"Dusty Archives" One of the trademarks of the digital era is the abundance of archive material that is now being catalogued and made available in various material and virtual forms. Coincidentally, modern popular music has reached a coming of age that has recently inspired a large number of documentaries and compilations devoted to the stars and genres of the last century. In this new millennium we will see arts and culture classified, recorded and replayed in the blink of an eye. Fail to catch a live Webcast or Chat? Look around the site and you might find a transcript or replay available on demand. Missed LEE KERNAGHAN on Big Brother? If you belong to the OUTBACK CLUB you can view photos from the show in the members area. SLIM DUSTY recorded the album Travellin' Still...Always Will with daughter Anne Kirkpatrick, and launched it at the SBW Independent Theatre in North Sydney. Now at the virtueoz site you can again watch that concert. During the show, look for politician Brendan Nelson who makes an appearance on stage to help Slim sing Bonner. At the recent CMAA Australian Country Music Achiever Awards, the pre-awards cocktail party included the launch of the book On The Road With Slim by author/photographer John Elliott. Check the Cowboys in Cyberspace archives for photos from both those events. FRANK IFIELD is on the promotional trail again following the release of the CD Frank Ifield Sings Country & Classics. All 30 tracks have been digitally processed with meticulous care, bringing back to life the archives of Frank's super-rare Australian recordings from the 1950s on the Regal Zonophone and Columbia labels. Some of Frank's recent radio interviews and his live appearance on the Morning Memoirs show can be relived at his Web site, plus a link to purchasing the album. Frank is also the patron of THE GALSTON COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL which takes place this year on Sunday 8th of September at Fagan Park, Galston. The festival has its own Web site now with archive photos of all the stars from previous years. It will also be a reunion of sorts for Frank and the Festival's extra special guest, JIMMY LITTLE. Jimmy and Frank worked on many shows together dating back 50 years! A lot younger, but heading for the same stardom, CATHERINE BRITT made her debut US appearance in July at no less than the Grand Ole Opry. Australian fans caught the broadcast live via the Internet and heard Catherine introduced by JEANNIE SEELY and receiving rapturous applause from the Opry audience. The show remained in their on-line archive for a month. (Hint: visit the Cowboys in Cyberspace home page often to catch live events that fall between magazine issues). More new talent: The inaugural TAMWORTH CAMERATA, Country Music school for young performers, was a huge success and is now represented by a new Web site. It contains lots of information and a massive collection of photographs. It's interesting to note that this will be the first generation of future stars that have their entire careers potentially observed via the World Wide Web. JOHNNY CHESTER - ROCKER. No it's not a misprint; our favourite Country songmaker graduated from the Victorian Banjo Club in 1959 and became a teenage idol in Australia's fledgling rock 'n' roll scene. This new enhanced-CD set subtitled The Rock and Roll Years 1961-1966 brings together forty-five classic tracks, including outstanding bonus vision that features footage from a live performance at Festival Hall Melbourne 1964, recorded during the Australian / New Zealand Beatles Tour. Archivist NICK WEARE of ScreenSound Australia has produced a truly excellent package that preserves an important period of musical development in our history. Look amongst the spirited covers of imported hits for the emerging songwriter that became the 'Chess' we now know and love who went on to be the first artist to win three consecutive Male Vocalist of the Year Golden Guitar awards.

© 2002 Bob Howe Productions - ShowNet