The house lights go down, a hush comes over an expectant audience. Blues icon and Indigo Duck front man, Jeff Harrison confidently strides up to the microphone and counts off the beat, 1234...
This is the story of "Indigo Duck".
This is the story of "Indigo Duck".
Are you sitting comfortably?...Our story begins in the early 1990's when Jeff Harrison and John Chopping meet at the then newly formed Perth Blues Club and begin jamming together on stage. From there they begin playing and performing as a duo at the club and other places. This photo is taken on the front porch of Jeff's house in the rural town of Balingup, Western Australia. John goes on to become Perth Blues Club President for one year, before handing the reins over to Rick Steele.
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And then we were three...Paul Marvin, the son of Shadows guitarist Hank Marvin, joined us on acoustic guitar and we began to play and tour as a trio. Pictured here on the left, playing at a Blues Club outing in the rural town of York and on the left at the Balingup Sports Club.
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Jesse steps up to the plate...After performing as a support for the Perth Blues Club President, Rick Steele at the Bunbury University, Rick suggested that it might be an idea for us to take on his son Jesse Steele to play drums for us. We spoke to Jesse who liked the idea and we began rehearsing at Rick's house and in 1996 played our first gig as a four piece band at the Elleker Hall in Albany. We played firstly under the name "The Blackwood Brothers", using a poster designed by Luke Steele, then changed it to "Indigo Duck" for our second gig at the Elleker Hall then on to two gigs in Albany. Below are photos taken at the back of the Earl of Spencer Hotel in Albany, where we become regular and popular performers for the next few years.
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Empire of the Duck...Due to personal issues, Paul Marvin was unable to do a series of gigs, including the Blues at Bridgetown festival. So enter his temporary replacement Jesse's brother, Luke Steele. These photos were taken at an engagement party we were booked for. I believe this is the first paid gig for a very young Luke Steele who went on to form the band "Sleepy Jackson" and later become a multiple ARIA award winner with his band "Empire of the Sun".
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Enter the real Sleepy Jackson...Jesse left the band to form a series of bands with his brother, eventually becoming the original drummer for the ARIA nominated band "Sleepy Jackson". Actually the name "Sleepy Jackson" came from the fact that Jesse's replacement in the Duck, Lynden Jackson would always fall asleep in the car on the way to gigs, so we began introducing him on stage as, "and on drums Sleepy Jackson". Luke heard this and thought it was a cool name for a band. This version of the band toured the South West of Western Australia for several years and recorded two CD's, which sold out rapidly and were remanufactured as the double CD "Double Duck".
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Don't shoot the piano player...Various Perth musicians have been with the band over the years including some wonderful piano men. Below is Bob Patient playing on the early Indigo Duck CD's with Clint Gibson at the controls. Another piano player that toured with us was Scott Jones, a protege of Bob Patient, Scott is pictured right. Bill Blisset also performed on many occasions on piano, see below.
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A drum roll please...Below left with Reg Zar on drums and Alex Smith on bass. Below right Alex on bass. On drums, Richie Pavledis and Bill Blissett on piano
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Tickle my Ivories...The next person to join the band in 2000 was Phil Bennett on piano and vocals. Phil Bennett was already very well known on the music scene having been in the popular band "Helicopters" and fronting his own band "Love Bites". Phil has had chart success in Australia and overseas. He is listed in the "UK International Who's Who in Music" and was awarded among other things, an Australia Day Award in 1993 for achievment in music. Phil is also a fine actor appearing both in movies and TV series, such as "Japanese Story" and "The Shark Net" and "The Great Mint Swindle" also "Cloudstreet".
Note the rare picture of Jeff below without his trademark beard!
Note the rare picture of Jeff below without his trademark beard!
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The Love Ducks?...or was it Indigo Bites?...Phil has been of invaluable assistance over the years, and brought along his old band mates from his band "Love Bites" to join forces with Jeff and John from the Duck. Kevin Rooney on drums, a man of vast experience and William Halhed on bass. This line up of the Duck performed for many years.
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The revolving Bass Chair... William Halhed's playing history mirrors the rise of the Perth independent music scene. One time member of "Supernaut", "Aussie Express" and "Love Bites", William left an indelible stamp on the band. So when he retired from playing, the bass chair was occupied by some of the luminaries of the Perth scene and we've had some wonderful players for varying lengths of time. Some notables worthy of an honorable mention are: Greg Thompson, Hans Debritz and Neil Bushby. However we have some photos so below left, the very talented John Talati, on the right Phil Warburton. Under them, we had Paul Marvin, who made a return appearance for a while. Finally Kevin "Harry" Heslin" slotted in. Harry, through other committments, sometimes is unavailable and our stand ins for Harry, are below right Peter Altmeier-Mort and John Talati.
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So here's Harry...
And of course that brings us to our present bass man, Kevin "Harry" Heslin, who has been with the band for some years now.
And of course that brings us to our present bass man, Kevin "Harry" Heslin, who has been with the band for some years now.
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A different drum...John "Fabe" Wootton, has played drums with the Duck on many, many gigs initially taking over from Richie Pavledis and later filling in for Rooney when he was out of action for a while. He contributed some tracks to the 2009 CD release "Quack". Fabe is the father of Drew and Myles Wooton from the ARIA award winning band "The Panics". Fabe has been on the Australian music scene for many years and has played with the likes of...Johnny O'Keefe, Bon Scott (AC/DC), Pete Watson (MPD), Tony Summers (Master's Apprentices) and Dave Hole to name a few.
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Below are photos taken in 2011 at the Peel Estate Winery.
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In 2011 Bob Patient made a welcome return for a night.
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John - June 2012
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Below: Founding member, Paul Marvin makes a surprise guest appearance at the Woodbridge Tavern, July 2012. |
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Below: Sam Musca from the "Australian Santana Experience" guests on guitar with the Duck at the Mighty Quinn Tavern, August 2012
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Below: Stand in rhythm section for the night, Tony Graneri on drums and Peter Altmeier-Mort on bass guitar at the Mighty Quinn Tavern, August 2012.
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In 2013, drummer Doug Virgl joined the band filling the drum stool left vacant by long time Duck member Kevin Rooney.
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7th March 2014, early classic line up of Indigo Duck reunited after about 15 years. Jeff (the Wizard) Harrison, Paul (Tex) Marvin, John Chopping & Lynden (Sleepy) Jackson.
