Following a super exciting first artist announcement back in June, Americana and roots festival Dashville Skyline have returned to complete the full list of artists appearing at this year’s event.
Dashville Skyline has scored a coup with the announcement of US roots singer Valerie June when she’s in the country supporting Old Crow Medicine Show. ARIA award winners Oh Mercy make a welcome return to the Dashville stage and will also be joined by local buzz band The Teskey Brothers and Irish folk guru Declan O’Rourke.
Legendary string band Old Crow Medicine Show have announced plans to head to Australia at the end of September for a quick tour.
The band will be touring their tribute to Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde album (which they recently released as an album titled 50 Years of Blonde on Blonde) with shows planned in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne plus an appearance at the Caloundra Music Festival.
Joining Old Crow Medicine Show for their headline shows will be buzz worthy roots singer-songwriter Valerie June. The full list of dates are below:
Thursday 28th September – The Tivoli, Brisbane, QLD
Friday 29th September to Monday 2nd October – Caloundra Music Festival, Caloundra, QLD
Sunday 1st October – Forum Theatre, Melbourne, VIC
Tuesday 3rd October – Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Melbourne based singer-songwriter BATTS has just released her new single “Little White Lies” and it’s beautiful. BATTS introduced us to her new sound with her previous single “For Now” and “Little White Lies” follows in the same vein with a very traditional guitar-drums-bass sound rather than her previous electronic incarnation.
“Little White Lies just came out all at once,” BATTS explains. “It’s about how pretty much every interaction with anyone seems to be filled with these little white lies, whether it’s just easier to reply ‘good’ when someone asks you how you are, or being late and making up a little white lie to cover your back. The world is filled with them and I don’t think we even realise we are doing it anymore, whether it’s a stranger or someone close to you, it just happens.”
Sister duo Charm of Finches celebrate the one year anniversary of their debut album Staring at the Starry Ceiling with a home town show supported by Loren Kate
Friday 28th July – Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne, VIC
Gigs Next Week
245T, Rick Hart’s Bare Bones, Michael Plater, Tom Redwood Sunday 30th July – Open Studio, Melbourne, VIC
America Friday 28th July – International Convention Centre, Sydney, NSW
Saturday 29th July – The Events Centre, Caloundra, QLD
Sunday 30th July – Broadbeach Country Festival, Broadbeach, QLD
Wednesday 2nd August – WIN Entertainment Centre, Wollongong, NSW
Thursday 3rd August – Royal Theatre, Canberra, ACT
Arygle Sun-Sets feat. Ackers, Dale Ostridge, Dande & The Lion Sunday 30th July – Upstairs at Fred’s, Camden, NSW
BEMAC presents World Music Cafe: MZAZA & Vardos Friday 4th July – Queensland Multicultural Centre, Brisbane, QLD
Bluestone Junction Friday 28th July – Golden Vine Hotel, Bendigo, VIC
Saturday 29th July – The Spotted Mallard, Melbourne, VIC
Broadbeach Country Music Festival Friday 28th to Sunday 30th July – Broadbeach, QLD
Cake and Cordial Sessions feat. Fanny Lumsden, Kelly Cork, Megan Cooper, Paddy McHugh Friday 28th July – Ashgrove Bowls Club, Brisbane, QLD
Charm of Finches w/ Loren Kate Friday 28th July – Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne, VIC
Claire Patti w/ Mandy Connell, Kelly Auty Wednesday 2nd August – The Lomond Hotel, Melbourne, VIC
Echuca Winter Blues Festival Thursday 27th to Sunday 30th July – Echuca, VIC
Fanny Lumsden Friday 28th July – Cake and Cordial Sessions, Ashgrove Bowls Club, Brisbane, QLD
Saturday 29th to Sunday 30th July – Broadbeach Country Music Festival, Broadbeach, QLD
FolkSwagon feat. Liam Gale, The Burley Griffin, Julia Johnson Wednesday 2nd July – Cafe Lounge, Sydney, NSW
Forever Son Friday 4th August – Quicksilver Bar 61, Torquay, VIC
Georgia Fields and Phia Friday 28th July – The Unorthodox Church of Groove, Newcastle, NSW
Sunday 30th July – Point Lonsdale, VIC
Thursday 3rd August – The Toff In Town, Melbourne, VIC
Grigoryan Brothers Wednesday 2nd August – Orbost Exhibition Centre, Orbost, VIC
Thursday 3rd August – Twyford Hall Merimbula, Canberra, ACT
Friday 4th August – St Peter’s Anglican College, Canberra, ACT
Heath Cullen Saturday 29th July – Majors Creek, NSW
High Tea feat. Brett Winterford Thursday 3rd August – House Concert, Sydney, NSW
Jeff Lang Saturday 29th July – Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh, VIC
Jim Lawrie Friday 28th July – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne, VIC
Josh Pyke w/ Kyle Lionhart Friday 28th July – Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Saturday 29th July – Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, NSW
Friday 4th August – The Corner Hotel, Melbourne, VIC
Julia Johnson Wednesday 2nd August – FolkSwagon, Cafe Lounge, Sydney, NSW
Kelly Brouhaha Friday 28th July – The Austral Hotel, Adelaide, SA
Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes Friday 28th to Sunday 30th July – Broadbeach Country Music Festival, Broadbeach, QLD
Loren Kate Friday 28th July – Thornbury Theatre, Melbourne, VIC
Monday 31st July – Rosanna Fire Station Community House, Melbourne, VIC
Lucy Wise Friday 28th July – St Margaret’s Anglican Church, Eltham, VIC
Mick Flanagan Sunday 30th July – The Last Jar, Melbourne, VIC
Miles and Simone Saturday 29th July – Balmoral, NSW
Friday 4th August – Major Toms, Kyneton, VIC
Nigel Wearne Friday 4th August – Saint Monday, Yackandandah, VIC
Not Good With Horses w/ Jason Walker Sunday 30th July – Union Hotel, Sydney, NSW
O’Shea Friday 28th July – Leadbelly, Sydney, NSW
Saturday 29th July – Centro CBD, Wollongong, NSW
Sunday 30th July – Lizotte’s Newcastle, Newcastle, NSW
Thursday 3rd August – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane, QLD
Paul Reid Sunday 30th July – Fox Hotel, Melbourne, VIC
Pete Murray Friday 28th July – The Entrance Leagues Club, Bateau Bay, NSW
Saturday 29th July – Enmore Theatre, Sydney, NSW
Thursday 3rd August – Nautilus Theatre, Port Lincoln, SA
Friday 4th August – Her Majesty’s Theatre, Adelaide, SA
Ramblin’ Nights feat. James Thomson & The Strange Pilgrims, The Sweet Jelly Rolls, Swamp Fat Jangles Thursday 3rd August – Leadbelly, Sydney, NSW
Rich Davies & The Low Road w/ The Jaycos, Belle Harvey Sunday 30th July – Four5Nine, Perth, WA
Shane Nicholson Friday 28th to Sunday 30th July – Broadbeach Country Music Festival, QLD
Wednesday 2nd August – Ararat Live, Ararat, VIC
Thursday 3rd August – Spotted Mallard, Melbourne, VIC
Friday 4th August – Caravan Club, Oakleigh, VIC
Sofar Sounds Melbourne Saturday 29th July – Melbourne, VIC
Songwriters in the Round feat. Amber Lawrence, Steve Passfield, Katie Brianna Sunday 30th July – Wenty Leagues, Wentworthville, NSW
Steve Smyth Wednesday 2nd August – The Street Theatre, Canberra, ACT
Friday 4th August – The Workers Club, Melbourne, VIC
Stray Hens Friday 4th July – Selby Folk Club, Selby, VIC
The Ahern Brothers Friday 28th July – Green Door Wines, Ferguson Valley, WA
Saturday 29th July – The Church, Donnybrook, WA
Sunday 30th July – The Pottery-Restaurant, Bridgetown, WA
Thursday 3rd August – Secret Show, Mandurah, WA
Friday 4th August – Wild Vinegar, Bunbury, WA
The Bean Project Friday 28th July – No. 5 Church Street, Bellingen, NSW
Saturday 29th July – Sun Bistro, Byron Bay, NSW
Tuesday 1st August – The B.U.G, Brisbane, QLD
Wednesday 2nd August – Cambus Wallace, Gold Coast, QLD
Friday 4th August – Pacific Hotel, Yamba, NSW
The Collingwood Casanovas Friday 28th July – The Lomond Hotel, Melbourne, VIC
The Demon Drink Saturday 29th July – Club Hotel Motel, Lowood, QLD
The Morrisons Friday 4th August – The Basement, Sydney, NSW
The Royal High Jinx Friday 4th July – Open Studio, Melbourne, VIC
The Settlement Saturday 29th July – The Toff In Town, Melbourne, VIC
Thursday 3rd August – Brooklyn Standard, Brisbane, QLD
Friday 4th August – Nightquarter, Gold Coast, QLD
The Teskey Brothers Thursday 27th to Sunday 30th July – Echuca Winter Blues Festival, Echuca, VIC
Friday 4th August – Music on the Hill, Red Hill, VIC
The Water Runners, The Lurkers Friday 4th July – The Yo-Yo Bar, Wollongong, NSW
Tim Guy Saturday 29th July – Rainbow Fitzroy, Melbourne, VIC
Tobias Saturday 29th July – The Old Gregory Hotel, Winton, QLD
Friday 4th August – The Grand Hotel, Clermont, QLD
Tori Forsyth Friday 28th to Sunday 31st July – Broadbeach Country Music Festival, Broadbeach, QLD
Vinod Prasanna, John Flanagan Trio Sunday 30th July – St Paul’s Anglican Church, Clunes, VIC
Waterloo Sunset Sessions feat. The Fibro Cowboys Sunday 30th July – George Hotel, Sydney, NSW
Can you believe we’re more than halfway through 2017? What a crazy year it’s been so far – and what a year of music we’ve had!
For us at here at Timber and Steel 2017 has been a lot about reconnecting with new music from the amazing folk artists who first inspired us to start writing about this music, as well as the debut albums from a bunch of artists that we’ve been patiently waiting to release music for what feels like years.
So we thought we’d continue our tradition of the last couple of years to highlight ten albums and EPs we think should be part of your collection – as well as tell you exactly what it is about these records that we love.
So without further ado here’s our Ten Albums and EPs From the First Half of 2017 You Should Own:
Watching All Our Exes Live In Texas transform from a one-off coming together of Sydney singer-songwriters a few years ago to the musical powerhouse they are today has been just a joy. When their debut album When We Fall dropped this year fans were rewarded with some fine fine songwriting, pitch perfect production and a true celebration of the four part harmony. Despite the disparate styles of each member’s solo work, When We Fall is a beautiful, cohesive album that demands to be listened to over and over again.
Noah and The Whale’s 2009 concept album The First Days of Spring is easily one of my favourite releases of the last 10 years. Its sprawling dissection of frontman Charlie Fink’s break up with Laura Marling is a true masterpiece. So when Fink’s promo around his new solo album Cover My Tracks likened it as an unofficial sequel to The First Days of Spring I was more than a little skeptical, especially given the Springsteen-light pop direction Noah and The Whale took in its final years. But the truth is that Cover My Tracks delivers. It still doesn’t hold a candle to The First Days of Spring but Charlie Fink has captured some of his early magic with his solo album. The release is another concept album (which also comes accompanied by a play written by David Greig) and it deserves to be listened to from start to finish. It’s great to have Charlie Fink back doing what he does best.
I was lucky enough to see Emily Barker at a super intimate show in Melbourne back in April, just as she was about to release Sweet Kind of Blue. Watching Barker on stage with just herself, her guitar and an accompanying double bass just solidified how good she is as a songwriter – when you strip back the production of Sweet Kind of Blue there’s still something amazing at the core. She deftly combines country, blues and folk styles, harkening back to a tradition while still producing a sound that is fresh and engaging. It’s about time Australia started paying more attention to Emily Barker, esepcially if she keeps producing music like Sweet Kind of Blue.
Following a six-year break Fleet Foxes return with their very special brand of 70’s folk nostalgia on Crack-Up. Robin Pecknold and co’s harmonic, sweet vocals over Fleet Foxes’ epic, rhythmic melodies have been sorely missed and it’s great to see them balancing the nostalgia of their earlier work with their need to grow artistically. Despite the off-putting opening track “I Am All That I Need/Arroyo Seco/Thumbprint Scar” Crack-Up is a solid album that can stand proudly next to Helplessness Blues and their self titled debut. Let’s hope we don’t have to wait another six years for album number four.
The return of Johnny Flynn to folk-singing this year came as a bit of surprise given his recent focus on his screen and stage acting career (if you haven’t seen Lovesick on Netflix we can recommend giving it a crack). But we’re so glad Flynn’s picked up the resonator again because Sillion is an absolute gem of an album. Johnny Flynn’s distinctive voice is once again front and centre on the album but he seems to be playing with the production a bit more, adding more texture and nuance to each of the tracks. I don’t know if this is the start of a new direction for Johnny Flynn – if it is I’m interested to see where he goes next.
Laura Marling has gone deep on her exploration of the feminine in her brand new album Semper Femina and I love it. It was really interesting watching Marling explore feminine creativity in her podcast series Reversal of the Muse earlier this year and Semper Femina seems to be the artistic extension of the conversations she was having with the likes of Marika Hackman, Dolly Parton and Emmylou Harris. The album is yet another example of Laura Marling’s skills as a songwriter, guitarist and singer – each song is perfectly crafted. Laura Marling truly is one of the greatest artists of our generation.
The Ahern Brothers is the perfect coupling of singer-songwriters Josh Rennie-Hynes and Steve Grady, bringing two-part male harmony singing in the vein of The Everly Brothers, Simon & Garfunkel and more recently The Milk Carton Kids to an Australian audience. Their self-titled debut album is a pure delight and elevates everything we’ve heard from Rennie-Hynes and Grady individually to date. I have a sneaking suspicion this album is going to make it onto a lot of people’s best of end of year lists. Beautiful.
We’ve already said plenty about The Morrisons’ long awaited self-titled debut album but there was no way it was going to get left off this list. The Morrisons are easily one of Australia’s best bluegrass and alt-country bands, it’s just a pity it takes them so long to get a record in stores. The Morrisons is an album of quintessentially Australian songs set to the familiar chop of a quintessentially American musical style. And it doesn’t hurt that individually each of The Morrisons is a master of their respective instrument making the album as technically brilliant as it is artistically brilliant. Now what do we have to do to get The Morrisons back in the studio for a followup?
If you’ve been following Timothy James Bowen’s story over the last couple of years you’ll know it’s not been an easy journey for the singer songwriter. Diagnosed with Primary Mediastinal B Cell Lymphoma (a type of blood cancer), Bowen spent much of 2016 in treatment before going into remission. Bloom bookends this massive upheaval in his life, but it also shows how a songwriter of Timothy James Bowen’s talent is able to channel his experience into his art. Even without the personal context Bloom is an amazing EP – here are five incredible songs from a master songwriter.
And of course special mention also has to go to so many other albums and EPs that were released in the first six months of 2017 including (but not limited to):
Alt-country mini-festival The Cake & Cordial Sessions is heading to Brisbane this Friday 28th July to help warm up punters in time for the Broadbeach Country Music Festival.
Born at the Tamworth Country Music Festival, The Cake & Cordial Sessions combines sweet country music with tasty treats and cool drinks.
The Queenscliff Music Festival has just added a bunch more artists to its 2017 lineup and once again there’s plenty for Timber and Steel readers to get excited about.
Last year saw the successful birth of Australia’s premiere folk-punk festival HOBOFOPO (HOBart’s Original FOlk Punk Orgy) in Tasmania thanks to the talented folks behind Folk ‘Til Ya Punk Records.
This year HOBOFOPO is set to return to Hobart on the 5th to 8th October and this time the best in Australian folk-punk will be joined by USA legends AJJ (above).
Every year Golden Guitar winning alt-country singer-songwriter and Timber and Steel favourite Fanny Lumsden hits the road for her Country Halls Tour, taking her music to small towns and regional centres around the country.
The Country Halls Tour helps raise money for the local halls and communities that Fanny Lumsden visits and goes a long way to bringing live music to places that don’t always see nationally touring artists.
Check out the full list of dates below:
Friday 28th July – Cake and Cordial Sessions, Ashgrove Bowls Club, Brisbane, QLD
Saturday 29th to Sunday 30th July – Broadbeach Country Music Festival, Broadbeach, QLD
Friday 25th to Sunday 27th August – Gympie Music Muster, Gympie, QLD
Tuesday 5th September to Friday 8th September – Bigsound, Brisbane, QLD
Friday 22nd September – School of Arts Hall, Burren Junction, NSW
Saturday 23rd September – Mullaley Hall, Mullaley, NSW
Friday 29th September – Tullamore Memorial Hall, Tullamore, NSW
Saturday 30th September – Marra Community Hall, Marra, NSW
Friday 6th October – Rankin Springs Memorial Hall, Rankin Springs, NSW
Saturday 7th October – Hatfield Hall, Hatfield, NSW
Friday 13th October – Osbornes Flat Hall, Osbornes Flat, VIC
Saturday 14th October – Out On The Weekend, Melbourne, VIC
Friday 20th October – Wharf Hotel, Munyard, TAS
Sunday 22nd October – St Johns Craft Beer Bar, Launceston, TAS
Wednesday 25th October – Sheffield Town Hall, Sheffield, TAS
Friday 3rd November – Giant Dwarf, Sydney, NSW
Saturday 4th November – Eurongilly Hall, Eurongilly, NSW
Friday 10th November – Majors Creek Festival, Majors Creek, NSW
Saturday 11th November – Greenthorpe War Memorial Hall, Monument, NSW
Friday 24th November – Lacmalac Soldiers Memorial Hall, Lacmalac, NSW
Saturday 25th November – Bowna Hall, Mullengandra, NSW
Thursday 30th November – Lefty’s Old Time Music Hall, Brisbane, QLF
Friday 1st December – Clovass McKees Hill Hall, McKees Hill, NSW
Friday 19th January – Ben Lomond War Memorial Hall, Ben Lomond, NSW
Thursday 25th January – Longyard Hotel, Tamworth, NSW
Saturday 3rd February – Tumblong Hall, Tumlong, NSW
Friday 9th February – Neerim Memorial Hall, Neerim, VIC
Saturday 10th February – Spotted Mallard, Melbourne, VIC
Friday 16th February – Savernake Hall, Savernake, NSW
Saturday 17th February – Ungarie Hall, Ungarie, NSW
Friday 23rd to Saturday 24th February – Silverton Sunsets Music Festival, Silverton, NSW
Friday 2nd March – Andamooka Community Hall, Andamooka, SA
Saturday 3rd March – Wheatsheap Hotel, Adelaide, SA
This morning Australia’s premiere Americana festival Out On The Weekend released their 2017 lineup and as expected it’s pretty impressive.
Heading up the lineup is the incomparable Justin Townes Earle who will be taking to the stage with a full band in tow. Joining him from the US will be the legendary Son Volt and Americana super group Traveller featuring Jonny Fritz, Robert Ellis and Cory Chisel.
“It’s a continued pleasure to bring music lovers the finest sounds in the international and local Americana scene to the glorious Seaworks venue,” promotors Love Police said. “Four years strong and building, we aim to put on an excellent day of cultural and important entertainment hand picked for your pleasure. We used to talk up the fine food and booze selections on offer, but that goes without saying now. Its always the best! Avoid imitations and late comers, Out On The Weekend is the real deal. Authentic presentations by passionate people with colourful experience. Buy a ticket, get your look on, study up on acts you don’t know, and see you in October for the good times.”
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