Born in Hobart Tasmania in 1945, this intensely private, but gifted boy rose to the top echelon of his profession and was there at the beginning of most of the major directional changes in music from 1965 onward. But the most amazing thing about Tappy was that he even survived his violently suppressive child-hood at all. The victim and witness of unbelievable levels of domestic violence and intimidation from surrounding adults, he not only survived but turned the classic nightmare childhood into some sort of crusade to do better, be bigger, see and do more than those who victimised him. The story of how he did it is the stuff of which movies are made.
Now, at the age of 62 (he doesn’t look it) he recently passed another extra-ordinary milestone in Australian Music History by playing his 20,000th live gig. Not many, if any, Australian musicians have performed such a feat and “there’s still more to come” says Tappy. He is now rehearsing a new Duo with good friend and colleague Peter McLaren who is a classic Harmonica player in the mould of Larry Adler. Both are very pleased with the progress on the CD and the live gigs start soon. Tappy describes the Duo as “very different”.
But the story of how this unlikely character rose above mental, physical and sexual abuse to do such extra-ordinary things, really demands to be told because there is very little in Australian Musical or general folk lore like it. This is surely one of the most uplifting sagas of recent times.
Contact Tappy at: therealtappy@yahoo.com.au
Phone (61) 0449 074 232
