My Early Years

Early Years I do with fond memories  remember my little street band, made up tin whistle a biscuit tin top for a drum played with to slim long artist paint brush’s, a hard cardboard  carton from Cameron’s hardware shop in  ballymoney st for a bass with a broom handle and a gut string the spoons, a black throne stick with bottle tops nailed to it, a tambourine, and sometimes a harmonica up Greenvale st along ballymoney st up alexander st down William st and sometimes spring well st, and a round the old school yard and home that was in 1954 or 55?

I was about 9years old always wanted to play the lambag drum  and the harp, there are so many Instruments in the world, I was lucky to have access to the radio station’s in Europe at the time when I first heard jazz players like Django Wes Charlie the duke and so many great players that was me.  I wanted  to play jazz and perhaps combined it with celtic sounds, most of the great jazz musicians then did not have to go to any university to learn to play jazz, but what a great time to be growing up with music, I remember the first time I sat up on a piano seat my feet could not touch the paddles’ but I always remember the first time I heard JS Bach, now there was music, I really respect  all the great classical composers  but I went down a different road.

I had the chance to learn it from a early age but no, when I was young, spending time with the family at the beach, I would sit and look out to the horizon and words would come to me, one I can remember,
Go’s  
( Sitting down by the sea
With lots of sunshine,
And memory’s so free,
On a Sunday afternoon,)

Ballymena music club? I was never pushed into any type of music, some of the musical school plays were a lot of fun I remember rock and roll, on the radio but I would always tune into the French stations as they were the ones with the jazz. What movies did I watch, were did I watch live music, my first guitar had only 4 strings  a BGDA the 2 Es’ were missing, but still got a sound out of it, we  even put a banjo string on, with one of the first fiddles had only 2 strings so we tune them sounds for the drone sound we wanted, having to leave to come to NZ my music and idles went in yet another direction, growing up and around Ballymena there was always inspiration form songs and instrumentals, ,I never go far without my old guitar, I heard a lot of great Irish traditional music, when I was young, and so many of the tunes were handed down from player to player, after school I had a part time job sometimes working with horses in jack bamber  stables in Ballymena going to the Dublin horse show when I was 11 years old was great music and great  fun, on my return I broke my right wrist but still managed to play the harmonica, and some piano. myself and my younger brother would sometimes do the sat night paper run, I liked going into the pubs and clubs with the papers as it gave me a chance to watch and listen to the live music, and wish I was up there playing.

I remember Sammy Barr’s flaminco dance hall being build I would be up there on stage and imagine I was playing to a full house, and Sammy would say keep working at it Georgee you will get there one day.

I remember the gipsy people when they came to town, they would camp on the out skirts of town, and at certain time you could hear  them play and sing their style of music around the camp fire they were always happy, but that is the way most music should be.


Early years. Sometimes I would go down along the river, past the old castle up high on the moat hill, pass the big oak and chestnut trees, I would sit by the river and play my harmonica and Tw—tin whistle and look up at slimish mountain, and think to myself one day I will play up there, and years after that I was lucky enough to do so.

One of the first boron drums I played was in a old couriosity shop in Portrush Northern Ireland. I don’t know what the skin was made of, but I do know that it was rather light with a good resonance and tone to my ear anyway. The one I have now is hand made in Ballymena Northern Ireland, and am very happy with the sound and response. It is amazing how advanced some musical Instruments are and how many different makes there are to choose from.

As long as I can remember I have been writing poems, songs, and short stories. I can remember being in Belfast when I was young and Derry a lot of great music came out of those cities in the way of Irish traditional.  It all started in the 50’s rock and roll, the 20'S was Boogie Woogie, and the 30's was Swing now everything. Debussy was a great composer also was Erik Satie they all left something for us to enjoy and I shall do my best to do likewise I always wanted to combine Celtic music with western music learning the saxophone was great fun it sounds so good together with the Cello

George Alfred Watson