Bush band

A bush band is a small group of musicians singing Australian folk songs, and playing (predominantly Irish) tunes for Australian country dances.

The instruments usually comprise a mixture of portable instruments used for accompanying western folk song such as guitar, fiddle/violin, flute/whistle/recorder, concertina/melodeon/accordion, banjo and mandolin. Since then 1960s, bush bands can include piano, electric bass guitar and/or drum kit.

Bush bands usually include one or more improvised instruments such as spoons/bones, bush (tea chest) bass, lagerphone, gum-leaf or a saw.

The bush band is a romantic ideal. Perhaps the bush bands of today owe more to the music used for the first productions of the 1953 folk revival play Reedy River than to historical accuracy. There is little evidence of roving bands of musicians tramping across the Australian outback carrying elegant instruments and entertaining crowds with collections of traditional songs, music and dances from across the nation and its short history.

Send mail to  with questions or comments about this web site.