Michelle Slater
Walhalla heritage gold mine visitors will be in for an aural treat when classical Celtic folk trio Skyglass descends underground to play a set in April.
The melodic three piece incorporates violin, guitar and the Japanese shakuhachi flute, performing spacious soundscapes to driving polyrhythms, with both sung and spoken word.
Mornington Peninsular-based vocalist and shakuhachi player Anne Norman formed Skyglass with the Tasmanian-based violinist Emily Sheppard and guitarist Yyan Ng.
The band had been playing a series of underground gigs in unorthodox venues such as the Hastings caves in Tassie, and a Darwin underground World War II bunker.
“Our music is inspired by nature, we spend a lot of time in isolation in beautiful spots. We try to get gigs in unusual places,” Ms Norman said.
“Resonant places are great because we have the sound bouncing back and forth.”
Skyglass was originally slated to play in the Walhalla Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine in 2020, but put on ice when COVID hit.
Ms Norman said the band will take advantage of the mine’s natural acoustics as it will performs amongst 19th century mining equipment.
She is also recognising a personal connection with the town, as her great-great uncle Fed Meyer had designed Walhalla’s mountaineer brass band rotunda in 1896.
“Walhalla has all these rock walls and the sound will be bounding off, it will be a very atmospheric and lovely immersive experience,” Ms Norman said.
“There will be some lovely dripping sounds in there.”
Ms Norman said Skyglass had improvised inside the Darwin war bunker by playing while walking up and down the length of the tunnel to allow the audience to experience the sound in stereo.
“We were using the tunnel in effect as another instrument, we were playing in response to the sounds the tunnel made,” she said.
“I’m interested in venues that somehow transport the audience, venues that are different from normal concert halls.”
Skyglass performs at the Walhalla Long Tunnel Extended Gold Mine on Tuesday, April 19 at 5.30pm.
Tickets are extremely limited, audience members must arrive 20 minutes early and abide by COVID regulations.
To book, visit events.humanitix.com/skyglass-underground.
