OBIT - Death of Frank Maher, one of our earliest members

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Blog articles about Frank 

Frank was an early member of the Bush Music Club, Australia's first & oldest folk club, est Nov 1954, joining within the first year. He was a singer, and musician (bones, lagerphone & bush bass) and a Life Member of BMC. He served on the committee from 1959-1974, and was one of the people who were instrumental in forming the Folk Federation of NSW in 1970. In 2010 the Folk Federation awarded Life Membership to Frank and the other members of that first committee

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From Dave Johnson 

At the Bush Music Club Beer and Cheese Nights in a hall at Burwood about 1972 I met an amazing array of talent with a profound passion for our Australian songs. Figured among them was a quiet chap by the name of Frank Maher. He sang confidently and with no put on voice, you could say a clean honest sound. And his bush bass rythmn was spot on as was his lagerphone. When he played the bones it was best to not be too close as they were very load. It was legend that when doing a recording in a studio, Frank was sent to an adjoining toilet to get the sound level right for his bones.

The songs tunes and dances had me hooked, and I was soon on the committee as a rookie, organising, with RalphPride and Bob Bolton, some new initiatives, tune Broadsides and workshop nights. As I completed my apprenticeship with the Bush Music Club was invited to join the Reedy River Bushmen. At that time it was made up of Jamie Carlin (concertina), Barry Collerson (banjo, guitar and MC), Mary Williams (guitar), Frank Maher (bush bass, lagerphone and bones) and Ralph Pride (fiddle). All shared the vocals and most songs in the repertoire could be lead by any of the band.

We played for many functions over the the next five years - bush dances, Australia Day concerts, and such. All of us were Musician’s Union members and payments for jobs (never called gigs!) was divided according to egalitarian principles. A regular Sunday show at Australiana Village had four of the six band members each week, with Barry and Jamie being regular and the rest of us taking it in turns. So on occasions I was there with Frank and less commonly we might have had our Ann(e)s in tow. There was time to chat over lunch while Edgar Penzig’s troupe did a bushranger re-enactment with guns loudly firing blanks and the villains inevitably caught/ shot/ punished.

The singing from the verandah of one of the buildings was without amplification so we had to project our voices to the crowd of as many as sixty. Frank’s voice rang out clearly when it was his turn.

Our lives were not close as we had children at very different stages of their lives, but I recall being taught the Vasovienna by Sally Sloane at Frank and Ann's in North Sydney after a BMC concert at Sydney Tech. There was some merriment as this rather bossy old lady pushed me around the room, but I did get the dance well and truly learnt.

In more recent times at folk festivals and Bush Traditions Gatherings it was always a pleasure to challenge Frank to give us Goorianawa or Drover’s Dream. songs that I knew that he sang particularly well. There was always his deferential refusal which gave way to encouragement and resultant applause for his renditions.

Thanks Frank, your quiet confidence and clear enjoyment of the old bush songs was truly inspiring.

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from Dale Dengate - 

Frank Maher was one of the early members of the Bush music club concert party. In 1955, he was working at the Postmaster General with Alan Scott who invited him to come along to the BMC. Over the years, his clear singing voice and memory for words made him a valued member of the concert party. He also had a fine sense of rhythm and played the bush bass, lagerphone and the bones better than most. Frank had a gentle sense of humour when recounting yarns about events, members or characters in the BMC.

He was a devoted husband to Ann, whom he met at the BMC , and later to his daughters and grandchildren.

One anecdote that I remember from the 1970s, when the concert party was invited to play for a bush dance Commemorating the arrival of Captain Cook, with the landing at Kurnell. John had driven Frank to Kurnell, where it had rained all night. When they came out of the hall to go home, the car wouldn’t start because some water had got into the petrol. They pushed the car to a garage, where they had to wait till it opened, before being able to change the petrol & start it ; then continue on the journey home. Well, by this time it was early in the following morning. In the meantime, Ann had rung the local police. When Ann explained she was worried about her husband who had not yet returned from playing at the bush dance in Kurnell. The police officer said to her don’t worry it won’t happen for another hundred years! I can still hear Frank chuckle as he retold the story.

Many  wonderful and some sad memories too, come to mind of Frank Maher.

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Photos from the  Chris & Virginia Woodland Collection,
National Folk Festival 2017
Anne, Jenny Loughlin (daughter of founders Pam & Brian Loughlin), Chris, Sandra Nixon, Frank 

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