Over the weekend the Woodford Folk Festival revealed their 2015/16 lineup and it’s time to get excited. As usual the Woodford Folk Festival have delivered a lineup of artists taken from the best of folk, roots, rock and world music that’s bound to satisfy any music lover.
The Woodford Folk Festival takes place near Woodford, Queensland from the 27th December to 1st January. Check out the official website for the full lineup and more information.
The Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival is just under two weeks away and if you haven’t seen the lineup yet you’re in for a treat.
Boasting a bunch of Timber and Steel favourites, the Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival takes place from Friday 16th to Sunday 18th October in Australia’s most beautiful valley.
This year’s festival is set to feature 19-Twenty, Andrew Clermont, Berry Silver Band, Black Joak Morris, The BordererS, Broads, Bush Music Club Inc, The Button Collective, Cantares, Carl Pannuzzo, Chaika (above), Chloë & Jason Roweth, Circus Wow, Colin Towns, Cool Mountain Duo, Daniel Lucas, Danny Spooner, Dorothy Schunmann, Ecopella, Edema Ruh, Elwood Myre, Fatchuwawa, FolkLines, Fresh Off the Boat, Glover & Sorrensen, Good Girl, Grace Barr, Grapevine Jane, Gregory North, Halfway to Forth, The Hollands, Horse & Wood, InspeKtor gadje, Jim & Ingrid Rehle-Williams, John Bennett & David Hyams, Kangaleles, Ken Gates, Kenny Bartley (Super Kenny), Kiki and Pascal, Mal Webb, Martin Fairweather, Martin Howells, Maypole with Molly, Men With Day Jobs, Miss Eileen & King Lear, Naomi Doherty, Nick Rheinberger, Nigel Wearne, No Such Thing, Old Married Couple, The Pacitti’s, Pamela Wilson, Pastrami on Ryebuck, Paul Carr, Penelope Swales, Pete Wild Trio, Rose & Shamrock Ceili Band, Ruido, Set In Their Ways, The Shining Wits, Sidetalk, Solidarity Choir, Sparrow Folk, the STRUMpets, Totally Gourdgeous, Trilogy, Wild Honey, The Winnetts, Women in Docs and more.
– Following his appearance at Woodford UK singer-songwriter John Smith will be making his way around the east coast for a string of dates. Details here
– Austro-Scottish celtic folk four-piece Black Market Tune will be touring throughout January. Details here
– Tim Edey has a bunch of Woodford sideshows this January. Details here
– Trad four-piece Tolka announced their new album One House. Details here
Interviews
“And this led to a meeting with the just as lovely Deborah Suckling, the brains and organisational braun behind The Soldier’s Wife. Currently an irregularly performed concert, matching female singer-songwriters with ‘..the partners of Australian servicemen – both past and present – and putting the experience, emotions and lives of those women into song'” – Deborah Suckling chats to Bill Quinn. Interview here
“Mixing music, theatre, improv and audience participation, The Travelling Sisters fill that little caravan-y void where some punters might remember a couple of late night clowns used to perform out back of The Duck (the venue formerly known as The Duck and Shovel)” – The Travelling Sisters chat to Bill Quinn. Interview here
“Andrew, like many folkies, wears many hats (some of them at the same time) and at Woodford he’s virtually juggling them. His supper club has two showings at Bill’s Bar every day, and Totally Gourdgeous are launching their new live DVD” – Andrew Clermont chats to Bill Quinn. Interview here
“Bill and Joey were seated in the most salubrious of surrounds (on the slippery slope at the back of the gent’s toilets next to The Duck and The Travelling Sisters‘ caravan), chatting about performance spaces, and radio, and grass roots music development” – Joey Channon from Rabbit Radio chats to Bill Quinn. Interview here
“About 3.6 minutes later, David and Bill were outside the donga by the Spirit of Woodford office, standing variously on the wooden palets or in the mud, dodging dangerous ants the size of small cats, and speaking over the sound spill creeping up the hill from Bluestown, chatting about Paper Lions, music advocacy and the wondrous, wonderful Woodford” – David Cyrus MacDonald from Paper Lions chats to Bill Quinn. Interview here
“Bill Quinn stopped on his amble along the individually decorated paving bricks to chat with Aly de Groot about her workshops” – Aly de Groot chats to Bill Quinn. Interview here
“John Smith is performing at Woodford Folk Festival, and at the time of writing has just finished his last show at The Duck. While that’s bad news for anyone on site who missed his gigs, or for anyone who got along and just wants to see more, the good news for John is that he can now find a shady tree and try to keep cool for the rest of the festival. “This weather is too hot for my blood!” he observed to the lunchtime crowd of Duck Eggs, as he referred to them, in a friendly way” – John Smith chats to Bill Quinn. Interview here
Blog
“Bill Quinn was sitting having his ritual cup of peppermint tea in Fine Earth Foods at Woodford Folk Festival when a postie came into the venue and started attempting to deliver letters. To people” – Bill Quinn discovers The Lettering House at the Woodford Folk Festival. Read his piece here
“At probably my first Woodford Folk Festival, I got a treasured copy of the then very new The Next Turn album by Trouble in the Kitchen. As I set off down the D’Aguilar Highway on 3 January, processing eight days’ worth of festy wonderfullness, I was in an emotional, impressionable state, making listening to the 14 tracks all the more powerful” – Bill Quinn details his love for Trouble in the Kitchen. Read more here
Bill Quinn captures the traditional Woodford Folk Festival three minutes of silence. Experience it here
Saturday 3rd January – The Junk Bar, Brisbane, QLD
Wednesday 7th January -The Melbourne Folk Club @ Bella Union, Melbourne VIC
Thursday 8th January – Django Bar, Sydney, NSW
Friday 9th to Sunday 11th January – Cygnet Folk Festival, Cygnet, TAS
Gigs Next Week
Afenginn w/ Crooked Fiddle Band, Leroy Lee Thursday 8th January – Newtown Social Club, Sydney, NSW
Alela Diane Thursday 8th January – City Recital Hall Angel Place, Sydney, NSW
Black Market Tune Thursday 8th January – Jetty Cafe, Dennes Point, Bruny Island, TAS
Friday 9th to Sunday 11th – Cygnet Folk Festival, TAS
Brass Knuckle Brass Band Saturday 3rd January – The Milk Bar, Brisbane, QLD
Sunday 4th January – Bellingen, NSW
Cygnet Folk Festival Friday 9th to Sunday 11th January – Cygnet, TAS
John Smith Saturday 3rd January – The Junk Bar, Brisbane, QLD
Wednesday 7th January -The Melbourne Folk Club @ Bella Union, Melbourne VIC
Thursday 8th January – Django Bar, Sydney, NSW
Friday 9th to Sunday 11th January – Cygnet Folk Festival, Cygnet, TAS
Nariel Creek Festival Saturday 27th December to Saturday 3rd January – Nariel Creek, VIC
Paper Lions Friday 2nd January – Black Bear Lodge, Brisbane, QLD
Saturday 3rd January – Newtown Social Club, Sydney, NSW
Sunday 4th January – The Brass Monkey, Cronulla, NSW
Wednesday 7th January – The Small Ballroom, Newcastle, NSW
Thursday 8th January – Rad Bar, Wollongong, NSW
Friday 9th January – Northcote Social Club, Melbourne, VIC
The Melbourne Folk Club feat. John Smith, Caitlin Harnett Wednesday 7th January – Bella Union, Melbourne, VIC
The Melbourne Folk Club feat. The East Pointers, Tolka Thursday 8th January – Bella Union, Melbourne, VIC
Tim Edey Saturday 3rd January – Old Museum, Brisbane, QLD
Wednesday 7th January – Byron Theatre, Byron Bay, NSW
Thursday 8th January – Mountain Mummas, Sheffield, TAS
Friday 9th and Saturday 10th January – Cygnet Folk Festival, TAS
Friday Folk Flashback
“Auld Lang Syne” – Andrew Bird
Happy New Year folk fans! Here’s to a massive 2015!
Andrew Clermont is a hard man to miss or lose in a crowd. So when Bill Quinn was tip-toeing around the outskirts of the musos’ precincts, it wasn’t hard to spot the towering fiddle-player from Tamworth.
Andrew, like many folkies, wears many hats (some of them at the same time) and at Woodford he’s virtually juggling them. His supper club has two showings at Bill’s Bar every day, and Totally Gourdgeous are launching their new live DVD. Also, in the background, Andrew’s Blu Guru fusion band has found a surprising niche.
Bill caught up with Andrew under slightly trying circumstances in the media centre with a couple of locals providing some sound spill to give that really authentic festival feel.
(Luckily you can’t hear the sound of me throwing books of post-it notes at one individual as Andrew was talking about what he’s been up to.)
Gig times for the Andrew Clermont Supper Club:
Daily at 3pm and 9.30pm
EXCEPT New Year’s Day at 10pm
Totally Gourdgeous and various members will be playing here, there and everywhere around the festival and details are on Mal Webb’s Totally Gourdgeous page.
There were a ton of folk festival announcements all over the weekend but the one that everyone is talking about is the 2014 Woodford Folk Festival lineup. The full musical program dropped yesterday with the usual mix of folk, roots, trad, singer-songwriter and I-don’t-know-why-they’re-at-a-folk-festival artists.
The Woodford Folk Festival takes place from the 27th December to the 1st January. For more information including how to get your hands on tickets check out the official site here.
The Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival, set in “Australia’s most beautiful valley” kicks off this Friday and it’s shaping up to be an amazing event. First of all there’s the lineup, some of which we’ve already teased, and all of which we can share below:
Alanna and Alicia, Aaron Strickland, Andrew Clermont, Andy Gordon, Ashcapella, Battlers’ Ballad, Baxter Stone, Benny Fowler, Black Joak Morris, Buasavanh Tribal Belly Dance, Bukhu, Canberra Contra Club, Chaika, Chooks On A Hot Tin Roof, Ciderjam, Cilla Jane, Circus Wow, The Creatures Rose, The Cyrenes, Daniel Allars, Danny Ross, Ecopella, Elwood Myre & the Wing Walkers, Fig Jam, First Light Toybox Circus Workshops, Food of Love Choir, Gregory North, Guyy Lilleyman,Inspektor Gadje, Jack Carty, Julia & the Deep Sea Sirens, Julie Bishop with Ryebuck, Kalascima, Kangaleles, Kenny Bartley, The Little Sisters, Loren Kate, Lucette, MaD aDaM, Mal Webb, Margaret & Bill Winnett, Martin Howells, Mic Conway with Robbie Long, Meet Milly, Miss Molly’s Maypole, No Such Thing, Penelope Swales, Phil Garland, The Recycled String Band Trio, Revontulet, Ruido Flamenco, Stiff Gins, Totally Gourdgeous, Trilogy, Vendulka, Virmalised Estonian Folk Dancing, Wheeze & Suck Band and many more
Secondly the full program has been revealed so you can plan your entire weekend here.
And finally there’s the stella news that tickets to the event are still available – if you’re in Sydney or Canberra it’s just a couple of hours in the car so well worth the trip. We also have it on good authority that the Kangaroo Valley area is not affected by the NSW bushfires. The festival takes place from the 25th to 27th October. For more information check out the official site here.
Over the weekend The Woodford Folk Festival revealed its 2013 program and it’s pretty darn impressive. With over 500 artists announced in 28 venues over six days Woodford 2013 is arguably Australia’s biggest and most diverse folk festival.
The festival doesn’t really have headliners as such but we’ve spotted a bunch of international and Australian Timber and Steel favourites including Bearded Gypsy Band, Beth Orton, Buffalo Tales, Busby Marou, Castlecomer, Clare Bowditch, Darren Hanlon, Jordie Lane, Rose Cousins, Matt Corby, Sam Amidon, The Crooked Fiddle Band, The Quarry Mountain Dead Rats, The Twoks, Andrew Winton, Claude Hay, Hat Fitz & Cara, Whitetop Mountaineers, Andrew Clermont, Andy Irvine, Spooky Men’s Chorale, Thelma Plum and many many more.
The Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival, held in Kangaroo Valley in NSW from the 25th to 27th October, is reputably one of the most beautifully located folk festivals in the country so it’s no wonder they attract some of the best and brightest artists each and every year.
Earlybird tickets for the festivals are available until the end of August. For more information on the Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival check out the official site here. The full lineup announcement is below:
Alanna & Alicia, Aaron Strickland, Andrew Clermont, Andy Gordon, Battlers’ Ballad, Benny Fowler, Black Joak Morris, Bliss Bellydance, Bukhu Mongolian throat singer, Canberra Contra Club, Chaika, Chooks On A Hot Tin Roof, Cilla Jane, Circus Wow, Creatures Rose, Daniel Allars, Ecopella, Elwood Myre & the Wing Walkers, Fig Jam, First Light Toybox Circus Workshops, Food of Love Choir, Gregory North, Guyy Lilleyman, Inspektor Gadje, Jack Carty, Julia & the Deep Sea Sirens, Julie Bishop, Kalascima, Kangaleles, Kenny Bartley, Kissin Cousins, Loren Kate, Lucette, MaD aDaM, Madis and Tiina Alvre, Mal Webb, Martin Howells, Mic Conway with Robbie Long, Miss Molly’s Maypole, No Such Thing, Penelope Swales, Phil Garland, The Recycled String Band Trio, Round Mountain Girls, Stiff Gins, Totally Gordgeous, Trilogy, Vendulka, Wheeze & Suck Band, Margaret & Bill Winnett
With such a busy night of music to be had all around the country this Saturday just gone you’d be forgiven for having missed the lineup announcement for the 2012/13 Woodford Folk Festival. Arguably Australia’s best known folk festival Woodford has this year well over 400 acts.
Pre-festival early-bird tickets are still available from now until the 24th December.
The full lineup is too big to print here (you’ll have to head to the official site for that) but we though we’d treat you our extensive highlights from the program:
Andrew Clermont
Angus Stone
Archie Roach
Ben Sollee
Emma Louise
Eric Bogle
Evan & Mischa
Flap!
Folk Uke
George Kamikawa & Noriko Tadano
Hat Fitz and Cara
John Butler Trio
Julia Stone
Kate Miller-Heidke
Luke Escombe
Mal Webb
Mama Kin
Martin Pearson
Mic Conway with Robbie Long
Microwave Jenny
Mikelangelo and the Tin Star
Mr Fibby
Mustered Courage
Ngaiire
Nicky Bomba’s BUSTAMENTO
Penelope Swales
Ray Beadle
Rhiannon and Monique
Rory McLeod
Shane Howard
Sharon Shannon
Stiff Gins
The Company
The Good Ship
The Perch Creek Family Jugband
Thelma Plum
Tim Hart
Wagons
Women in Docs
Only in the folk world this would happen. You form a supergroup with Australia’s premiere female folk singer Penelope Swales, jazz and trad violin maestro Andrew Clermont, beat-boxer and improviser extraordinaire Mal Webb and multi-instrumentalist and percussionist Carl Pannuzzo but rather than head down the safe route of turning out the country’s best folk music you decide it’s a good idea to spend some time making your instruments solely out of pumpkins.
Well, technically gourds, but what’s the difference really?
Born out of hair-brained workshop at the 1998 Woodford Folk Festival, Totally Gourdgeous were meant to be a one off. But their quirky songs and musical chemistry proved far too popular with audiences and now, 12 years later and 3 albums in the band is still going strong.
Obviously the gimmick (that all their instruments are made from gourds) immediately draws attention to the band. But their adept musicianship, charisma and back catalogue of typically Australian folk songs is what keeps audiences coming back. With four songwriters in the band there is obviously going to be a breadth of styles and themes running through Totally Gourdgeous’ music but they manage to maintain a consistent sound whether the songs be political, lyrical or just plain quirky.
Totally Gourdgeous’ music is definitely rooted in the Trad scene, although none of the individual members (with the exception of perhaps Andrew Clermont) are not strictly Trad in their solo endeavors. But there is nothing “nu-folk” or “indie” about what they do – this is straight down the line folk, more Eric Bogle than Mumford and Sons. But that doesn’t mean they’re not fresh or appealing – their very quirkiness and gimmickry guarantees them a young and vibrant audience.
Being a supergroup (of sorts) Totally Gourdgeous performances are usually confined to festivals so you’ll have to shell out for a day or a weekend ticket to see them. But given the iconic status of all four performers and the popularity of the band it’s well worth the price of admission to a festival just to see Australia’s top folk musicians playing instruments made out of pumpkins. Sorry, I mean gourds.
Country of Origin: Australia Sounds like: “Four outrageously diverse singer/songwriter/musicians united under gourd” File Under: Trad, Folk Myspace:myspace.com/totallygourdgeous
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