Originally from Melbourne musician Andy Baylor was living in the Sydney suburb of Glebe before he made the move to rural NSW.
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It was definitely a brave decision for Baylor who is married to Lucy Lehmann, grand daughter of photographer Olive Cotton who lived in Cowra.
The move means Baylor often travels vast distances to perform but says the its had its benefits.
"It's certainly different being a musician from Melbourne and working in Melbourne and Sydney mainly. Cowra's not big enough to support the cultural life I am used to in the big cities, so I travel to the cities for bigger shows," Baylor said.
In June he's performing much closer to his new home, at Orange's Winter Festival.
"I really love Cowra, it's a beautiful place and quiet so I can get quite a bit of work done in terms of writing music," he said.
"So it does have its advantages. I can do a lot of work at home, you think of musicians performing, but there is a lot of background work and writing music.
"And I do quite a bit of painting in a little studio on the Cowra Railway Station, so those things keep me busy."
Baylor says he is "more of a roots musician, I do Blues and roots and old swing, Cajun fiddle music that I've worked at over the years".
"I don't know how to get a gig in Cowra doing that sort of thing," he said.
Since moving to Cowra he has performed locally at the Festival of Inland Sea at Bathurst, at a dance at the Morongla Hall and at Gooloogong's Log Cabin Hall.
Over the June long-weekend he will be one of a number musicians from the central on an impressive roster of artists at the inaugural Orange Winter Jazz Festival.
He will perform at Orange's Uniting Church at 8pm on June 12.
The Festival encompasses a wide range of music from modern and traditional jazz, soul, blues and roots music.
During the early 1980's Baylor co-founded the quintessential Aussie roots pioneers, The Dancehall Racketeers.
This band toured everywhere in Australia, from Aboriginal settlements in Arnhem Land to big city concert halls, breaking down barriers and introducing such (then considered unusual and obscure) styles of music as Western Swing, Cajun, Zydeco, Rockabilly, Country, Hillbilly and Blues to Australian audiences.
Their self-produced vinyl records on the Preston label are highly sought-after collectors items, and offer music that pre-figures the current "Roots" craze both in Australia and in the USA.
As a violinist, he has honed a unique Australian sound with elements of swing, Celtic, Cajun, classical and country fiddle styles.
In 1989 and again in 2005 he travelled the back roads of the USA as a fiddler, where he played with many legendary musicians including bluegrass greats David Grisman, Texan swing fiddle master Johnny Gimble (a member of Bob Wills Texas Playboys), Cliff Bruner (Texas fiddle virtuoso), Cajun fiddle greats Dewey Balfa, Rufus and Tony Thibodeaux (Rufus toured with Neil Young for years), Dave Greely, Courtney Granger and others.
He was mentored by accordonists Ray Abshire and Marc Savoy, and composed over 30 Cajunesque fiddle tunes in Lafayette. This first-hand experience has given Andy unparalleled insights into the traditions of American music.
Tickets for the Orange Festival are available at https://www.owjf.com.au/
More information about Andy Baylor can be found on his website https://www.andybaylor.online/