australian folk music
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Hot Jam Doughnut
by Thomas Kendall I wrote this tune with my 4 piece bluegrass/old time band ‘The KnottFamily Band’ in mind. I envisaged it as having a contemporary string band style arrangement, but it would probably adapt well to other genres. It wasn’t a deliberate act of composition, rather the product of some errant melody hunting one Continue reading
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HipHop Jig
by Jody Moran Written while I was recuperating from my hip replacement. It is a play on words with hip hop, hip op and me having to hop around on crutches with a new hip! I was fortunate enough to win the world championships in Ireland with this one. It was played by a proxy Continue reading
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Hey Rusty
by Pria Schwall-Kearney Rusty is my grandmother. She left instructions that when she died, she would not be happy with anything less than a party. The funeral/party was held in the States and I wasn’t able to make it, so I wrote this tune and send it instead. Continue reading
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Green Juice (for Adam Sutherland)
by Quinlan Hames When I was 13, I was fortunate enough to attend Stringmania the same year the extraordinary Adam Sutherland from Scotland was one of the tutors. Me and my friends decided to make Adam concoctions from the kitchen to drink – all based on the staple ingredient Cottee’s green cordial. Since Adam was Continue reading
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Good News at the Walhalla Pub
by Kate Oleinikov I had just finished my uni exams for the semester and decided to reward myself with a weekend road trip around the foothills of The Australian Alps. The last stop was the historic hill town of Walhalla. It was going to a long wait for lunch at the pub, so I brought Continue reading
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Gnomes in the Gloaming
by Claire Johnstone I wrote this during the lockdowns. I spent a lot of time staring out my window. I remember one time it was twilight and I just imagined what it would be like if there were lots of gnomes running around the garden. Continue reading
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Captains of Industry
by Penelope Swales This song is about the paradox of relying on big business to tackle climate change because governments aren’t doing anything about it. Composed in 2022. Lyrics Verse 1 Captains of Industry I’m tending my silverbeet Aware of a shift in the world Not just down here with the roots and the hyphae Continue reading
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The First (and Last) Session
by Claire Johnstone I wrote this tune to celebrate the first session I played with friends in Geelong after the first lockdown of 2020. Little did I know that it would also be the last session for a long time as we quickly plunged back into another lockdown. Composed in 2020. Continue reading
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The Fern Glade
by Sean Kenan Composed in 1985. Continue reading
About Melbourne Tune collection
Melbourne Tune Collection records and publishes original folk tunes and songs from around Australia.
I started this project after realising that I barely knew any Australian folk tunes, even though I’ve been playing the fiddle for almost two decades. It wasn’t that Australians weren’t writing tunes, it’s just that there was limited publishing opportunities for them.
I thought maybe if I collect these tunes and put them together, they would have a better chance of getting played. So in early 2019 I set off with my camera and recorder, first around Melbourne, then across Australia.
This site is the result of these travels. Its purpose is to make Australian folk music as accessible as possible and promote the incredible music that’s being written today. I genuinely believe that there’s something special happening in the Melbourne and Australian folk music scenes right now.
I hope you enjoy playing through these tunes as much as I have!
Katherine Oleinikov
Melbourne Tune Collection 