Craig Lawler’s Micro Grant allowed him to purchase equipment to create podcasts and continue telling the great stories at Blind Freddy’s Bushranger Tours.
Craig secured $988 in Arts OutWest Micro Grant funding. Here’s how he put it to use.
What did you do with your Micro Grant?
With my Micro Grant I was able to purchase a Rode NT1 Condenser Microphone, AI-1 Audio Interface and a Zoom H6 portable Recorder.
What were the benefits gained from your Arts OutWest Micro Grant and how did it help you or others during the Covid-19 crisis?
It has allowed me continue working fruitfully during the COVID-19 crisis, to progress towards my aim of creating history podcasts relating to NSW history as a way of further engaging with the community and telling our local stories in an engaging manner.
I am closing in on the completion of my first episode of the Blind Freddy Podcast. It is proving a challenge as I am attempting to employ soundscapes, aural atmospheres, and music to bring the stories to life, but I feel the results will be well worth it.
Without the equipment upgrade allowed by the Micro Grant provided by Arts OutWest my efforts may well have faltered and would not sound as good as they do.
About Craig Lawler and Blind Freddy’s Bushranger Tours
https://www.blindfreddytours.com/
Craig Lawler, a longtime amateur sleuth and historian, has made a bespoke business out of his fascinations, determined to share the cultural wealth of his adopted town, Gooloogong.
He and his partner Jo have formed Blind Freddy’s Bushranger Tours, a fine combination of archaic comedy, high drama and tightly woven narrative fact.
Craig will paint a vivid picture of the times and characters involved and explain where, and why, it all happened. Craig has spent the past ten years up to his neck in bushranger history – investigating the locations, reading the books and scouring the Mitchell Library, State Archives and the National Library’s Trove newspaper archive. It has furnished him with a deep knowledge of the era and the extraordinary personalities that populated it.
History is a pack of lies as any fool can tell BUT, if you can see the story from all sides, filter the romantic myths and, take it back to the actual locations, you can get close to the truth.