The Loose Scratch String Band was formed in the early 1970’s and played around and about until the mid ’70’s.  The biggest year for the band was 1974 when all 4 members were located in Ballarat.

Band Personnel:

• Kev Zibell, bass, vocals
• Glen Tucker guitar, banjo, mandolin, vocals,
• Jack Harvey guitar, mouth harps, dobro, vocals
• Ian Noyce guitar, mandolin, autoharp, fiddle, mouth harps, washboard, grunts

This is an old image of the band from those days, appropriately scratchy!!

The Loose Scratch did a concert at the Mildura Arts Centre in 1974, and some recordings remain from that night.  These were recorded just using two microphones into a reel-to-reel tape recorder.  I’ve taken these mixes from a CD version copied from the original tapes, and I’ve tried to clean them up a bit.

“I’ll Fly Away” (aah to have those 27yo voices back again!)

“Nobody Knows” (we weren’t really a bluegrass band, but we had a go!)

“Down Home Music” (an early original Jack Harvey composition that describes the band…)

“In the Still of the Night” (we loved our doo-wap, and Jack had to prove that, just like Clarence ‘The Frogman’ Henry, he could sing like a girl and sing like a frog!  More the former in this!!)

40 years on from the Loose Scratch Jack, Noycey and Kev were joined by John Ducardus and Dave Dahlenburg to record some of Jack’s originals as “Unfinished Business”.