On Thursday, Aug. 3, Rob Thomas of Didgeridoo Down Under gave a performance and talk at the Candor Free Library. 

Thomas started the talk with facts about Australia, where he is originally from and where the didgeridoo came from.  He said he has been playing the didgeridoo for more than 30 years; but the Aborigines, the native indigenous people to Australia, have been playing the didgeridoos for more than 1,500 years. 

He went on to tell those on hand that Australia is the largest island in the world and has fought on the side of the US since the 1800s.  Thomas went on to talk about all the unique animals that are only native to Australia like the 40 varieties of kangaroo, the wombat, the Tasmanian devil, the koala, the emu and 100 species of snakes, 10 of which are the deadliest on earth. There are only three egg-laying mammals in the world and they all live in Australia.  He talked about how adorable the koala bear is, but they sleep 20 hours per day.   As he unloaded a bag full of stuffed animals from Australia he reported that crocodiles are in Australia, the longest one recorded was 23 feet and crocodiles can climb trees.

Thomas even startled one of those in the audience when he stuck his head in the bag, pretending something had a hold of him then appeared and threw a stuffed snake, landing on the head of someone in the audience. 

He explained that the didgeridoo, an Australian instrument, is made from eucalyptus tree.  The Aborigines go around tapping the tree's trunk and larger branches to hear if they have been hollowed out enough by the termites to be played.

Thomas had 10 didgeridoos with him on display; each unique and different; he had even made some from other types of wood found here in the US; and each one when played seemed to have a different sound.  He spoke of “circular breathing” which is needed to play the didgeridoos.  Before he played he passed out sticks and what he called oranges that were actually wooden balls with beads inside and invited the kids and others on hand to play with him.  He even showed a cardboard tube from a fabric store that he had made into a didgeridoo and played. When played one of the didgeridoo actually sounded like a whale.

He also shared some stories of his travels. He has been to every continent on earth except Antarctica, and how nice the people have been. According to him, “Kindness and respect will open many doors.” 

Besides sharing the sounds of his instruments, he also showed some pictures of the wildlife, some Aborigines and their art work; even some of their language like “Hello” is “G Day” in their language.  Sweat pants are called “tracky dacks” in Australia. 

At the end of the performance, many of those on hand helped Thomas load up all he had brought as he would be performing somewhere else in a couple of hours.  Thomas and his partner, Darren Liebman, travel around the US educating and entertaining at schools, libraries and more.  They have a website, whihc can be accessed at www.didgedownunder.com.