Earlier this year the family of the iconic Sheik of Scrubby Creek, Chad Morgan, launched a crowd-funding campaign to help speed up the process of securing donations for the erection of a bronze bust of Chad in Bicentennial Park, Tamworth.

Fundraising began on the first weekend of the festival with a concert organised by Lorraine Pfitzner, in conjunction with the Australian Bush Balladeers’ Association.

A very healthy start of $3000 kicked off the kitty, and a second concert will be held in July during the Toyota Hats Off to Country festival in Tamworth.

Wondering how the crowd-funding was progressing, I visited the ozcrowd.com website on Monday night and was astounded that only six backers had contributed funds. I was one of them, donating $100, and the total was just $230, with 51 days of the campaign left to run.

How could this be?

Did nobody else in the world apart from six of us (and those who’d attended the concert in January) want to see Chad become our next bronzed Aussie?

Of course I did the 21st century thing and vented my anger on Facebook. Well ... that was interesting.

Not much work got done that night, as I was too busy responding to people’s comments on the thread.

It appears it was the crowd-funding campaign nobody knew anything about, apart from readers of Country Music Capital News and The Northern Daily Leader – or anyone who’d visited the Sheik’s website.

What it brought home to me was the fact of how vital it is when you launch a crowd-funding campaign to get out there and drive it!

It’s been almost a rudderless ship, so hopefully now people are aware of it, they will open up their pockets – and their hearts – and donate.

Thanks to Cheryl Byrnes, my old mate and the managing editor of Capital News, the campaign link has been shared endlessly on Facebook, hopefully getting the word out there and inspiring people to hand over some cash.

It was interesting to note that many people had no idea how those bronze busts actually got there.

Tireless Tamworth volunteer Lorraine Pfitzner has been the driving force behind the majority of those busts, apart from the first one of Buddy Williams, created by a group of fans led by Sydney woman Irene Morison. 

Through endless charity concerts, where artists donate their time and fans hand over their hard-earned dollars, each of the busts has taken varying lengths of time to appear.

With some, it was relatively quick (about two years), while others took anywhere up to six years to amass the necessary figure.

It’s round about the $20,000 mark, so Chad’s crowd-funder has a long way to go.

Perhaps the amount for that campaign needs to be reduced to half, to make it anywhere near achievable in the next 40-something days until it closes.

Whatever goes down with the crowd-funding, the regular fundraising will continue until the goal is reached. It just might happen later, rather than sooner. If you feel moved to put your hand in your pocket, here’s the options open to you: donate to the crowd-funding appeal at https://ozcrowd.com/campaigns/chad-morgan-a-bronze-bust-in-tamworth-for-the-sheik-of-scrubby-creek/#.Vui2mVV97IU or send a cheque or money order to Country Capital Bronze Bust Committee, PO Box 1207, Tamworth 2340 or deposit your dough directly into the committee’s credit union account, which is BSB 802-298, account number 40266.

Thanks for any assistance you can give in saluting this true blue Aussie legend.

I FOUND out some great news this week about a tasty gig coming up at the end of the month you really should know about.

The delightful Ukulele Queen of the Bellarine, Sarah Carroll, returns to Tamworth for a show at The Loft Art Studio, on Thursday, March 31.

Sarah will bring her band, The Left Wing, to town for this show.

Showtime is 7pm.

The last time Sarah was in this neck of the woods I had to drive to Nundle to see her.Fortunately, The Loft is a lot closer – not quite as scenic a drive – but the end result will be worth it.

The Loft is located upstairs in the laneway off Brisbane St directly behind CH on Peel – and it’s BYO.

Yummy food is available for purchase.

COUNTRY fans are warmly invited to the Lifestyle Village Hall, Warral Rd, Tamworth, on Monday, March 21, for a dose of Country in the Village.

All proceeds from this monthly acoustic music gathering are directed towards the Australian Country Music Hall of Fame.

It’s a pretty laidback affair, with a friendly, welcoming atmosphere and some cool country music from this month’s special guest, Rob Breese.

Your congenial host with the most is the man of a thousand faces – Rodney Walker – so at least you’re guaranteed a good belly laugh or two during the night. It starts at 6.30pm and admission is just $5. 

For that you are treated to a night of entertainment and a light supper. 

If you need to know more, phone 0403 322 472.

FOLLOWING a hugely successful debut in November, Tamworth’s newest jazz-blues band, the MetroGnomes, will make a welcome return to the Post Office Hotel tomorrow night.

The show starts at 7.30pm, so don’t be late or you could miss something very cool.

In the lineup you’ll find Melinda Marcellos, Randall Wilson, Bruce Walker, Paul Phillips and John Jeffries.

If mainstream jazz and blues is your kinda music, you’ll just love this cool combo.