Introduction The De Bortolis Family Jeane Upjohn

When our esteemed editor asked if I was interested in contributing material for the Simply Australia e-magazine of course the answer was YES. Finally here was a way of introducing a wider audience to some of the wonderful people we meet and record whilst “on the track”.

A recording trip to an area is multi functional, not purely for the purpose of recording folklore, music and verse. We do not turn the recorder off when they relate life stories as these are all part of the whole picture of a person and relate directly to the attitudes and social history of both the person concerned and those of the area. So in this manner we might get stories of hardship, war experience (and ditties), Indigenous issues (and music) and a few wonderful philosophies as well.

Other ongoing projects are run in conjunction with field trips. My main two are “Voices of the Bush”- a look at the changing face of rural Australia and “The Child Migrants Oral History Project” - talking with child migrants who were bought to Australia under various schemes.