Harmony Row Vineyard

I make no secret of the fact that Rose Bygrave is one of my all time favourite musicians. I came to know her music well after the days of Goanna. She was doing a gig at the Troubadour in Fitzroy in the early 80s with Marcia and (I seem to recall), Shane. It was probably the best night of several hundred I spent at that legendary music venue. In later years I have seen Rose perform a number of times, sometimes with Marcia, sometimes solo. Rose has a presence, a charisma. She makes you feel as though you are the only person in the room and she is singing to you. And Marcia has that same, spiritual energy, a serenity, the kind of energy that would ensure world peace if everyone else felt the same.  Rose, Marcia and Damian .. three Gentle Souls, recently performed at Albert Park and again it was a stunning concert. Hell, if only life was like that all the time.

Marcia & Shane’s younger (but no less talented) brother Damian Howard has spent the last 12 years as the lead singer/songwriter with the popular Celtic Rock Band The Ploughboys. Damian has toured extensively throughout Australia, performing at many well-known venues and music festivals, including a pre-match performance at the MCG in 2001 and 2007, at the International Rules Football match between Australia and Ireland. 
Howard’s songs and song writing skills have been sought by a number of local and national artists and were recently recognised by Irish singer, Mary Black, on her new release Full Tide. St Kilda Again, a co-written song with his older brother Shane.

As the principal songwriter for The Ploughboys Damian’s songs have been released on three independent CDs and have received airplay throughout Australia and have additionally been featured on a number of compilation CDs. In October 2005 Daman performed in front of 50 000 people at the Telstra Dome. This performance was broadcast live on television throughout Australia and Europe to an estimated audience of over 5 million people.

Damian’s original compositions embrace the full palette of musical genres by blending acoustic, country, soul-blues and folk-pop sounds

“Howard’s songs blend acoustic, country and rock to give a feel similar to Tim and Neil Finn’s critically acclaimed everyone is Here..”   (Julia Irwin, Leader Newspapers)

And now Marcia and Damian bring the their band, The Ploughboys to Harmony Row .. with Rose adding her incredible talent and energy to the mix. This will be heaven on Earth.
The Ploughboys band consists of Damian Howard on vocals, accordion, acoustic guitar and keyboards, Marcia Howard on vocals, keyboard and acoustic guitar, Allan O’Connell on vocals and acoustic guitar, Anthony O’Neill on vocals, Mandolin, acoustic and electric guitars, and violin, Jon Emry on vocal and drums/percussion and John Edgar on vocals and base guitar with lastly but not leastly Chris Young providing logistical support and organizational assistance.