What did The Beatles, Led Zeppelin's Jimmy Page, Van Morisson and Queen's Brian May all do before they became rock gods? They grabbed Granny's washboard, Mum's best cutlery, Dad's busted broom and an old tea chest out of the loft & formed a band! It's time to take a nostalgic journey back to the 1950's ‘Skiffle boom’ in England when the kids turned everyday household items into great music and went on to make rock history. This interactive multi media family show features lots of quirky old time instruments and a hideous amount of crashing, banging and chaos. Let’s call it a music & history lesson rolled into one… with a touch of mayhem and a big dollop of good humour. The show teaches kids the history of Skiffle music in 1950’s England and the impact it had on modern rock music.
Without Skiffle, John Lennon wouldn’t have met Paul McCartney! imagine a world without The Beatles!
Most importantly, just like John & Paul, it gets the kids playing music and having fun, learning social history along the way.
The show wrangles a group of kids to form a band ‘on the fly’ live on stage. During the show they’ll play the traditional ‘instruments' of the Skiffle era - most of which they’ll have never seen before. Those ‘instruments’ - (Washboards, Tea chests. and the like) played a huge part in everyday living in post war England, and are cleverly put into context by means of a sneaky history lesson…. Where does tea come from? How was it transported before the creation of the Tea Bag? How did you wash your clothes before the invention of a washing machine? The Backyard Skiffle Band is a family show was written by David Thorpe for The World Buskers Festival in Christchurch. It’s continued success has meant it has been performed at many events since. David is a passionate, high energy, professional musician, tutor and father with a prestigious music career. David, an former 11 year veteran of ‘The Black Velvet Band’, was also band leader for ‘The Vanguard’ - The official House band of The Crusaders, and is also top ten recording artist ‘Li’l Chuck The One Man Skiffle Machine’ David firmly believes that every child has natural rhythm and musical ability and they are often completely unaware of this.
“I am constantly amazed how I can draw this music out of the kids and the positive effects such an experience can have on them. Believe me, the results are inspiring! It amazes me every time I perform the show!"
The show is approximately 40 minutes in duration plus there is an optional post show workshop which goes into a little more detail teaching a smaller group of kids one of the classic skiffle songs with solos.
