The Paper Collar Pickers in Concert at Nest Cafe Cinema (7:30-10:00pm)

The Paper Collar Pickers are Rod Vervest and Craig Sinclair, two musicians hailing from WA’s south coast, who share a common love for ragtime guitar, close vocal harmonies and Albany’s granite coastline. This likely pair came together in 2010 to provide the rhythmic engine room for popular WA acoustic stringband the Pepperjacks, honing their tasty dual thumb-picking arrangements and single microphone technique. Now on opposite sides of the country (they are both inter-generational and inter-jurisdictional) they reunite in happy moments to celebrate the old stories, the old tunes and the mighty right thumb of old Big Bill Broonzy.

This special show at Nest Cinema Café includes an evening workshop/presentation covering some of the history of this musical style (4:00-5:30pm), along with two sets of music (7:30-10:00pm).

Workshop/Presentation - The Paper Collar Pickers on the Piedmont Ragtime Blues - 4:00-5:30pm

Join Rod Vervest and Craig Sinclair as they embark on a journey across one of the least recognised yet most prodigious and influential periods of guitar history. At the turn of the 20th century, on the flat plain of USA’s east coast known as the Piedmont, a rollicking and rambunctious guitar form emerged that took the blues into a sophisticated and rhythmic dance style that to this day continues to inspire and challenge players. It became known as ragtime blues, and was led almost exclusively by blind African American men from the poor and oppressed regional towns. They played cheap guitars on street corners, house parties and jook joints; eking out a meagre existence. Some became popular, having hits and recording with prestigious labels, but in the main, their legacy was lost or overshadowed by their more southern "delta blues" counterparts, who featured the slide guitar in their sound. The Piedmont players, nevertheless, were essentially the first to fingerpick the guitar using complex techniques and more advanced chord progressions. Today, it is a widespread technique for acoustic guitarists, yet its history and the amazing characters that populated it are largely unknown. Rod and Craig unpick the fascinating history of these players, their techniques along with some of their own, original ragtime tunes that tip the hat to a seminal period in the history of guitar playing.

Contact the host of The Paper Collar Pickers at Nest Cinema Cafe