Sandra McClelland (nee Naughton) Bassist Country baked and bred on a farm at Yorkrakine, in Western Australia’s wheatbelt, I grew up with a sister and two brothers in full on tomboy style whilst being brainwashed daily by my mothers Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley records. Listening to stories told by Irene, that’s my mum, of her days back in Scotland, when she used to jive on a glass floor at the local ballroom to the Glenn Miller Band, and how she followed them on tour all over Britain. Plus stories of her Dad singing “This is my Island in the sun”, or one of his German or Italian numbers at he top his voice in the local pubs, or anywhere for that matter, and not that it mattered that he didn’t know any German or Italian either!

Wonder where the musical interest came from?
I first asked Father Christmas for a guitar when I was about 10, after thinking my hippy schoolteacher looked pretty cool with his. Father Christmas obliged, but unfortunately the wheatbelt doesn’t come with an abundance of guitar teachers, so when I decided the “sound thingy” didn’t work on it, it pretty much collected dust. Next from Father Christmas came a keyboard with, YES!!! Music books for dummies, and before long I was cranking out “On top of old Smokey” and “Cool Water” to my audience of Barbie dolls.

At 17 I got some wheels and made a HUGE trip 25km South to Kellerberrin where I met the McClelland brothers at one of their jam nights (which I think was every night back then). Nothing like free local entertainment. After a few years, god knows how many parties, and some pretty tightly developing friendships between the three of us, Jim says to me “Hey play this so I can practice my lead breaks to it”, and so the musical yearning was satisfied and my bass career began.

12 years on. 1 bass lesson. 1 lead guitarist husband. 1 harp playing, not too shabby brother in-law 1 slick, pretty all right dude on the drums. And Blue Shaddy cranking, I couldn’t be happier.

I play a Marcus Miller Fender Jazz bass, with a sensual feeling, through a 400 watt David Eden head, and anybody out there offering to buy me new bins to replace the over tired ones, I will gratefully fall in love with.

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