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Artist
Handsome Young Strangers
12+ albums
folk rockceltic punk
about
The Handsome Young Strangers-the history “The Handsome Young Stranger lay dead on the floor………” So sang Marty Robbins in his popular song, El Paso, but how did these lyrics lead to the upbeat, Colonial Bush Rock band we are today? It began in 2004 with a beer drenched summer sing-along in Driza’s backyard. A large suburban Sydney yard complete with Ghost Gums overhanging the fence-line, Cockatoos perched on the branches, drawn by the aromas of a sizzling BBQ but kept at bay by the 4 men sitting on eskys, with guitars and mandolins in hand, sharing a copy of the ‘Bushwacker’s Australian Songbook’. Andrew ‘Fredo’ Donkin and Dion ‘Drizabone’ Dickinson had been performing together for several years in the Indie band ‘Gallery’, but quickly realised they shared a passion for Country music that needed to be garnered into their performances. The original concept was to form a band that could reproduce Marty Robbin’s ‘Trailblazing and Gunfighting Ballads’ album in a live format, but before even a song had been learnt it became clear that the pair were drawn to a more Colloquial genre, albeit via different paths. Driza had been travelling to Grenfell, Country NSW, several times a year to visit his Father-In-Law, Jack, who happened to be curator of the Guinea Pig race track. Through these visits, Driza rediscovered his love for Australian Folklore and Prose, Grenfell being the birthplace of poet Henry Lawson and home to Bushranger Ben Hall. Fredo’s love of Australian Country music
