THOSE walking around Warragul recently might have seen a busker playing an unusual set of instruments.
Above: Wilson Hoyle busks in Warragul. Photo: William PJ Kulich. PRN01018
First published in the 24 July 2015 edition of the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen. All dates relative to then.
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Wilson Hoyle, 20, has been bringing a note of Bolivia to Baw Baw, playing traditional instruments and singing songs of the country.
Bolivia is located in South America, covering part of the Andean mountain ranges and bordering Peru, Chile, Argentina, Paraguay and Brazil.
When watching Wilson play, what may at first look like a ukulele and pan pipes are not as they seem.
“I play the charango and the zampoña. They’re instruments from Bolivia,” Wilson told the Warragul & Baw Baw Citizen.
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“The charango is the 10-stringed instrument and the zampoña is the pan flute.”
Those instruments are not the usual fare of local buskers, who Wilson observed “normally just play guitar.”
“Most people don’t really notice [my instruments], but the people who do are really appreciative of it,” he said.
And what of his songs? They are not sung in English, though Wilson’s pleasing voice makes that irrelevant, but here is a clue as to what they are about:
“The songs are mainly about love,” he said, quickly adding “and cigarettes and beer.”
While playing instruments and songs from Bolivia, Wilson is not sure of his own roots.
“I’ve travelled so much in my life I’ve forgotten where I come from,” he said.
Wilson has recently settled in Shady Creek and may stay a while.
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“I’m not travelling at the moment. I’ve stopped for a while. Getting hooked into a church and all that,” he said.
