“I don’t think any of us figured we’d still be doing it 50 years later… but we are absolutely delighted that we are!” Phil Manning, CHAIN

The illustrious careers of CHAIN and Phil Manning are intrinsically linked together. Over 50 years of road-work, countless albums and recordings, and 18 appearances at Bluesfest both as a solo artist or together with Matt Taylor and Chain, Phil Manning has definitely put in the hard yards … and neither he nor Chain are through yet. We caught up with Phil to chart his musical history.

Molly Tuttle

Jimmie Vaughan

Jeff Beck

Kirk Fletcher

Eric Clapton

The post Phil Manning • 50 years of Chain appeared first on Byron Bay Bluesfest.

“The NSW Government has indicated that, if the current COVID-19 situation continues in NSW, Bluesfest would be permitted to proceed, following our comprehensive COVID-19 safety plan.

This is a great day, not only for Bluesfest, but also for the Australian Live Music Industry and our unrelenting efforts to get back to presenting Live Music Safely.

Whilst our capacity, stages and campgrounds will be approximately 50% of the numbers we have had in the past, it is great to know there is a future for our industry, and that we have been given the opportunity to present Bluesfest 2021 at a level not seen at festivals in Australia since the summer of 2019/20.

We were heartbroken after last year’s cancellation three weeks out from the festival, due to NSW government orders. However, our resolve to present our beloved, multi award-winning festival resulted in our commencing work with Riskworks to create a COVID-19 Safety Plan in May of 2020. We first lodged it with government in August and have continued to refine the plan since that time.

We have worked closely with NSW Health in developing the plan and are extremely thankful for their ongoing advice. Certainly, the NSW Events Task Force and the offices of Stuart Ayres, Minister for Tourism and Major Events NSW; John Barilaro, the Deputy Premier NSW; Ben Franklin, NSW Parliamentary Secretary for the Arts; the office of Don Harwin, NSW Minister for the Arts and Paul Fletcher, Federal Minister for the Arts are to be commended for working closely with us on a weekly basis to achieve this milestone result for the music loving people of Australia,” said Bluesfest Festival Director Peter Noble.

Bluesfest is a five-time winner of Best Major Event at the NSW Tourism Awards, and a member of the NSW Tourism Hall of Fame, as well as being nominated nine times as Best International Music Festival in the Pollstar Awards which take place in Los Angeles, including their 30th Anniversary edition 2019.

“We have an All-Aussie lineup playing at Easter at our purpose-built event site, The Byron Events Farm (formerly Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm) in Byron Shire, 15 minutes’ drive north from Byron Bay. Bluesfest is headlined by an amazing lineup of talent, including Jimmy Barnes, Tash Sultana, Ocean Alley, Ziggy Alberts, The Teskey Brothers, John Butler, Xavier Rudd, The Cat Empire, Kasey Chambers, The Waifs, The Church, John Williamson, Ian Moss, Kev Carmody, Vika & Linda, Chain, Backsliders, Melbourne Ska Orchestra, Blue King Brown, Kate Miller-Heidke, Dami Im, Weddings Parties Anything, Russell Morris, Briggs, Jon Stevens and many, many more.

At the moment we are 80% sold out and our Friday, Saturday and Sunday days are expected to sell out” Noble said.

“We will be inspecting the 150-page COVID-19 Safety Plan in depth and will make a further announcement on how Bluesfest will be presented in a safe manner next week. What we can say is that the plan is created in a way where we can adapt to the requirements of the NSW Health Department should there be a need to create higher levels of safety for the public on site, and, of course, we are also hopeful, that conditions will be further relaxed should there be no further community transmissions.

The good news is you won’t need to wear a mask currently whilst attending. We are looking forward to seeing your smiling faces as you experience the best in Australian music at an outdoor fully seated event.

There are so many people to thank who took part in working with us in getting to this point.
The artists and their agents and managers, the media for their ongoing support, our suppliers and of course the Bluesfest Team who never wavered, well … only sometimes, in their conviction to produce Bluesfest at Easter (April 1-5) this year. But number one is, our gratitude to the music fans, who purchased the tickets from the moment we went on sale and who will join us in making history as major live music events return in Australia.”

Let’s bring back the music!

Peter Noble OAM
Executive Chairman
Bluesfest Group of Companies

For interview requests and further information please contact:

Bluesfest Publicist Gaynor Crawford

Mob: +61 409 250 510
Email: gaynor@gaynorcrawford.com

The post BLUESFEST COVID-19 SAFETY PLAN APPROVED appeared first on Byron Bay Bluesfest.

He talks about The Teskey Brothers ‘labour of love’, his early inspirations; Geoff Achison, Chris Wilson, Dutch Tilders, Sam Linton-Smith and Ash Grunwald, and his latest discoveries; The California Honeydrops and Vulfpeck.

The post Josh Teskey・THE TESKEY BROTHERS appeared first on Byron Bay Bluesfest.

IAN MOSS is right up there at the top of his game… and has been for over 30 years!

Firstly with Cold Chisel and then as a very successful solo artist – his music has been part of the soundtrack to our lives. He is one of our finest axe-wielders and is a great singer-songwriter too.

We caught up with him on the rock ‘n’ roll highway and meandered down some of his memory lanes. Listen here and ENJOY!

The post Ian Moss • Still at the top of his game appeared first on Byron Bay Bluesfest.

He’s also the co-founder and leader of the Melbourne Ska Orchestra. We managed to catch up with Nicky as he was driving through the night in rural Victoria… listen below!

The post Catching up on all things Melbourne Ska Orchestra with Nicky Bomba appeared first on Byron Bay Bluesfest.

MELBOURNE SKA ORCHESTRA

Imagine this… it took Melbourne Ska Orchestra OVER 3 HOURS to get from one stage to another when they played a super ‘mudfest’ Glastonbury a couple of years ago. They were split up for transport and were running late. Half the band had to start and play half a set before the rest of the band arrived.

MIA DYSON

When she was growing up Mia Dyson wanted to own a horse farm. Although she didn’t have a horse she used to work at a trail riding centre.

PIERCE BROTHERS

If you can’t tell by looking at them, the Pierce Brothers are comprised of identical twin brothers Pat & Jack Pierce… and get this! Their real names are Patrick John Pierce & John Patrick Pierce. Unsurprisingly, this has caused many issues with credit checks, voter registration and passport issues.

OCEAN ALLEY

Interestingly… Ocean Alley’s second studio album called ‘Chiaroscuro’ is named after an Italian term used in the art world and literally means ‘light-dark’. In paintings, it refers to having clear tonal contrasts to suggest volume and three dimensions. We’re suckers for titles of songs and albums that have many dimensions!

JOHN BUTLER

Quite possibly one of the most skilled guys we know… and not just in music! He makes and crafts his own knives… He can make a 360-flip on a skateboard… and, of course, how can we not mention his ability to expertly fuse acoustic and electric sounds on the guitar! We can’t wait to celebrate John Butler‘s birthday on the first day of Bluesfest 2021, on Thursday 1st of April – come celebrate with us!

RUSSELL MORRIS

Did you know… Russell Morris has a passion for astrophysics?!… Okay, for those like us who didn’t know, astrophysics is a branch of space science that applies the laws of physics and chemistry to explain the birth, life and death of stars, planets, galaxies, nebulae and other objects in the universe. It has two sibling sciences, astronomy and cosmology, and the lines between them blur. WOAH!

TASH SULTANA

Did you know… Tash Sultana is an avid bird watcher and plans to have their own bird atrium soon.

The post A few things you didn’t know about your fave Bluesfest 2021 artists… appeared first on Byron Bay Bluesfest.

He has never wavered from his passion for the Blues; whether it be Delta Blues, Piedmont Blues, Hill Country Blues, or 12 Bar Blues.

Dom has toured collaborated and nationally and internationally with Phil Wiggins and The Turner Brown Band. His love of traditional music has seen him travel into Asia to explore the links between traditional music and instrumentation and the Blues. He has collaborated and recorded with Korea’s internationally acclaimed komungo (a Korean fourth century fretted board zither) virtuoso, Jin Hi Kim. He’s travelled to Hanoi to collaborate and record with Vietnam’s blind guitarist, Kim Singh.

On top of all that, Dom is a highly regarded speaker on Blues & Roots music and has guested on ABC radio programs and presented music workshops at festivals and in universities (both nationally and internationally). Listen in to Dom talking about the early days of Backsliders and the passionate musical ethos that drives the band.

The post ‘Preaching Blues’ • Dom Turner looks back over 35 years of Backsliders appeared first on Byron Bay Bluesfest.

Chain

Toward the Blues • 1971

This is the first studio album from Chain, which followed a very well-received live set ‘Live Chain’ recorded a year earlier. Since the late sixties and early seventies, Chain has been the most influential Blues-Rock band in Australia. Exciting driving rhythms, soaring harmonica and guitar, all complimenting the powerful vocals of Matt Taylor – this album set the bar higher than any Australian Blues band before or since. With unforgettable songs like ‘Black and Blue’, ‘Judgement’ and ‘Snatch It Back and Hold It’, we reckon it’s probably the longest permanently available Blues-Rock album in Australia.

The Black Sorrows

Sonola • 1984

After Jo Jo Zep & The Falcons disbanded, Jo Jo (or Joe Camilleri) put together a ‘pick-up’ loose band of musicians and called them The Black Sorrows, who started out playing gigs to raise cash to make an album.

That album was ‘Sonola’ – and cost a princely $1300 to make! Check out their unique take on Van Morrison’s ‘Brown Eyed Girl’, Dinah Washington’s ‘What A Difference A Day Makes’ and John Lee Hooker’s ‘Don’t Look Back’.

“I just wanted to have some sort of documentation that we existed. We did the artwork and screen-printed the covers. We’d put the covers on the line, one side only, waiting for them to dry, so we could do the other side. They’re the things you cherish, waiting for the record to be pressed and then having a lounge-room full of records and freaking out because you want to get rid of them.” – Joe Camilleri

Weddings Parties Anything

Scorn of the Woman • 1987

“The best Australian-Rock debut since Skyhooks’ Living in the ’70s” – Billy Pinnell, musicologist.

Punk-Folk-Rock… Weddings Parties Anything evolved from the Melbourne punk scene in 1984, melding punk roots with founder Mick Thomas’ original love for the honest storytelling in folk music and quickly became known for their explosive live performances. Their live following grew and the ever-growing number of ‘Weddheads’ made enough noise that this debut album, originally slated as a minor indie release, was picked up by a major record label and helped score for them their first ARIA award for ‘Best New Talent’. It’s a riotous combination of story-telling and hardcore music, featuring the songs ‘Away Away’, ‘Hungry Years’ and ‘Scorn Of The Women’.

Kev Carmody

Pillars of Society • 1988

“Arguably the best protest album ever made in Australia” – Bruce Elder

Kev Carmody is a member of the Stolen Generations. Despite leaving school almost illiterate he immersed himself in music and learning – and now has a PhD in history and is a member of the ARIA Hall of Fame. This debut album is as passionate and relevant now as it was at the time of its release (to coincide with the bi-centenary in 1988), and contains powerful, emotive songs such as ‘Thou Shalt Not Steal’ , “Black Deaths In Custody’, ‘Pillars Of Society’ and ‘Jack Deelin’, all laying bare the street-level reality of the oppression and ignorance facing indigenous people.

“This was a very powerful record by someone who’s the Aboriginal poet laureate of his time, and it’s as pungent and as stirring and as evocative and as absolutely ‘on’ today as it was when it was first written.” – Peter Garrett, Midnight Oil

Ian Moss

Matchbook • 1989

An absolutely stunning debut.

After Cold Chisel disbanded in 1983, Ian Moss took a break. He started playing again in Oct 1986, but the recording didn’t start until 1988 when he spent 9 months in LA preparing material for his debut solo album. 2 singles, ‘Tucker’s Daughter’ and ‘Telephone Booth’ were released prior to the album’s release in August 1989. Both singles charted (as did several others) and the album sold over 200,000 copies and topped the ARIA charts for 3 weeks.

In the following ARIA Awards, Ian Moss won in five categories: Album of The Year, Single of The Year, Breakthrough Artist (single and album) and Best Male Artist. These first songs from Ian Moss are still staples of his live performances – and radio plays. 2021 sees the continuation of the delayed 30^th anniversary Matchbook Tour.

Blue King Brown

Stand Up • 2006

From street corners to the world stages – that’s the “rize and rize” (IYKYK) of the urban Reggae-Roots ensemble Blue King Brown. Starting life as a percussion-based ensemble busking on the streets of Byron Bay, BKB has now recorded and performed all over the world. ‘Stand Up’ was nominated for the J Award of 2006, and ‘Come and Check Your Head’ was listed No. 100 on the Triple J Hottest 100 of the same year. This exposure zapped them into the national consciousness with their passionate and uplifting messaging, as heard in ‘Come And Check Your Head’, ‘Stand Up’, ‘One Day’, ‘Water’ and ‘Keep It True’. The adventure continues with their latest album ‘Born Free’.

Ray Beadle

Loaded • 2009

Ray Beadle is a cherished favourite among Australian Blues fans. Since the age of 9, he has toured, written and performed consistently. He is music rich with a deep history of the Blues, with mastery and deep understanding of his guitar – the instrument that delivers. His debut album released in 1998 gave us all a taste of what was to come… featuring a set of stripped back acoustic songs including ‘Moving On’, ‘What U Got’, ‘That’s My Girl’ and ‘Blues On My Mind’.

He has held a residency at BB King’s Club in Memphis, shared the stage with many of the great Australian and International artists, and made the semi-finals of The Blues Challenge in Memphis.

Melbourne Ska Orchestra

Melbourne Ska Orchestra • 2013

Formed in 2003 this juggernaut orchestra made us wait 10 years before unleashing their eponymous debut album. They honed their craft and sound under the leadership of Nicky Bomba, and the cohort of up to 33 members scintillatingly and unashamedly easily captured their visual and madcap live atmosphere on their debut recording with songs like: ‘Get Smart’, ‘Lygon Street Meltdown’, ‘Third Time Lucky’, ‘Papa’s Got A Brand New Ska’ and ‘He’s A Tripper’.

Pierce Brothers

The Night Tree • 2014

Honing their skills on Australia’s busking street corners, twin brothers Jack and Pat Pierce have gone on to conquer concerts and festival all over the world – and they’ve supported artists like The Cat Empire, St Paul and The Broken Bones and Tash Sultana. There was a shopping basket of singles and EPs which matched this continuous touring schedule and growing fanbase… and this first album only endeared them to many more fans, making its debut on the ARIA charts at #13 with songs like ‘Trip Lovers’, ‘Back End Roads’, ‘Juno’ and ‘Waiting’.

All Our Exes Live in Texas

When We Fall • 2017

‘The most badass girl folk group ever” – Hhhappy.com

All Our Exes Live In Texas are four of Australia’s finest singer-songwriters, Elana Stone, Katie Wighton, Hannah Crofts and Georgia Mooney. Formed in 2013, AOELIT’s non-stop touring calendar, working alongside Passenger, Midnight Oil, St Paul & The Broken Bones, Nathaniel Rateliff and The Night Sweats resulted in this critically-acclaimed debut album, ‘When We Fall’. It is four-part indie-folk harmony heaven, matched by the strength of their composing, which went on to giving them their first ARIA Award for Best Blues and Roots Album as well as an AIR Award for Best Independent Blues and Roots Album – not surprising with songs such as ‘The Devil’s Part’, ‘I’m Gonna Get My Heart Cut Out’ and ‘Tell Me’.

The Teskey Brothers

Half Mile Harvest • 2018

We’ve said it before… these guys seemingly came out of nowhere to take the Australian Music Industry by storm, driven by this breathtaking debut album ‘Half Mile Harvest’. Written by the four members of the band, recorded in their home studio on analogue tape, self-produced and released independently… every track on this album is outstanding! The mix of the old-school Stax and Motown sound is heady and infectious and has brought them millions of fans the world over. Check out our faves ‘I Get Up’, ‘Crying Shame’ and ‘Pain and Misery’.

Josh Teskey & Ash Grunwald

Push the Blues Away • 2020

What seems like a perfect match, the ‘coming together’ of Josh Teskey and Ash Grunwald was as organic and natural as you can imagine. While simultaneously working on other projects, the two were side-tracked by the ease of writing together, likely because of their shared love of the same musical heroes and similar journeys throughout their own musical careers. Between the two are 11 studio albums, 4 live albums, numerous worldwide award nominations and a touring map covering probably every city you can think of.

For the first time, Josh and Ash will perform live together, celebrating and bringing to life their album ‘Push The Blues Away’, which was released in November 2020. As well as the title track and ‘Thinking ‘Bout Myself’, be sure to check out ‘Preachin’ Blues’, ‘The Sky Is Crying’ and ‘Hungry Heart’.

The post Top debut albums from our fave Blues & Roots artists appeared first on Byron Bay Bluesfest.

So many artists in our very first artist announcement back in July last year were already part of the Bluesfest family – Backsliders, The Cat Empire, Kasey Chambers, John Butler, Xavier Rudd, as well as consistent players like Clayton Doley and Sean Pacey and so on… all, without any exception, are around and willing to help the newbies step up to the plate.

The more you deconstruct the line-up this year – Bluesfest is amazing! We always knew Australia had the finest live talent in the world… now these musical giants are stepping onto the Bluesfest stage to ROCK your Easter Long Weekend.

CHAIN

The most influential Rock-Blues band in Australia. Throughout the history of the band and its talented members, they have undeniably put a stamp on Blues music with an Australian style… that no other act has done. “The Blues remains… forever” – Matt Taylor (Mushroom 25 concert).

MELBOURNE SKA ORCHESTRA

MSO just managed to squeeze in a tour and live album recording in 2020. We can’t wait till we get to see them do it all on stage again this year… they are guaranteed to get the party started this Easter Long Weekend!

THE BAMBOOS

Melbourne roots soul at its finest, The Bamboos will bring it this Easter. Check out the powerhouse vocals of Kylie Auldist on this banger.

THE WAIFS

A live performance from The Waifs is too much of a rarity these days – so good to have them back at Bluesfest… don’t miss them!

HUSSY HICKS

Bluesfest family veterans – words don’t cut it. Just watch this 2-minute vid.

BACKSLIDERS

Backsliders have been serving up an eclectic mix of Blues styles for 30 years or more. Check out ‘Dog In The Fight’ from their brand new album, ‘Bonecrunch’.

The post Aussie Blues, Roots & Legends… from our very first artist announcement appeared first on Byron Bay Bluesfest.

Tex Perkins has appeared in several band guises: The Dark Horses, The Ape, The Fat Rubber Band, The Beasts of Bourbon, and Tex, Don & Charlie – but this is the first time he is bringing the concert version of ‘The Man in Black’ to the Bluesfest stage.

We caught up with him recently… and he has let us in on his TOP FIVE Johnny Cash songs. We can’t wait for him to perform these hits next Easter!

What are your Top 5 Johnny Cash songs you’ll be performing over the Easter Long Weekend?

It might be more than a few years old, but this still holds Christmas fire Tex Perkins and Clare Bowditch go head-to-head performing “Fairytale of New York” live for RocKwiz Christmas Special. Gotta love Tex! 

The post Bluesfest Takes 5 with Tex Perkins appeared first on Byron Bay Bluesfest.