About Gary Bucholtz

Hands up If you have ever heard of Oakey Park, Waterworks Gullly,

 Zig Zag School or Farmers Creek?  Never heard of them? Well you might just be forgiven for not knowing any of these places, but if you live in Lithgow there is no excuse for not knowing the name Gary Bucholtz

One of Lithgow’s most talented and versatile musicians, Gary is an Oakey Park boy born and bred, who in fact, still lives not far from his childhood home.

When Gary’s mum Violet Behan came from Sydney to Lithgow to help establish the famous ‘Berlei’ factory, she little suspected the contribution she would make to the musical history of Lithgow. After coming to Lithgow Violet met and married Mervyn Bucholtz, a returned serviceman who had fought in Borneo, and there began a tradition of music that would take some beating.

 Unfortunately Mervyn died when Gary was very young, but family stories hold that he was a great singer, although he didn’t like speaking in public very much. His three sons and two daughters, Lauren, Grahame, Gary, Janine and Judith all inherited his talent and the Bucholtz household was always filled with music and song. Of course there was no television then (the dark ages) so radio was the main influence in their musical choices, Gary says that Violet never minded what they were singing or how many instruments were being played by how many people, she sometimes requested a reduction in the volume, but generally she was very tolerant and encouraged them all in their music.

Despite not having their dad around Gary and his brothers and sisters had a happy and easy childhood in Oakey Park along side Farmers Creek.

One day when Gary was 15 he picked up Lauren’s guitar and so started on his lifelong musical journey.

The big musical influence of the day was Rock & Roll, with The Beatles being very popular at the time. His music “rocked & rolled” along until Gary got his first taste of Irish music hearing bands such as ‘Planxty’, ‘The Dubliners’ and ‘The Clancy Brothers’, the  folksie, ballad type music of Leonard Cohen, Cat Stevens and Gordon Lightfoot. Rock & Roll collided with Folk and for Gary there was no more ‘Rock & Roll’.

Gary knew that Violet had kept a button accordion that belonged to his father and he was eventually able to persuade her to let him have it, it was quite an unusual instrument for a teenager to want to learn, but with his usual determination he taught himself to play it.

A few of Gary’s friends were also into music and having their support and encouragement has meant a lot to him right from the very beginning.

The Bucholtz boys, Lauren, Grahame and Gary, along with friends  Clive and Mark Roebuck and Russell Serov  formed a band called ‘The Colliers’. They played all around the district at weddings, bush dances and parties for quite a while and if anyone ever recorded one of their gigs they would love to know about it because they never did.

The Bucholtz girls, Janine and Judith also teamed up with Gary and they were a very popular trio at weddings, church concerts and benefits.

In the late 60’s, the local ‘Trooper Scanlans’ band, whose line up has included Clive and Mark Roebuck, Kerry Lewis, George Taylor, Brian Shaw, Bob Lucas and Dave Knox, was very popular at dances and functions with their energetic delivery of Irish and Australian tunes and songs, Gary had the opportunity to join them in the mid 70’s and has nothing but praise for their professionalism, musical talent and sheer love of music.

1978 saw Gary and a friend off to Ireland to immerse themselves in the culture and music (not to mention Guinness). The boys had a fabulous time travelling to music festivals, sitting in pubs, and playing tunes at every opportunity, they realized how much they didn’t know and were inspired to learn more. Often they spent much of their time playing Australian songs and tunes as that was what their Irish hosts wanted to hear and learn. A set of Irish pipes made their way home to Lithgow in Gary’s luggage and he is still fighting with them now!

Work life for Gary began as an apprentice Fitter and Machinist at the Small Arms Factory and from there to the local coal mining industry. This shift in employment opened up to him the music that describes and accompanies the hard work and hard times that miners have always endured.

 In 1982 Gary married his wife Pauline and the music dynasty is continued in their three sons Matthew, Jamie and Christopher with the three of them being musicians and in their father’s words “damn good ones too”.

Matthew plays in the band ’40 Bends’ and Jamie and Christopher in the line up of ‘The Frass’, both well known and appreciated local bands that are having some success further afield.

The Lithgow Folk Club, and the resurgence of the folk music scene in Lithgow has given Gary the impetus to keep learning, and so now as well as playing the guitar, accordion, tin whistle, mouth organ, still struggling with his Irish pipes, and having no talent at all with the spoons, he is teaching himself the 5 string banjo, not bad for a guy who has never had a music lesson in his life. He also has a couple of other things that keep him busy , bushwalking, pushbike and motorbike riding, an interest in the natural and other history of Lithgow, and in his spare time he goes to work!!

All through Gary’s life music has been an integral and essential ingredient, he considers the biggest influence in his music to be Gordon Lightfoot, his favourite song, after much deliberation, ‘The West Coast of Clare’ and at the moment he is listening to the latest cd from the folk band ‘Mosaik’.

Gary has fond memories of great sessions at the Lithgow Pottery when Bob Cunningham was the potter there, playing in the ‘Bunyips Bush Band’ with the legendary Max Holmes, Danny West, Gordon Mudway, and Mick Honey,

parties in friend’s  houses and sheds, fantastic gigs with packed houses at the pub at Mount Victoria and singing for hours with Max in the pub one day when they were both there with no instruments, they just sang.

Fintan aka Craig Batty

Martin Doherty

Glenda Phipps

Linda Mehrtens

Mark Roebuck

Cil Van der Velden