The Wishing Well Band

Hi there, we just want to tell you a quick story

– the epic of how we discovered your band, and how your music became the official theme music for our trip to Australia.

Here goes:

Running across the bridge to avoid another downpour, we found ourselves at Flinders Station, for the first time in our lives.  It was raining and we were out walking off jet lag on Sunday morning, November 29th.  My husband Paul, our two young daughters and myself had just arrived in Melbourne after over 36 hours of travel from the Midwest United States.  We felt exhilarated, exhausted and just plain thrilled to have finally arrived.

A group of people had already gathered around the band playing.  We paused, taking in the music and the local crowd.  Both of our daughters stood very still and listened attentively.  I observed their focus and concentration, watching to see if I could discern what it was about this group that was captivating to a 5 and 2 year old.  I had instantly liked what I heard, and felt we must have great timing to come across this band within two hours of our first foray into Melbourne.  My husband and I have traveled all over the world and we enjoy discovering local culture on our travels.  We agree that The Wishing Well was one of our greatest finds in Australia.

After Sarah finished playing her part in a song, Paul took advantage of the opportunity to walk up and talk to her.  He asked questions about the band and the music.  He came back talking about the CD saying, “I think we should buy it.”  With a raised eyebrow I reminded him that we had a travel budget, it was our first day, etc…  He said “Hmm…” and returned to the table and promptly purchased the CD, which brought another raised eyebrow on my part.

Later that day I asked what it was about these guys that was outstanding to him.  His answer was, “Gumption.  It takes gumption to haul all that equipment to a train station, set it up and play on a Sunday morning.  They also write, record, produce, market their music and book their own shows.  I admire it, a lot, and I want to support it.”   All of this coming from my musician, writer, producer, husband who is a man of few words and has set up lots of gigs in his time.  From my perspective, it was the highest compliment he could have given you.

As an educator and leader in a not-for-profit organization, I am well aware of the rarity of that kind of self-initiative.  I was impressed.  Verbalizing my own thoughts I responded, “Wow, not only gumption, that takes intelligence.”  So, not counting the Dutch pancakes at the art market along the river, Life On The Border was our first purchase in Australia.  We bought it to show our support and encourage intelligence!  By the way, I rank intelligence as one of the highest compliments I could give someone.  Turns out, we listened to it every day while on our trip and this is our favorite CD now that we are home.

For my part, I liken those 30 minutes at Flinders Station to “discovering” U2 when they filmed Under A Blood Red Sky in my home state of Colorado in 1983, or coming across Hothouse Flowers when I lived in Dublin in 1988.  Both were unlikely finds at the time and a chance to experience history in the making.  I look forward to following your dream as it unfolds.

I’d like to share one more thought, perhaps on a more serious note.  We live in a time when it is common to claim mastery, without ever mastering any thing.  I find it remarkable that you have played 700 times in three years.  When I came across this bit of information on your website I immediately thought of the best-selling book, Outliers, written by Malcom Gladwell.  He has a chapter devoted to The Beatles that you might find interesting.  Gladwell suggests that success, far from a random occurrence and sheer luck, has a formula.  The first part of the formula is that it takes at least 10,000 hours of practice to master anything, and secondly how one responds to opportunities that come his or her way makes all the difference in the world.  You seem to have the wherewithal to achieve the 10,000 hour bit and I expect the right opportunities will be revealed as you keep playing your music.

Hopefully this message brings a few laughs and encouragement to keep doing what you do so well already.  We are doing our part to introduce the Midwest United States to The Wishing Well.  When you make it to the States, The Blue Note in Columbia, Missouri would be a great place to play!

Sincerely,
Christine Madar
With Paul Madar,
Alexandra and Vivienna, too

P.S.  Here’s one that may be new to you.  My husband and I have a friendly wager on what astrological sign each of the band members are…if you’d be willing to humor us (and settle the bet) would you send a response with your birth dates?