development” – in other words, business – and this takes a lot of time, and we can expect, a lot more money before we see any concrete results.

The council minutes of September 9 make this clear:

“If the Council and the Great South Coast elect to use the relationship with Changchun to leverage business opportunities, further costs will accrue in hosting visits to Warrnambool from Changchun and staff resources in preparing and supporting business and projects to the benefit of the region, matching funding with state government grants etc. These are unknown at this stage.”

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #DDCE8D;”] W [/dropcap]hile we might be flattered by the intentions of a major city, we certainly don’t have Changchun all to ourselves. Changchun has 19 other Sister Cities: Warrnambool is number 20. In this regard, it is a bit like being married to a polygamist – you have a seat at the table, but the love is being shared around.

Still, the recent business delegation to Changchun, led by Mayor Michael Neoh and CEO Bruce Anson, reported that they found the trip invaluable as an entrée to potential new markets.

No doubt their efforts to build on this introduction will dovetail with the work of the Great South Coast Exporters Group, and similar state and federal bodies that work to build international trade relations.

But is this what our Sister City relationships should be about?

And should ratepayers’ money be directed to this purpose, or could it be better used to fund, for example, more tangible and immediate projects such as improving the restaurant end of Liebig St, installing more public art, or buying more books for the library?

The little sister has grown up: now is the time for an open discussion on where she fits into the family.

 If you enjoyed this, you might enjoy…

When scrutiny is sub-standard, democracy suffers