UPDATED FROM THE FOLK RAG no
16 - DECEMBER 1997/JANUARY 1998
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PROFILE - FEATURED FOLKIE
TERRY JACOB
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Terry was born in the English county of Norfolk,
the home of many fine traditional singers - Peter Bellamy, Walter Pardon
and Harry Cox, to name but three. His large extended family all had strong
voices and would often get together in the local pub to sing up the dawn.
Terry's first memory of folk music was listening to the Gypsies, Irish tinkers
and itinerant labourers who came to work in the fields at the bottom of
his parents' house. His mother forbade him to go to the camp fires
in the evening, but Terry found them irresistible. One Gypsy drew a crayon
picture of seven year old Terry holding an accordion, a picture he has always
treasured.
Terry discovered commercial Folk music in the mid sixties
from groups such as The Spinners, The Dubliners and local musicians.
After leaving school and part time jobs of working on the local fishing fleets
and farms, he moved to the vineyards of France where the locals were keen
to teach him their tunes when he produced his constant companion, the fiddle.
After working several years in Berlin and singing in the German folk clubs,
Terry returned to England where he joined the King's Morris and met
his Australian wife, Jennifer (but not in that order).
Terry and Jennifer were married in Germany and moved
to Qld in the early 80s' where he was quickly snapped up by the Moreton
Bay Morris as a stand in musician for Ian Drynan. The nucleus of the
legendary Champion Moreton Bay Band developed at this time and Terry
found himself playing bush music in small country towns all around Qld and
Northern NSW. After the revival of the QFF in the mid 80s, Terry became a
regular feature at Folk clubs and particularly at sessions, where his love
of the Irish music he had heard at those early camp fire sessions in Norfolk
was evident.
Recently he has been playing with Gerry Farrell and
Jan Davis and at local Hotels, and with the new band "Herbal Tunes
and other Remedies". His greatest pleasure now however, is to hear and
help the new generation of Folkies emerging, including his own kids Sam,
Tom and Rose.
FROM THE FOLK RAG
no 16 - DECEMBER 1997/JANUARY
1998