Remembering Colin Elmer

Words by Stephanie Johnston.

The names of local entrepreneur Colin Elmer’s various canine companions – Gibson, Harley, Django and Cooper to name a few – provide instant insight into his passions for playing electric guitar, riding the iconic motorbike and imbibing the local ale. Colin’s death on the 28 January 2021 at age 58 came too soon and too suddenly for family, friends, colleagues and the wider Willunga and Adelaide music communities.

A big guy with a big heart, Colin’s talents, obsessions and convivial personality brought many into his orbit. They include the hundreds of guitar students he taught over twenty years’ teaching at the University of Adelaide and the members of the many orchestras and bands he worked with as a freelance musician here and overseas. Then there’s the Harley Davidson and VW enthusiasts he connected with over a lifetime of collecting and restoring. Closer to home, there’s the many happy couples who made their vows at his and wife Lee Widdison’s beloved Barn 1890 – their meticulously restored heritage venue in the Willunga foothills, where they themselves were married.

Colin died of heart failure and complications from an existing medical condition just a couple of weeks short of realising his dream to put Barn 1890 on the national music map. His much-anticipated Sounds of Summer weekend went ahead on Valentine’s Day weekend, bringing Joe Camilleri’s The Black Sorrows, and local musicians Dusty Lee Stephensen and Kat Jade together in a celebration of music and the district’s heritage. It was a resounding affirmation of Colin’s legacy to his community.

A ‘ten pound pom’, Colin moved to Adelaide with his family at age seven, growing up in the southern suburbs and enjoying footy, surfing and surf lifesaving at the local southern beaches. He helped pay for his guitar lessons from age twelve, using money earned from a newspaper round. A car lover from age three, he bought his first vehicle, an HQ Holden wagon, at sixteen when he left school to undertake an apprenticeship as a refrigeration mechanic. Kombis took over when chasing waves across the country became an imperative, which in turn led to his discovery of the Karmann Ghia.

Colin cut his musical teeth during the 1980s, playing in different bands at the many music venues across metropolitan Adelaide while studying jazz at the Elder Conservatorium, where he ended up teaching. According to university colleague and fellow motorbike enthusiast Dusty Cox ‘If you look up the dictionary entry of “loveable larrikin”, Colin’s picture would be at the top of the page.’ The Superjesus guitarist Jason Slack, a high school protégé, recollects a ‘contagiously relaxed guy who’d rock in to school in a different VW every week, and swagger graciously through the schoolyard, mane flowing, with a constant smirk on his face as if he had the key to happiness.’ The posts in his memory on the Elder jazz school’s social media site are testimony to Colin’s empathy and generosity towards his students, his endearing light-hearted, self-deprecating nature, his eternal availability for a chat over a beer, and his ability to see the funny side of any situation.

Colin-the-barn-restorer emerged when he and future wife Lee started renovating their three-acre property nestled in the foothills of the Sellicks Range. Their Sea and Vines B&B cottage was stripped back to historical authenticity, while the resurrection of the old barn from a dilapidated ruin into a charming and unique function venue became an intensive labour of love, undertaken over five years.

The aim of Barn 1890 was always to share its special history and location with others, while supporting and celebrating a local community of artists, creatives and musicians. Their successful enterprise established Colin and Lee as leaders of a movement of cultural entrepreneurs that is now blossoming across the Fleurieu.