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Our Story

Doctor Baz aka Barry Ferrier has had a long and interesting career in many facets of the entertainment industry, academia and multimedia design. 

Here are some articles recounting highlights from that story.

 

 

"A wonderful aspect of all the many shows and bands I have worked with is the great friends I have made. Over the years I have so enjoyed and valued knowing a fascinating cast of  talented and quirky characters from the Australian performing arts industry. In these pages I have included pictures of many of these highly valued colleagues where i can". 

Johnny Cash Tribute Show

The Australian Johnny Cash Tribute Show

Country Superstar Johnny Cash was a music industry legend for half a century with an instantly recognisable voice and style. The hit movie "I Walk the Line" introduced his dramatic life story and his unmistakeable, tough music to a younger generation of music lovers. Johnny Cash fans now cover three generations.

Even people who might secretly confess to hating Country Music are nevertheless fired up with enthusiasm about his legendary up-tempo hits such as Folsom Prison Blues, Ring of Fire, Get Rhythm, I Walk the Line - there are just so many great and unique songs in the Johnny Cash repertoire.

Those familiar with the highly successful bio-pic will know of the enduring love story between Johnny Cash and June Carter. A member of the iconic country music group The Carter Family, June grew up in showbiz and became an accomplished comedienne. singer, and song writer - a true music professional and star in her own right. Together they were a towering force in American Music.

Vocalist & writer Barry Ferrier has brought together a team of talented performers to create an immersive music theatre show based on the Cash Story and interaction between these two gifted and unique music artists, told in the first person with insights into Johnny & the Tennessee Two's wild ride from obscurity to stardom. 

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Slim Pickens & Dr. Baz

Cajun Cowboy Blues

Blues music has a feeling of authenticity because it grew spontaneously out of life experience - as a release from the grind, an outburst of joy, a beat you could dance to.  Blues music continues to play a big part in popular music history: look back and you'll find the blues is one of the authentic roots of most contemporary popular music styles. It is this sense of authenticity which gives blues and other genuine folk music styles a sense of timelessness.

Fast forward to the era of digital music. Technology has changed our relationship to music and influenced the music we hear on the airwaves. Digital sound "sampling" has produced a revolution in popular music making and pop has become a kaleidoscopic melting pot of musical genres. The commercial sheen of this ocean of digital music can ultimately make music seem bland, and authentic forms of folk music like the blues become increasingly attractive to musicians of all kinds, as they mature. To seek that nostalgic, quirky magic of authenticity becomes the passion.

Australian acoustic music duo Slim Pickens & Dr. Baz have been making that journey back to the sources of their favourite popular music styles for many years now and from these explorations have distilled their own unique musical vision that is an affectionate and whimsical tribute to the early delta blues masters - those enigmatic pioneering guitarists and amazingly versatile songwriters and story tellers.

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Academic Career & PhD Abstract

ACADEMIC CAREER

 Barry graduated with a Bachelor of Arts form the University of Sydney majoring in Psychology in 1974. He completed a Diploma of Music Composition under Dr. James Penberthy and Richard Mills at Southern Cross University in 1984. He began lecturing in Music Business and tutoring in guitar at Southern Cross University in the mid eighties and graduated with  Bachelor of Letters (Honours) from Deakin University in 1987. In the 90s  Barry Ferrier was appointed Assistant Professor of Multimedia at Bond University on Queensland's Gold Coast, where he also lectured in the School of Film and TV in Video Production and Music Video. He has held lecturing positions in multimedia and music at Griffith University at Southport, Southern Cross University in Lismore  and for three years at Central Queensland University. He has also taught multimedia and graphic design at Kingscliff TAFE for five years and the School of Audio Engineering  in Byron Bay. He began studying for his Doctor of Philosophy in music and Southern Cross University but two years work on his thesis was destroyed in a housefire in 1994. He later began a new PhD project focussing on the emerging multimedia art technology which he completed through Southern Cross University in 2007.

Multimedia as Meta-Art:

The processes and aesthetics of interactive digital art. A folio of Original Multimedia and Supporting Documentation

© 2004 Barry Ferrier, B.A., Dip. Music (Comp.), B.Litt. (Hons.).

A dissertation presented to the School of Contemporary Arts, Southern Cross University, Lismore NSW, in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. June, 2004.

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