Feature Profiles
15 January, 2026
SUMMER READING Home-spun humour and acting the fool
Yarns of characters who were the Wedderburn Oldtimers
From ‘home-spun bush band’ to TV stars, the Wedderburn Oldtimers went from a one-time benefit ball in 1975 to performing on The Penthouse Club and being invited to perform Australia wide.
Their country roots never left them even during their TV appearances, when Graham ‘Grummy’ Ross annouced “I’ve run short of a pedal, you got anything like that?” following it up with “if I’ve got no pedal, I’m buggered!” which led to daytime TV show host Mike Walsh explaining to the crowded what “buggered” meant.
While they knew they’d be playing “three beautiful smart numbers”, the names of the numbers had escaped Grummy’s mind when he was asked but he did promise that they would all start and finish at the same time something he assured the crowd they’d done plenty of times.
The group was known for entertaining the audience with more than just music during their concerts setting themselves apart from other bands and videos of their television appearances are still a hit online, half a century after their first gig.
Past member Peter Ellis described their performances when he said: “They put on a real floor show at times and entertained as they played.
“There had to be animation, and you had to smile, chat while performing, swing your squeezebox overhead, pretend to go to sleep while playing - it was all part of the act.”
Founder of the band, Lindsay Holt says in the video online: “We claim we’re the only genuine old-time acoustic band in Australia. It’s real toe tapping music.”
He reminisced that “back in our day if you picked a girl up on the dance floor you held her pretty close and it was very sort of romantic, today what are they doing? They’re miles apart and you don’t really know who your partner is.”
Adding that dancing with a partner to their music was a great way to get to know someone.
Daisy Sutton was almost 70 when Lindsay called her up to play the recently donated violin from Ted Noonan after his death.
The violin hadn’t been played in 34 years, but the strings were still in good condition.
Lindsay had invited other local musicians to join in, and the night was enjoyed so much that they decided to run a genuine old-time bush ball at the Wedderburn Mechanics Institute Hall on July 11, 1975.
The ball was originally intended to be a one-off event, but it was so successful the band received requests to play at other district balls and dances throughout the north central region of Victoria.
For Daisy this was a huge change to her life, having lived in Wedderburn her whole life and only travelling to Bendigo twice.
She said: “Lindsay threw me into it headfirst, I didn’t know what was going to happen when my music teacher’s violin turned up.” When the band performed on the Penthouse Club, Daisy was a week away from her 72nd birthday.
When asked who the oldest in the group was, Grummy responded with “she’s the eldest, that young sheila in the front, she’s good for 72 next week.”
Check out the video for a glimpse into the music and the characters who were The Wedderburn Oldtimers.
- RUBY HYLAND