Jim Conway
Encyclopedia
Jim Conway is an Australian harmonica
player and with his brother, Mic Conway
, was a co-founder of the 1970s humour, theatre and rock group, The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band
.
Conway plays blues, jazz and country music
, and has undertaken national tours with American
bluesman Brownie McGhee
, The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, Circus Oz and Backsliders
and more recently Jim Conway's Big Wheel.
, the Capitol Music Festival and the Newcastle Festival. In 1988, the Conway Brothers appeared at the Houston International Festival, World Expo 88 and the Perth festival. Conway joined the Backsliders
in 1989, touring nationally at festivals including the Perth
, Adelaide
, Sydney
, Brisbane
and Melbourne Festivals, Womad, the East Coast Blues Festival, the Port Fairy Folk Festival, the Wangaratta Jazz Festival, the Bellingen Jazz Festival and the Gold Coast International Jazz
and Blues
Festival. He has twice been a judge at the Hohner Australian Harmonica Championships at the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
Apart from four successful recordings, including two gold records with Captain Matchbox, Conway co-produced two of the Backsliders eight albums; “Sitting On a Million” and “Hellhound”. In 2003 he produced a recording funded by the Australia Council for his band “Big Wheel”.
The resulting recording, 'Little Story' was nominated in the Blues & Roots category for the 2004 ARIA awards.
Conway is a sought after session musician and has recorded with numerous artists including Shane Howard (Goanna Band) Colin Hay (Men At Work
), Jon Lord (Deep Purple
), Bob Brozman, Slim Dusty
, Jan Preston, Tim Gaze, Dutch Tilders, Anne Kirkpatrick and Pat Drummond. During 2007 and 2008 he recorded and performed with The Brewster Brothers of The Angels
fame.
Conway has also composed, produced and recorded music for a broad range of film and radio
projects, including the Kennedy Miller telemovie ”The Riddle of the Stinson” and the comedy feature “The Honourable Wally Norman “ which was chosen to open the 2003 Sydney Film Festival.
At the Sydney Paralympics Opening Ceremony Conway performed a piece of music specially written to feature his harmonica playing.
The Jim Conway Blues, a documentary film
celebrating Conway's contribution to Australian music was screened on S.B.S. Television in July 2000. The film won a silver medal for Best Independently Produced Documentary at the Chicago International Film Festival.
A photographic portrait of Conway by renowned photographer Greg Weight
won the inaugural Prize for Photographic Portraiture associated with the Archibald Prize
In 2003 he was awarded the prestigious Centenary Medal in recognition of his contribution to the Arts.
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...
player and with his brother, Mic Conway
Mic Conway
Mic Conway is an Australian vocalist and with his brother, Jim Conway, was a co-founder of the 1970s humour, theatre and rock group, The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band.Conway also was a founding member of Soapbox Circus and Circus Oz....
, was a co-founder of the 1970s humour, theatre and rock group, The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band
The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band
The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band was an Australian band, active throughout the 1970s. It was based in Melbourne and centred around singer and multi-instrumentalist Mic Conway and his brother Jim Conway, who is widely regarded as one of Australia's finest exponents of the blues harmonica.Inspired...
.
Conway plays blues, jazz and country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, and has undertaken national tours with American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
bluesman Brownie McGhee
Brownie McGhee
Walter Brown McGhee was a Piedmont blues singer and guitarist, best known for his collaborations with the harmonica player Sonny Terry.-Life and career:...
, The Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, Circus Oz and Backsliders
Backsliders
The Backsliders are a three piece Australian band; self described as playing "Delta blues wall of sound". The current line up consists of Guitarist/Vocalist Dom Turner and drummer/percusionist Rob Hirst joined...
and more recently Jim Conway's Big Wheel.
Biography
Conway was a member of the Conway Brothers Hiccups Orchestra from 1984–1988 and toured the UK in 1986 appearing at the Edinburgh FestivalEdinburgh Festival
The Edinburgh Festival is a collective term for many arts and cultural festivals that take place in Edinburgh, Scotland each summer, mostly in August...
, the Capitol Music Festival and the Newcastle Festival. In 1988, the Conway Brothers appeared at the Houston International Festival, World Expo 88 and the Perth festival. Conway joined the Backsliders
Backsliders
The Backsliders are a three piece Australian band; self described as playing "Delta blues wall of sound". The current line up consists of Guitarist/Vocalist Dom Turner and drummer/percusionist Rob Hirst joined...
in 1989, touring nationally at festivals including the Perth
Perth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
, Adelaide
Adelaide
Adelaide is the capital city of South Australia and the fifth-largest city in Australia. Adelaide has an estimated population of more than 1.2 million...
, Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
and Melbourne Festivals, Womad, the East Coast Blues Festival, the Port Fairy Folk Festival, the Wangaratta Jazz Festival, the Bellingen Jazz Festival and the Gold Coast International Jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and Blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
Festival. He has twice been a judge at the Hohner Australian Harmonica Championships at the Tamworth Country Music Festival.
Apart from four successful recordings, including two gold records with Captain Matchbox, Conway co-produced two of the Backsliders eight albums; “Sitting On a Million” and “Hellhound”. In 2003 he produced a recording funded by the Australia Council for his band “Big Wheel”.
The resulting recording, 'Little Story' was nominated in the Blues & Roots category for the 2004 ARIA awards.
Conway is a sought after session musician and has recorded with numerous artists including Shane Howard (Goanna Band) Colin Hay (Men At Work
Men at Work
Men at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...
), Jon Lord (Deep Purple
Deep Purple
Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in Hertford in 1968. Along with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, they are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal and modern hard rock, although some band members believe that their music cannot be categorised as belonging to any one genre...
), Bob Brozman, Slim Dusty
Slim Dusty
David Gordon "Slim Dusty " Kirkpatrick AO, MBE was an Australian country music singer-songwriter and producer, with a career spanning nearly eight decades. He was known to record songs in the legacy of Australian poets Henry Lawson and Banjo Patterson that represented the Australian Bush...
, Jan Preston, Tim Gaze, Dutch Tilders, Anne Kirkpatrick and Pat Drummond. During 2007 and 2008 he recorded and performed with The Brewster Brothers of The Angels
The Angels (Australian band)
The Angels are a hard rock band that formed in Adelaide, Australia in 1970. The band later relocated from Adelaide to Sydney and enjoyed huge local success until well into the 1990s. For the purposes of international release, their records were released under the names Angel City and later The...
fame.
Conway has also composed, produced and recorded music for a broad range of film and radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
projects, including the Kennedy Miller telemovie ”The Riddle of the Stinson” and the comedy feature “The Honourable Wally Norman “ which was chosen to open the 2003 Sydney Film Festival.
At the Sydney Paralympics Opening Ceremony Conway performed a piece of music specially written to feature his harmonica playing.
The Jim Conway Blues, a documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
celebrating Conway's contribution to Australian music was screened on S.B.S. Television in July 2000. The film won a silver medal for Best Independently Produced Documentary at the Chicago International Film Festival.
A photographic portrait of Conway by renowned photographer Greg Weight
Greg Weight
Greg Weight is an Australian photographer specialising in fine art photography and portraiture. Greg was the inaugural winner of the Australian Photographic Portrait Prize in 2003 and his book Australian Artists, portraits by Greg Weight was published by Chapter and Verse in 2004...
won the inaugural Prize for Photographic Portraiture associated with the Archibald Prize
In 2003 he was awarded the prestigious Centenary Medal in recognition of his contribution to the Arts.