All office bearers on our Committee work voluntarily. The Committee meets once a month to discuss fund raising and any business arising for the betterment of the MBAS.

MBAS Committee Members:2009 - 2010

Officers:

President:
Function Coordinator:
Gary Jones
  email: president@mbas.org.au
   phone: 0425 776 613

“ I get my kicks on route 66”....no playing my B3 Hammond Organ. Many people will know me as a musician, but many will know me as the Event Co-ord of MBAS. They will have seen me running around at MBAS events organising musicians, keeping the schedule on time and making sure everyone is enjoying the music that I also love.

I’m a strong believer in all aspects of the MBAS. Supporting and encouraging young musicians - Youth In Blues, jammers who turn up each week at our Tuesday night Jam, local artists to publicise their gigs and get their CDs on radio, and recognition of the elder statesmen of the Melbourne blues scene.

Blues Performer of the Year is the biggest event on our annual calendar, and we have had great success with the artists we have sent to Memphis USA. It is very rewarding to see us send Melbourne’s best blues musicians to the US, but it is also costly. As a small not-for-profit organisation we sometimes struggle to cover the expenses to enable us to be represented on the world blues stage in Memphis, but it is worth every cent when you hear the Americans say – watch out here come those Aussies again to win gold.

I enjoy the event organising of blues gigs whether the weekly jam or at a large festival, but I still love to play my B3Hammond Organ when I can. I’ve been playing keyboards since I was a young boy, having learnt classical piano as a youngster then graduating to Organ as a teenager. I’ve played all types of music, but my heart is in blues, funk, soul & jazz. In the early 1970’s I bought my first Hammond Organ and my love for it returned a few years ago in a very passionate way. I am now a collector with too many Hammonds, including a genuine B3. I have previously played with Synergy Blue, Andrea Marr, Phil Manning & Andy Baylor. I am currently a member of “Continental Robert’s (Melbourne) Rinky Dinks”.

Vice President (acting):
Webmaster:
Smokin' Sam Salzone  
  email: webmaster@mbas.org.au

My musical career began at the age of 16, when I began singing and playing the blues with my first band, 'South City Union'. My early musical influences included Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf and early Fleetwood Mac. My harp playing was moulded to Peps Perrson from Linkin Louisiana Peps Blues Connection.

At the age of 20, other life interests took my attention away from being a musician, but I have always had my passion for music, and blues in particular, has always remained with me.

Few years ago, I started my own web design business, and later added the Web101 Group, allowing me to offer a combination of web design and web hosting. This MBAS website is a collaborative, volunteer co-creation of Web101 Group and Sapphyr Web Designs.

After 31 years in 'musical hibernation, I wanted to re-join the musical world and become more active musically, so I went to an MBAS jam night in late 2005, met Sonia and joined the MBAS. In that time since participating in the jam nights, I have met some wonderful people and have had plenty of encouragement to keep developing my music career. Synergy Blue was formed from MBAS members in 2006, I have been playing in 'Synergy Blue' & Smokin' Sam All Stars and have been a special guest, performing with other bands..

Secretary (acting):
Pam Wiseman

Treasurer:
Grant Collie
   email: treasurer@mbas.org.au

My love for music began at an early age mainly because my family played music and would have weekend long “Rorts” where muso’s would come along and play and enjoy themselves in the great social life of music. I began playing drums at the early age of 8 and was tutored in military, jazz and orchestral percussion.

During my teens I became infected with Rock and popular music, this led to me playing many different styles of music and to this day I still have a massive respect for musicians of any style of music and retain a wide appreciation of music. At 18 I left Australia and played in the U.K. and Europe for 4 years, this gave me a chance to learn about the entertainment industry and just how hard it is to survive as an unknown in the competitive world of music.

One thing I always felt was the great unity of musicians with absolutely no prejudices towards one another. This is something I still feel today in the MBAS and Blues musicians. Blues music covers such a wide range of styles of music giving anybody the chance to express themselves with either vocals or instruments. Good playing takes many years of practise and learning and having the chance to help others experience the emotional vibe of playing and entertaining ensures that I shall remain with the MBAS for as long as possible.

Sonia Meggs
Newsletter editor:
   email: sonia@mbas.org.au  

When I was a little girl I wanted to perform on stage, well the performing went by the wayside, but in a way, I am on stage, announcing the great performers who participate in the functions of MBAS, so in a cense my wish came true. My family always had music of some form playing in our house, my music genre’s changed a few times while I was growing up, but I always came back to the blues

.I was introduced to the blues scene by a very close friend, and eventually thought there maybe something I could contribute to it through the MBAS, I joined the society as a member and sat back and watched, I became part of the committee some 9 years ago, I put my hand up for any job that was going, Treasurer, newsletter editor and a multitude of other jobs, I did the newsletter single handed on a computer (Dinosaur) given to me by Geoff Spiegel (former president), with none of the programs we have today, when I needed to cut and paste articles, that’s precisely what I did, scissors and all, then there was the job of getting the 2 or 3 page newsletter out to members, very primitive compared to today.

I have been president of the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society for about 7 years now, without the passion for the blues music industry, I would not be here today.
I have had the privilege of meeting some wonderful musicians and artists who have performed for us, I believe I have one of the best jobs in the world and I’m not getting paid for it with money but with pleasure instead.

We have a great bunch of committee members who all share the hard work, I do believe we have one of the best blues societies in the world, and we are thankful to all our MBAS members for their support as well as all the other people who throughout my involvement in the blues scene, put me on the right path, without you, we would be nothing.
I don’t know how long I will be president, that’s up to how well I can continue with the workload which has increased from year to year, but for now I say “let’s party”.

Keep the Faith, Blues is the Truth.
Sonia