Join me, Jane Raffan, on Monday 24 July for a program devoted to the social history of Sydney’s vibrant 2011: Potts Point, Woolloomooloo, Kings Cross, Rushcutters Bay and Elizabeth Bay.

I’ll be interviewing author Warren Fahey, AM, cultural historian, collector and performer of historic songs and stories, founder of Larrikin Records and Paddington’s beloved Folkways Music, and author of 30 plus books, about his wonderful new social history on 2011 titled, The Good Old Bad Old Days.

The Good Old Bad Old Days canvasses life in 2011 from colonial times through to contemporary times, and reveals “the high life, the low life, and the very low life” common to all precincts. Fahey’s “ramble” shows how the inner-east has been an entertainment destination for well over one -hundred years, and is richly illustrated with hundreds of rare archive photographs and drawings.

And the music? A mixed playlist of Australian rock and blues vocals about 2011 locales, and a few tracks selected by Warren Fahey from his various recordings of old Australian songs.

I look forward to your company.

Jane

How to buy the book The Good Old Bad Old Days

Warren Fahey’s latest show at The Cross – Dead Men Talking

Dead Men Talking is a one-act 90 minute stage musical devised by Max Cullen and scripted by Max Cullen and Warren Fahey. The lively show finds the two legendary literary figures having a casual drink at the Leviticus Bar & Grill, Heaven’s Gate, and yarning about their legacies. Slightly cantankerous, yet grateful of their old friendship, Henry Lawson (Max Cullen) and A. B. ‘Banjo’ Paterson (Warren Fahey) discuss each others lives including their famous ‘War of Words’ in The Bulletin. They recite poems, sing songs and generally banter – and have a laugh about life’s changing circumstance …