Sydney-based singers of traditional and contemporary folk, songwriters solidly in the tradition, and lovers of chorus in harmony, Walters and Warner continue to interpret the environment, history and contemporary events in powerful verse and music.
Margaret Walters and John Warner are Sydney-based, traditional-style singers with wide-ranging repertoires biased towards chorus songs and songs of history, industry and the environment. John is renowned for his well-crafted songs and Margaret for her warm, rich voice. They perform their memorable songs with energy, conviction, humour, and fine, bristling harmonies. John is an accomplished musician on 6 and 12 string guitars, and also plays harmonicas, whistles and the bodhran.
Individual singers since the 70s, Walters & Warner formed a duo in 1993 and have produced two highly acclaimed albums, Pithead in the Fern and Who Was Here? They each have solo recordings, For the Future and the Past and The Sea and the Soil and in 1998 John produced a CD of songs for kids, Pack o’ Pirates. (More on their albums below.) Obtaining recordings.
The duo have a long list of workshops or theme presentations (see below) and the list is always growing. John's talent for writing songs on command is truly amazing: give him a subject that moves him and there's no stopping him. And Margaret is always hard by, with a blue pencil, and a suggestion for a tune. Talk to them if your programme could use a special song.
Margaret and John have performed at folk and community festivals, and clubs throughout the eastern states and in '99, in WA. they have made two tours of English clubs and festivals (1994 and 1998). Their extensive repertoire of Australian folklore has led to invitations to sing to several University classes in Australian history and labour history.
The two also make up one third of the "spirited pre-acapellan group", The Roaring Forties which specialises in sea shanties and other traditional chorus songs and contemporary songs written in the tradition. John also performs solo asa children's entertainer and can hold his own in any collection of poets and yarnspinners.
In an interview made at Bromyard Folk Festival and printed in the March 1999 issue of Living Tradition, Mike Raven wrote: "In live performance the duo are lively, interesting and use a lot of vocal harmony. John is a tasteful and accomplished guitarist with a big, forceful voice and Margaret is an excellent interpreter of his songs, some of which have wide ranges and are not easy to sing. Both live for their music. When they are booked at a festival, not only do they do their programmed spots but they go to every singaround and folk club event they can find. True troopers."
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o Here's to the People of All Trades: songs reflecting the language and tools of trades o Who Was Here? songs painting pictures of workers and their environment o Bread, Broom and Bucket: songs of domestic trades circa 1900-50 o Hard and Acid Scarred: working lives in Australia o I Never Navvied Nastier than Koo-wee-rup: songs of the railways and the folk who built and worked them o Sandpit Picket: a look at childcare from the viewpoint of the workers: includes John's poignant song, Llewellyn Walking, about a child's first steps. o Bring out the Banners: songs written during the Maritime Union's industrial action in 1998 plus other songs of union solidarity - all with tub-thumping choruses o Whaleroad: the lure of the sea: songs and shanties of going "down to thesea in ships" o Madness in the Blood: explorers and seafarers o The Wrong Side of the World: songs about revolting convicts! o The Trades of Old Sydney Town: Australia's first white settlers at work o Pithead in the Fern: songs and stories inspired by the history of the coal mining region of South Gippsland where John grew up o Dear Diary: A selection of the Gippsland songs arranged by Wilder Dance Theatre with dancers interacting with singers/musicians on stage; celebrating women in times of industrial strife. o Yarri of Wiradjuri: a song and verse cycle about an Aboriginal hero who saved the lives of 49 Europeans during the Gundagai flood of 1852. o Lambing Flat: gold mining days o Beef Beer and Breugel: - an as yet unstaged folk opera set in a Belgian village in the C17 - about a frustrated blacksmith, his fiesty wife, her mother the witch, and what happens when a platoon of mercenaries turns up with a canon needing mending. o The Wind in a Million Leaves: songs of the environment o Raise the Rafters: empowering chorus songs o The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: songs commemorating friends, the famous, and some characters from history |
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Solo efforts include: o John: Bunyips, Dinosaurs and other Beasties - not just for kids! o John: Pack o' Pirates - especially for kids o John: The Briggs and Stratton Pump - verse in the Australian bush tradition o John: Wordsmithpersonship - writing songs (especially on historical themes) o Margaret: Wild Mounting Time - songs of fiesty damsels o Margaret: Colonial Eve - songs of Australian women in pioneering and rural situations |
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o strong interesting songs, verse and tales; o lots of choruses, harmony and humour; o self-penned material and selections from other contemporary writers; o generous Australian content, both contemporary and traditional; o unaccompanied or with 6-12 string guitar; o traditional singing style |
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