Tasmanian Appalachian Folk

Tony Newport

Singer Songwriter
Busker & Storyteller

About Tony

I was born and raised in a mining town in the mountains of Western Tasmania.
At the time Rosebery was a four hour train trip from the port of Burnie.
My grandmother had a Carter Family LP. Many years after her passing I was at an Autoharp Gathering in Pennsylvania where I met George Orthey who had made autoharps for June Carter Cash. The autoharp pictured is made out of Tasmanian special timbers: Fiddleback Blackwood, King Billy and Huon Pine. The framing timber was donated by Ian Bradshaw from his family sawmill in Queenstown. The luthier is Paul Mineur who was born in Queenstown and is based in Hobart. The harp is called: The Bradshaw Harp

Music

Tasmanian Appalachian Folk:
Dedicated to the spirit and people of Western Tasmania.

Contemporary:
Songs of protest and life in general in 21st century Oz.

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Upcoming:
Not Fade Away is a themed concert. We are appearing at theTamar Valley Folk Festival January 16, 17 & 18th, 2026; at 10.15am on the Sunday. The TVFF is a wonderful festival check out the performers and program here: https://tamarvalleyfolkfestival.com/

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Featured Songs

Heaven’s An Eight Hour Day https://tonynewport.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/heavens-an-eight-hour-day.mp3

From the West Coast Song Book

Photo: Rosebery Miners circa 1950 J.H. Robinson

Up until the 1970’s most Rosebery miners worked dayshift. In the mid 70’s the miners worked both day and afternoon shift. Brian ‘Porky’ Dick hated afternoon shift with a passion. He would have hated the twelve hour shifts the miners work these days even more. Payday afternoon shift was known by the miners with their native grasp of irony as the ‘good one’. This song is a celebration of an era in Australian mining that has passed us by.

Requiem For Robbo

From my CD This Land

Photo: Pinterest.

Everyday when I drove to work I would pass this dilapidated house. Grass knee high, peeling paint and an old car on wooden blocks. Robbo (not his real name) lived there alone. You would see him jogging around the road in long trousers, tattered sandshoes and wearing a beanie. One morning as I drove past there were crates by the side of the road and I realised that Robbo had died. Suddenly what was ramshackle and lived in now seemed lonely and abandoned.

Despatches

Stories Poems and Social Comment

A Tale of Two Zithers

Images Lto R: Author with George Orthey and his wife; Testimonial to George; Robert Sticht at Clausthal 1878; Robert Sticht’s Zither.
(Orthey photos – the author; Zither photos TMAG Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery)

This is the story of a metallurgist musician who played the concert zither and came to Queenstown in 1895. It also a story about the origins of the concert zither and the modern autoharp.

Laid back and whimsical. Upbeat and Lyrical. From the green fields of post war France to the myriad greens of the Huon Valley. From the grey of 9/11 Manhattan to the gravel heart of gritty Queenstown. From lust and love to Celtic rhythms and secular hymns – a record attendance at the 25^th Tamar Valley Folk Festival this weekend feasted on music for the soul performed by a diverse range of some of the best musicians and singers Australia has to offer. Forget your mainstream pop. This is live music played with heart. To paraphrase Eric Bogle the star attraction of this year’s festival  “I love recordings of my favourite artists but they never make me cry – only live music can really make you cry” And cry many of us did as he reprised ‘Safe in The Harbour’ and reminded us of the power of the lyric with his plaintive Scottish vocals and his mastery of musical narrative. As did guest poet Tasmania’s Tim Thorne with a sustained and moving veneration of language that was part soliloquy but ultimately a shared and passionate cry – for empathy for each other and for the earth. 26 events, all well attended, 32 acts and 72 performers. Tasmania has its prominent gems in Mona and other festivals and it has its hidden gems – none more so than this Festival. This a rich, accessible and immensely enjoyable weekend of entertainment for all ages. Make sure you put it on your next year’s calendar. 25 years strong and growing – congratulations to all involved. In this festival the Tamar Valley, the people of George Town and Tasmania really do have something to celebrate.