Recordings available

Joint album 17 songs written by John (some in collaboration with others)

Joint album 10 songs written by John, 5 by others

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Anderson's Coast, Pithead in the Fern, Winding Gear, Miner's Washing, South Gippsland Mud, Dear Diary (Nyora Railway Journal), Great Southern Navvy, Devlin's General store, Fires of 98', Gippsland Mining man, Blossom the Mining Horse, Where have the Kurnai Gone ?, Kitty Kane, The Boiler and the Horse, Gippsland Schoolhouse, Drunk's Express, Train ghosts.

Newell Highway, Kilroy was here, Harley dinosaur, Railway Widow's Blues, Kaikoura Railway Memorial, The Bergen, Song of the Sheet Metal Worker, Piper on the Hilltop, Telford's Bridge, Not Scared, Pale Horse / Gold,Gold,Gold!, William conquest Turland, Empire Hotel, The Outside Track, I Will Stand Fast.

For the Future and the Past. Margaret's solo CD

The Sea and the Soil. John solo, with all songs written by John. initially released on cassette. Reissued on CD April 2000

Shore Leave The Roaring Forties 17 acapella chorus songs

Pack o' Pirates John's kid's songs

Some say the folk concept album of the decade. Walters and Warners first album as a duo. A concept album of exceptional quality providing a history of the South Gippsland area of Victoria. A true piece of Australian heritage.

The songs of John Warner telling the stories of the community and the hardships they faced and overcame. Songs of the railway men and the miners. Songs of the wives, the schoolteacher, and the lady of negotiable affection. Songs which make you think, songs which make you laugh, songs which stir the emotions.

The beautiful voice of Margaret Walters, bringing to John's songs all the emotional interpretation they deserve. The interplay of the voices, the superb production, the excellent support from the members of Taliesin, it is all so very good.

The latest album. Always difficult to follow the album of the decade, Walters and Warner chose a mixture of material which includes a significant number of John's songs, plus other material drawn from their wide repertoire. Margaret has always been a superb interpreter of settings of Henry Lawson's poems, and this album provides a real gem in "The Outside Track". John's songs cover as wide range of subjects as can be imagined, and all with style and insight. From a view of Telfords aquaduct over the River Dee, seen from the tiller of a barge, to the perils of eavesdropping on a lovers tiff at the Empire Hotel. "Not Scared" is so funny, and so true, and you don't have to have been a parent to enjoy it, or a child to sing along.

A solo album by Margaret, the title being a line quoted from Henry Lawson's the Route March, one of the songs included. As the sleeve notes say "A collection of Australian folk songs - some old, some new - but all imbued with strength and vigor", which we believe expresses the essence of the album as well as anyone could.

Of Trees and Humankind, Sailer Home from the Sea, Cyprus Brig, The Secret room, Wife to a Cocky Farmer, Number Twenty-two, On the Night Train, The Nameless Convict, The Four Seasons and Ollie Baxter, Moreton Bay, Second Class Wait Here, The Route March, People for Peace.

Whaleroad, Murray River Shipwright, All Trades (Tradesmen's Toast), Miner's Washing, The Bunyip (I am the Bunyip), Tor I Dun, Wind in a Million Leaves, Newsboys (Prince's Bridge), Lachlan Valley Way, Blue Mountains Highway, Horses of the World, The Race, Farrier's Trade.

Pack of Pirates, Mountain Shay, River Chat, Dinasour Duo, Sirens on a Rainy Night, Tugboat Calypso (Sydney Harbour Tugs), Me the Wolf and the Bear, Hermit Crab, Mums Got to Go, Listen to the Frogs, Llewellyn Walking, Consternation Time.

Margaret Walters and John Warner are traditional-style singers who have a special interest in labour history, the environment and social justice, and these issues shine through in the songs on this fine album.

Warner is a prolific songwriter, but the duo choose to balance his finely-crafted vignettes of New Zealand life with a well chosen selection from the work of other writers such as Ewan Maccoll, Jez Lowe and Gerry Hallom. Lowe himself apparently approves of the Walters / Warner treatment of 'The Bergen' as well he might, as it's an honest, no-nonsence interpretation of that excellent song. This approach characterises the whole collection: nothing flashy, just solid performances and sensitive arrangements with the reek of integrity.

WhoWas Here, then? It doesn't matter that these are songs about obscure Antipodeans whose 'track is the canal and the railiway line', whose 'footprints [are] the rust and ruins of old works, or the lasting brilliance of well-maintained crafts'. We know them; for they are the ubiquitous 'little people' whose lives are recorded in no other way, who get cajoled / kicked around by the rich and powerful no matter what political regime. Walters and Warner speak for them eloquently.

(Editors note : the New Zealand reference above is to "Kaikoura Railway Memorial", which Dave seems to have interpreted more widely)

Margaret and John vocalise with humour, zest and the necessary rough edge which adds to the bitter-sweet quality of songs not quite the past recollected in tranquillity, and cer!tainly not unrelieved gloom ... My favourite is "Piper on the Hilltop". For historical vision, poetic beauty and geographical aptness, this meditation on hearing bagpipes near Spence, ACT before a thunderstorm would make William Wordsworth sit up.