SQuidgey Music
Mark Jackson and Jane Jelbart team together to make
SQuidge, the Hunter Valley's premier ukulele duo. Based in
Newcastle, NSW they are rather besotted with the uke (and
other under-rated instruments), singing sweetly, and being
friendly with the audience.Mark & Jane form one half of The Do Riders, Newcastle's token blurgrass band. Fortunate or otherwise, SQuidge have a taste for country, with their roots also in folk, pop, soul and acapella. 'Eclectic' and 'diverse' are words usually reserved for people such as these. But the same people also seem to add 'beautiful harmonies', 'entertaining', 'funny', 'cute' (erk!), and 'wow! you swap instruments a lot!'.
Mark has written a swag of songs over the years (notably played with Central Victorian folk-ish type band voicepopfoible) and his 'forthright, rather lyrically interesting, engaging and melodic originals' are duly given the SQuidge treatment. But so too are Nick Cave, Ani DiFranco, (the artist formerly known as) Prince and Radiohead.
Due respect rather than 'treatment' is paid to the likes of such contemporary country royalty as Patty Griffin, Billy Bragg and Gillian Welch, as well as to the country Kings and Queens of yesteryear (Tammy Wynette, June and Johnny Cash, and Slim Dusty and Joy McKean).
Here is a poorly recorded serving of Nick Cave's "Into My Arms" as we (ably assisted by an enthusiastic audience) performed it at the Melbourne Ukulele Festival in February 2011.
And a more up version of Gillian Welch and Dave Rawling's 'Red Clay Halo', at the same place