About Mark

Mark Roebuck

The Bulli Folk Festival in 2005 featured an Asturian Folk band comprising Roger Hargraves, Bruce Cameron, Nick Rigby, Jim McWhinnie and Mark Roebuck.

Hang on a minute ! there’s not a Spaniard among that lot, Mark Roebuck is a Lithgow boy so how does he come to be playing Asturian music with a group of other guys from Bathurst ? and where is Asturia ?.

Asturia is a northern province of Spain and its main musical influences have been Celtic rather than European. The joyful and expressive music played by wonderful Asturian group Felpeyu made an impression on Mark and after attending two of their concerts in Bathurst he and the other guys decided to try it for themselves.  Already having a solid background in Irish music made it a bit easier for Mark and the others and they continue to learn new Asturian tunes and rhythms to expand their repertoire.

Mark Roebuck decided he wanted to learn the guitar when he was a teenager. His dad Clive was always interested in Australian music and verse and Mark had grown up absorbing all sorts of Australian bush ballads, tunes and songs, but what he wanted to play was Bob Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel and the protest songs that were the popular music of the day. Teaming up with his friend Peter Robson, or “Robbo” as he is probably better known, they began to write and play their own songs and to do their own arranging of other more well known material. They would perform just for their own pleasure and had quite a few “party pieces” that they would do at parties.

After a few years Mark began to take a deeper interest in the Australian bush music his dad and the Trooper Scanlans Gold Pan Band were playing and he started to experiment with other instruments like the banjo-mandolin. At first it was just strumming chords to simple polkas but soon getting more adventurous when he teamed up with Gary and Graham Bucholtz. They began to play in pubs with Trooper Scanlans and they were  encouraged and accepted by older musicians such as Kerry Lewis, Brian Shaw , Donovan Linney and of course Mark’s dad Clive.

 At the time the licensing laws meant that to have a drink on Sundays you needed to be a certain amount of miles away from where you lived, you had to be a ‘bonafide traveller’ so it was the heyday of the smaller country pubs such as Tarana, O’Connell, Rydal and Mount Victoria.  A Friday night gig could turn into an all weekend session and Mark remembers spending one weekend camped in the stables at O’Connell pub. He remembers and appreciates the friendship and commraderie that was a big part of this period of his life. It was a big thing for Mark to be able to share such an important part of his life with his dad.

It wasn’t a big step from Australian music to Irish music and it is in Irish music that Mark found his “home”.  In 1978 Mark and Gary Bucholtz took a trip to Ireland and along with them they took a 5 string Banjo and a Guitar. They felt a bit out of place in the music scene as their style and their instruments didn’t really fit in with the traditional music that they had gone to play and hear. Their instruments stayed in their cases for most of this trip, but they had a great time, learned a lot and came home with a determination to play instruments more suited to the music they wanted to play.

Subsequent trips to Ireland have seen much more music played and enjoyed. The traditional Irish band ‘Planxty’ is a particular favourite of Mark’s and he can recall  attending their concerts and being in awe of their fast and furious  playing of jigs and reels, never for one moment thinking that he himself would one day be able to play the same tunes.

Mark now plays the guitar, banjo, mandolin and the violin and at the moment he is listening to a mix of music including American bluegrass/Appalachian,  Asturian and of course Irish music. Traditional Irish bands such as Danu’, The Bothy Band, Planxty, & The Chieftans are perennial favourites.  The soundtrack from “O’Brother where art thou” and a new album by Paul Kelly are getting a run as well but traditional Irish remains his favourite music.

Mark says that he was lucky to grow up in and live in Lithgow where the amount and diversity of musical talent is outstanding. There is an opportunity for anyone who wants to learn to play an instrument or sing or just appreciate what is in our community. He enjoys being part of the Lithgow Folk Club where everyone’s talents are appreciated and encouraged and feels that music touches all our lives on some level. His ambition is to keep learning more and varied music and to still be able to play and enjoy his music well into his old age.

Glenda Phipps

Martin Doherty

Fintan aka Craig Batty

Gary Bucholtz

Linda Mehrtens

Cil Van der Velden