KELLY SKINNER

Kelly Skinner was the flautist in the Smith's Gully Band. She remembers: I think it was 1977 or '78 when Phill Day and I joined Smith Gully.  I remember the first gig I did with the band. It was at the St Andrews pub. It was the first time I was going to be playing Irish tunes. I learned most music from the dots, and the idea of playing without them was pretty scary. During the gig, Keitho noticed I was a bit edgy. He said to me, "You've got no reason to be nervous. There's 200 people in here who can't do what you can, that's why they're here." and I thought, yeah, and who's going to notice if I get a note or two out of place? I can't say I totally relaxed, but it did put things in persepective. I loved being in the band. Marshall Webb was the dance caller when I first joined. He started me off on my dance calling career, and taught me a lot about dancing. When he left the band, the role of dance caller fell to me. I grabbed it with glee!

Born in Saugus, a small town not far from Boston USA, she learned to love folk music from records but mostly because of a live concert she went to which featured a solo performer called John Flagstaff. On the boat trip to Australia in 1964, Stan James entertained her with his songs and his guitar. At the age of 14 Skinner visited Frank Traynor's folk club and taught herself guitar. At the age of 16, she organised a school choir to sing folk songs. Skinner wrote simple harmonies and played very simple guitar. Somewhere in the mid-70s, she started performing in a folk music duet. She spent the next several years involved in playing bush bands. She currently lives in Newstead, a small town in Central Victoria and is the director Newstead Live Music Festival.