| Matt Finish - HEADLINE ACT
Matt Finish reconvenes in January 2013 for the Thredbo Blues Festival with a series of
extraordinary renditions from their new retrospective box-sets Set One + Set Two capturing the
magic of one of Australia's most creative and dynamic bands since the late seventies.
Matt Finish was formed by the late and great singer-songwriter Matt Moffitt and multi-awardwinning
composer, producer and multi-instrumentalist John Prior, who leads the present lineup
with acclaimed singer-songwriter Danny Marx Young, legendary bass player Harry Brus
and Nick Meredith, one of Australia's finest guitarists.
Matt Finish will be performing all the best-known songs from an extensive original repertoire
including Short Note, Mancini Shuffle, Hot Cover and Fade Away. |
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| Cyril B Bunter -?
The Cyril B. Bunter Band between 1976 and 1985 became touring partners with many blues greats, performing on endless national road show tours with their friends John Mayall's BluesBreakers, Canned Heat, Melbourne's Dutch Tilders, and George Thorogood, who recorded The Bunters' song "Boogie People" as the title track of his 1985 album.Now, after 27 years of debate, Sydney's leading exponents of The Good Boogie reunite for the first time, returning for their 41st Anniversary Reunion Tour commencing at Thredbo 2013.Founding members Gary Lothian (lead and slide guitars), Rosscoe Clark (drums) and Jimmy Bee (bass and vocals) are joined by long-time friend Ali Penney on keyboards. |
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| Andy Cowan
Andy Cowan is one of Australia's foremost performing songwriters.He possesses a voice that invites comparison with the likes of Tom Waites or Leonard Cohen, with the soul of Ray Charles. But these are superficial comparisons, Andy's virtuoso Piano and Keyboard playing contain both energy and melodic beauty.His songwriting and performing skills give him a strength and quality that define him as the complete artistic entity - the King of the Keys |
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| Don Hopkins & Rob Grosser
A Conjure Bag of blues, boogies, spirituals, rags & balladsDon Hopkins piano and vocals with Rob Grosser drums and percussion.An influential part of Sydney's Blues scene since the 1970s, piano player and vocalist, Don Hopkins was inducted into the Goulburn Australian Blues Music Festival's Blues Walk Of Fame in 2002.
A Dr. Don's Double Dose performance draws from the rich vein of blues and jazz of the 1920s and 30s through to the r&b, and soul of the 1950s and 60s with the emphasis on the New Orleans, piano styles. You'll hear songs from Fats Domino, Professor Longhair, Jerry Lee Lewis, Charles Brown, Huey 'Piano' Smith, Smiley Lewis, and many more. Don's own compositions are also included in the mix. |
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| Swamphouse
Swamphouse, one of Australia's finest blues bands, ushers in the new year with a new bassist (Mike Rix), and a new CD (This Boogie Life).Join us while we offer our personal brand of traditional crowd pleasers and powerful originals.With at least sixty-six years playing experience between them, Gary Lothian, Nicholas Churkin, long time members of The King Bees, James T & The Last Volunteers and Cyril B Bunter Band, recently felt the time was right to branch out and pursue the Swamphouse project. |
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| Tom Richardson
If Bob Marley surfed his way across to Mississippi, stopped in for a cup of tea with the devil before flying over to Fiji for choir practice, you would be left with something that resembled Tom Richardson.Described as the "best opening to a festival yet!" (Port Fairy Folk Festival), Tom uses the latest in loop pedal technology to create a wall of sound, overdubbing four part vocal harmonies, complicated percussion grooves and lead and rhythm guitar parts, all live on stage. |
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| Blackwood Jack
Being relatively new on the scene (forming in Nov 2010), Blackwood Jack is a young upcoming blues trio, who has been spreading its own unique brand of blues, roots & soul in the local & regional music scene. Blackwood's Debut 5 track EP (released june 2011) showcases the bands raw and mature sound.The power trio features vocalist-guitarist Ben Cue, Bassist Daniel Paroissien and drummer Talen Galbraith.With a Debut EP under their wings, 2011/12 is shaping up to be big, with Blackwood Jack set to expand its horizons |
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| Genevieve Chadwick
Blues/roots/rock talent Genevieve Chadwick launched on to the Oz music scene with a bang in late 2010 and immediately grabbed the attention of industry and media "Genevieve Chadwick could quite easily be as big as John Butler. She looks like an angel, roars like a lion and plays guitar like a demon" (Cath Butler, Editor of The Groove, BASEQ). Chadwick was quickly selected for a bunch of impressive Festival gigs including Woodford Folk Festival, where she received a standing ovation, Sydney Blues Festival, where she was invited up on stage by Baby Animals and Ash Grunwald, and the Blue Mountains Folk Festival, earning herself a full room and a long queue that had to be turned awayEvery once in a while an artist emerges that touches audiences leaving them with the special sentiment that they saw this act before they were "BIG". Genevieve Chadwick is one such artist and it is the punters who are spreading the word of her exceptional talent. |
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| The Others
Jammed tight and sweating hard, the fevered throng at the East Coast Blues Festival let The Others know that it was well worth their long road haul up from Adelaide. Like the Stones, whose record of longevity they share, these r&b titans thrive in an environment of immediate contact, feeding off the energy and driving it upwards with hot, hard, stinging licks and a blues sensibility born out of an implicit understanding of the music's essentials. After more than 40 years at the coalface they are the masters who inspire the apprentices. |
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| Marco Goldsmith
Marco Goldsmith Band" is an eclectic soul/blues band that is laced with a country/bluegrass quirk.Marco's band features the luminary talents of respected artists: Kare Berg (Bass). Rod Hoe (Drums). This line-up validates a stirring grasp of personalised covers and well-penned originals.Marco's influences, or as he calls it: "Musical family tree," is wide-ranging, but deeply captured in blues music, calling names: Mahal, Clapton, White, Waters, Tilders, Sonny and Brownie, Dixon, King, Collins as but a few of the sweetest fruit on that tree.
So from a funky groove, to foot-stumping' Country/Bluegrass, to Blues, Swamp and Soul, Marco Goldsmith and his band are a "must see" for any lover of "Roots-Music |
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| Gail Page
Gail Page Gail Page is truly one of a kind. There is positively no female vocalist out there that can do what she does. As Michael Smith from Drum Media says of Gail's vocal, it's "soft and velvety one minute, dark and powerful when it needs to be and deeply imbued with the wear and tear of having lived: a real woman's voice." Gail sees her music as a "sacred" place, drawing inspiration from her Aboriginal/ Irish heritage, coupled with a lifetime of experience. This Sydney-based singer delivers the goods.Having been in the business only 5 years, Gail has stormed the soul, blues arena with a powerful force. Her first album, Colours that run, received 6 nominations out of a possible 7 available at the prestigious Australian Blues "Chain" awards in 2008, and won best female vocalist, best new artist and best producer awards.Since that time, Gail has been finding her 'musical' feet so to speak, having spent the last few years playing with Australia's cream of musicians, such as Harry Brus, Andy Thompson, Kevin Borich, Lachlan Doley, Kirk Lorange, Mal Eastick and Mark Kennedy to name just a few. Gail has definitely earnt the respect of musical peers and audience alike. |
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| Tangled Weed
Tangled Weed are a Mudgee based trio playing an eclectic mix of blues, roots and folk music. They play a variety of covers as well as originals from the blues/roots genre putting their own stamp onto the sound giving the audience a rich blend of melodic guitar and spine chilling vocal harmonies. Driven by the vocals of Fiona Harris which can range from sweet and soulful to growly and mean Tangled Weed are sure to provide you with a festival for the ears and an all round enjoyable experience. Successes to date include support gigs for James Reyne in 2010, opening for Glenn Cardier in 2011 and a song featured on Tony Cini's Blues Explosion Volume 2 album (reviewed in Rhythms magazine Nov 2011).Members: Fiona Harris (vocals/percussion), Andy Garland (guitar/vocals), Scott Lillis (guitar) |
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| Continental Blues Party
The Continental Blues Party, a Sydney based soul funk and blues party, with a line up of some of sydney's best, playing both original material and classics.Members: Continental Robert Susz, Matt The Rumble Morrison , Clayton Teenager Doley , Vito Showbiz Portolesi |
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| Shannon Bourne
The tale of Shannon Bourne is an interesting and evolving story. Free-thinking guitarist, singer songwriter, producer, session musician, tutor and mentor.With the release of his critically acclaimed second solo album DARK THINGS, Shannon has taken this greatest (and most artistically courageous) leap to-date to realise a personalised and intimate form of musical expression. Discover for yourself and check the video link and view a snatch of the astonishing performance at the 2009 Port Fairy Festival Guitar Zone concert. Sharing the stage that day was Grammy award-winning V.M. Bhatt, who took time out personally express his appreciation of Shannon's playing.The spotlight of attention really started to move Shannon's way when he was picked up as personal guitar-slinger to blues legend, Chris Wilson. The young Bourne learnt his performance craft in the boot camp of countless gigs, TV appearances and festivals with the in-demand Wilson, both in here and overseas. Bonus nights (and there were many), would be on those occasions where the bill was shared playing with the likes of Richard Thompson - a personal favourite and influence on Shannon. All this experience and the recording of two albums with Chris, whetted the appetite of the guitarist to go out and do his own thing - in 2005 BURN IT DOWN was released |
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| Owen Campbell
Owen Campbell has been playing guitar since he was 9 years old and is one of Australia's most talented slide guitar players and songwriters, with his gravelly blend of blues,roots, soul and country, and a voice that belies his 27 years.Along with his unflinching ability to sing it sweet and play it dirty, he creates a perfect blend of melody that's simple but right, as is the way with the blues?Described as "Possibly one of the best performers to come out of Australia for quite sometime, amazing lap steel slide guitar and a song writing ability that belies his years" (Argus News Ireland),
Campbell combines a moving, gutsy, old time sound that marries authenticity with incredible energy |
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| Bridie King
Bridie King has long been considered one of Australia's top Blues and Boogie pianists. She has also been described as a driving force in the Sydney blues scene for 3 decades (FM Magazine, 08).Get on board a roots music express as Bridie, on piano, organ and piano accordion, takes you on a wild musical journey from Kansas City down through Memphis, Mississippi and all the way to New Orleans. The ride takes in all musical whistle stops - boogie woogie, blues, soul and zydeco |
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| Johnno Zilber
I have been a professional musician since the age of sixteen years and in my relatively short career I have played all around Australia and internationally. I've played everywhere from school yards to prison yards, outback pubs with topless dancers to churches with born-again preachers, run down bars with no electricity to large international festivals. Some of the bigger festivals that I have played include the Adelaide International Guitar Festival, National Folk Festival, Australian Blues Music Festival and the Himalayan Blues Festival.I have gigged with some big names in Australian music and shared the stage and recorded with some of Australia's most respected blues musicians including Lloyd Spiegel, Geoff Achison, Chain and the late Dutch Tilders. |
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| Faye Blais
Sudbury's Faye Blais is spreading her new material around the globe, on a series of International Tours. Detailed as "continuing the thread started by Joni, picked up by Ani and fashioned by Feist", Faye's songwriting, presence and personality are showcased beautifully through her impressive jazzy-bluesy folk style, on acoustic and electric guitars, and keys, with stunning, dynamic vocals.As a full-time musician over the past five years, Faye has spent half of her time overseas, recording and touring her albums throughout Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, and USA. The rest of her time is spent touring in Canada, where she recorded her latest album, On the Bright Side (May 2012 release) at her family's cottage in Northern Ontario. She will be launching her album on a series of tours over 2012. |
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| Jules Boult
As a performer and songwriter today, I am always reaching back in order to look forward. Reaching back to what? Well, the blues I guess - those songs from turbulent times that still resonate with people today. Whether jazz, blues, country or folk - I care little for the distinction - it has always been a case of nuance for me. I also continue to draw upon the seminal experience of hearing real live blues - played by my father in our childhood home - which has fuelled my hunger to explore, create and develop.If I were to be completely accurate, my songs are neither fact nor fiction. What they are though are good stories that illuminate life's truths. Stories that are as emotional, humorous and strange as me and the times we live in - and I'm not about to ruin them with too much detail. |
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| Liza Ohlback
Gifted with a voice that can howl, growl or soothe a furrowed brow, Liza has worked with Richard Clapton, Tony Neville amongst others. Her new album "Trouble Goin' Down" captures the spirit of swamp/Funk groove Poignant Jazzy Blues ballads - all laced with Gospel Style harmonies. It features some amazing musicians, including Rick Mellick who took time out from touring with Joe Bonamassa to play keys on several tracks. |
The 19th Thredbo Blues Festival looks like being one of the best with an extraordinary line up of performers from Blues Legends right through to the rising stars of a musical genre that has captured the hearts of a new generation.
See the artist line up below or
