Back in the old days, when there were rather strict laws regulating when a pub could or could not serve liquor, there emerged a character known as a “bona fide traveller”. There were different variations of the law in different countries or localities although, in a nutshell, serving liquor on a Sunday was prohibited except when the customer was a “bona fide traveller”. Although there were many lawsuits in the succeeding years trying to pin down the definition, a bona fide traveller was basically a person coming from outside of the restricted locality on the way to somewhere also outside the restricted locality, but who needed to wet his whistle along the way.

Thirsty men and bartenders being what they are, it was not long before loopholes were found in the law and the bona fide traveller began to acquire a rather shady reputation. In Ireland and Great Britain, for instance, all a thirsty soul had to prove was that he traveled for three miles from where he spent the night. The bartender on the other hand only had to show that he “honestly believed” that the customer was a bona fide traveller. And so, like the highwayman, the bona fide traveller became a fixture in history.

As if straight out of the pages of music history, The Bona Fide Travellers have burst upon the scene. A group of country musicians who earned their spurs before the term “alt country” was coined, they were entertaining audiences at the same time as The Dingoes, Greg Quill's Country Radio, Dead Livers, Bluestone and others. Between them, the members of the group have almost a century of musical performance. That explains the broad range of the mix they play from old-time country and hillbilly to traditional folk and cowboy songs all the way to acoustic blues.

The leader of the group, Graham “Snowy” Townsend has played in bands that span generations, like The Wild Beaver Band and One-Armed Bandit in the 70's when he also made a splash at a Bacchus Marsh Country Festival departing from the traditional country music acts of the day. Townsend's musical band width extended well into the 90's with The Operators. He has been on tour with outlaw country rockers like JJ Cale, The Amazing Rhythm Aces and Steppenwolf.

The group has at bass Mike Parker who also appeared onstage with The Operators and who first moved from New Zealand to Australia with The Slippery Sam Blues Band. Shane Fitchett who handles drums, banjo-ukelele and backing vocals for the group broke his teeth with Detroit garage, was last with The Swing Club then came out of retirement to perform with The Bona Fide Travellers. Don Farrell who plays lead guitar is a much sought after guitar teacher with over twenty years behind him as a professional musician. He has played with Mick & The Aces, Sons of the Outback, The Dead Livers, The Silverstring Outlaws and also played lead guitar for Neil Murray and Monique Brumby in their touring outfits. Tony Persic, a member of The Straight 8's for sixteen years, handles electric guitar and brings a new dimension to the group's sound. Michael Schack takes care of dobro, acoustic guitar and bass and is a founding member of The Dead Livers, the legendary Melbourne outlaw country rock band. Mike also played with Kenny Joe Blake and played in a backing band for Leslie Avril many years ago!

The BFT are playing at The Jug (acoustic trio) this Sunday arvo for a pretty relaxed session from 2pm-4pm and stay tuned to find out more about their 2 new video clips (Snowy Originals) which they have just finished shooting.

Check the Gig guide for the Bona Fide Travellers other upcoming gigs on ItsCountry or visit their website Bona Fide Travellers