We’re working on the lineup of artists for the 2010 Wingham Akoostik Music Festival. Keep watching this space for details.

This was the lineup for the 2009 event:

• Shane Howard
• Dan Rumour and The Drift
• Thrillbilly Stomp
• Afro Moses
• Luke Davies
• Kate Delaney and Craig Bourke
• Love Parade
• The Last Train
• Up In Annie’s Room
• Sophiella Watt
• The Workshop
• Wherrol B Flat
• Tenika
• Millie Hauritz
• Hydrafonics
• Jim Bird
• Diddley Squat
• Peggy van Zalm
• Wills ‘n’ Ways
• Illusion
• Jeffro

Shane Howard

In 1982, Shane Howard’s massive anthem ‘Solid Rock’, recorded with his legendary band Goanna, reverberated across the airwaves and it still does today. It was one of the first songs of its idiom to broach the subject of Aboriginal rights in Australia and impacted powerfully on a whole new generation of writers and musicians that followed. The album was released in 35 territories, worldwide.

In 1993, Shane made his first tour of Ireland when Irish star Mary Black’s recording of Shane’s song, ‘Flesh And Blood’, was a top five hit there. He has since toured Ireland and Australia regularly with Black, who has since recorded several of his songs. His songs have also been recorded by Australia’s John Farnham and Troy Cassar-Daley and Denmark’s Lene Siel, among others.

Shane has spent many years working, writing, performing, touring with and producing Australian musicians, many of them Aboriginal artists, as well as journeying frequently to his own ancestral homelands in Ireland. He has been outspoken on environmental issues since the song ‘Let The Franklin Flow’, written in 1983, protesting the building of a dam on the Franklin River in Tasmania’s wild south-west.

In 1998, Shane renewed Goanna for a new album and a series of concerts as part of the Melbourne Festival of the Arts. These events were a showcase of the songlines that Shane and friends had travelled over the past decade and a half.

In 2000 Shane was awarded a Fellowship by the Music Fund of the Australia Council in acknowledgement of his contribution to Australian musical life. He was an Australian representative at the 2001 North American Folk Alliance convention in Vancouver. In 2002 he toured the US with Mary Black and Holland and Belgium in 2003. In that same year he worked on the digital re-mastering of Goanna’s seminal album Spirit Of Place.

In May 2004 he released Retrospect, a compilation of collected recordings from 1982-2003. The double CD collection brought together songs from Goanna classics through the vast body of solo works.

Dan Rumour and The Drift

The live set is the best of Dan’s Cruel Sea instrumentals mixed with delicious surf, rock-steady and ’60s groove – in the tradition of Booker T and the MGs and The Meters. The music is aimed directly at the heart, feet and imagination being all instrumental.

Below is a word from Dan himself about how the band came about:

Summer, 1978. Small backroom of the Grand Hotel, Broadway, Sydney — an alternative (later ‘punk’) venue. The main band can’t make it. We quickly grab amps and drum kit from the storeroom while housemates grab our instruments (10 minutes away) and we go on to thoroughly entertain ourselves and all present with an unrehearsed, thrown-together set of fast surf, hillbilly, rock steady and Booker T instrumentals, including some original Dan Rumour tunes.

This was the birth of what would (12 years later) become the original, all instrumental, The Cruel Sea (the name borrowed from a 1964 surf instrumental by The Dakotas).
Dan Rumour and The Drift is the result of many decades of learning and practicing the craft of creating beautiful, exciting, hypnotic and highly danceable music live.

Without lyrics to paint a picture or tell a story etc, the imagination is free to create its own and is actively engaged by all present and connects beyond language. Without a singer/front person, the music becomes the focus,  and when it is aimed at the heart and feet by musicians who love the groove, the dancers approve and the listeners are moved.

Manning Valley resident Peter Mullany was in the band that night, 30-odd years ago, and it was Pete who told us about the upcoming festival.

Really looking forward to contributing to the festival. May it grow and prosper.
Peace – Dan Rumour

Afro Moses

Afro Moses is a multi-award winning, international artist from Ghana, West Africa. He is a singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist and teacher with a magnetic personality who has enchanted people with his high energy music, powerful messages, showmanship and colourful stage shows around the world. He creates a tasty blend of Afrobeats, reggae, funk, jazz, raga, salsa, percussion, traditional vocals and much more. He uses traditional African instruments (e.g. the kora, mbira, gonde, talking drum, balafon etc — Afro can play 14 in total) and blends them with modern grooves and technology to create a fusion of hot rhythms that no one can resist dancing to! Every audience is invited to interact with the band from vocals to dance moves and hand percussion instruments which creates an amazing party atmosphere. The stage shows guarantee to uplift, transport, inspire and move all involved. Dance, jump, sweat and shout!

Afro Moses became a teenage star in Ghana and was soon producing number one songs and was the first young performer featured on the national news. He was given the nickname “The African James Brown” for his funky music and dance style that was popular at the time. Soon after, Afro Moses was noticed by one of Bob Marley’s tour managers and taken to Europe. The same man who took Youssou N’Dour out of Senegal.

In Denmark, he immediately made his mark, taking out several awards such as Best Album, Best Song and Best Live Act. From there, he took his all Danish band Moses O’Jah and toured the world, including some of Europe’s biggest music festivals.

Afro Moses has shared the stage with numerous iconic artists such as Miriam Makeba, Salif Keita, Ziggy and Rita Marley, The Wailers and many more. In Denmark, Afro was also involved with the National Theatre Company, teaching in schools and universities and performing with several bands and orchestras.

Afro first visited Australia at the end of 1998. His tour, which consisted of his band coming directly from Ghana, was sponsored by Triple J and was the biggest tour of any African performer in Australia. The band was featured on Studio 22, Recovery, The 10.30 Slot, Good Morning Australia with Bert Newton and numerous radio stations across the country. Next, the band was invited back to perform as part of the 2000 Olympic Games, where they performed at athlete welcoming parties and as part of the closing ceremony celebrations at Darling Harbour which attracted about 20,000 people.

Afro Moses has continued to visit Australia more and more over the past eight years due to the popularity of his performances, teaching and projects.

Kate Delaney and Craig Bourke

Kate’s start came at The Pascoe Vale Music School in Melbourne when she was eight years old. She joined her first band called The Spoons at age 19, then took on the Melbourne music business with gusto, singing with many different artists and genres from original music to 16-piece soul bands. She also toured around Australia with Kids In The Kitchen and appeared on Countdown and Hey, Hey It’s Saturday. The highlight of Kate’s career so far has been meeting Stevie Ray Vaughan when she was with The Tinsley Waterhouse Band who supported SRV two nights running at The Melbourne Concert Hall in the late ’80s.

Kate made a sea change to the Mid North Coast in 2007 and has never looked back, having settled into the local music scene performing both covers and original gigs. She is now teaming up with Craig Bourke for the 2009 Wingham Akoostik Music Festival, playing an eclectic range of fantastic original songs.

Craig started playing guitar when he was 15 and joined his first band called Rykad, a funk rock project, which included Reuben Carr, Daniel Blaze and Isaac Whitty, all from the Mid North Coast of New South Wales.

He made a decision to move to Sydney in 2005 to study for a Bachelor of Music degree at The Sydney Institute of Music and also formed another band called Danshev and Detlev, which performed at the 2007 Akoostik Festival. Craig also performed live at University Campus Gigs (e.g. The Vanguard in Newtown) and various pub gigs around Sydney.

He moved back to Wingham in 2009 to pursue a career as a guitar teacher and live performer and is doing very well due to his easy going nature and excellent guitar skills. He loves surfing, which inspired him to go to Samoa recently. His fave top artists are David Bowie, John Frusciante and Neil Young.

Kate Delaney and Craig Bourke: two guitarists, two voices and loads of talent. You won’t be disappointed. For more info, visit www.myspace.com/katedelaneyandcraigbourke

Thrillbilly Stomp

Thrillbilly Stomp’s aim has always been to make the fullest sound possible as a duo without resorting to electronics. It all began with Liz Edwards on accordion and Bill Bradney on mandolin and guitar, later adding the wood-skin drum and stomping foot percussion.
The group has since been joined by Julian Smith on bass to thicken out the bottom end creating a danceable, groove-based sound. 

It’s never been the band’s intention to stick with one genre; they are constantly exploring the possibilities of what these instruments are capable of. They are influenced and inspired by many styles including Cajun, bluegrass, Celtic, world, blues, gypsy and country – to synthesise an ever-evolving sound and style.
As well as a diverse musical outlook, Thrillbilly Stomp enjoy playing in many varied environments as the sound is very accessible.

Thrillbilly Stomp recently played at the Woodford Folk Festival and Cygnet Folk Festival in Tasmania. The song Pearl was nominated for a Dolphin Award.
www.thrillbillystomp.com
www.myspace.com/thrillbillystomp

Luke R Davies  

Luke R Davies is a contemporary blues, folk and roots singer-songwriter. His songs reflect Australian culture and landscapes. He aims to give the listener something to think about, something to laugh about and something to get your feet moving.

Luke is a singer, guitarist and excellent blues harmonica player.  He has played everything from hard-driving Chicago-style blues combos to very traditional acoustic blues, roots/folk music. Originally from Sydney’s west, Luke has been performing off and on since the early 1980s. Based in Victoria’s north east for several years, he has gained the respect of fellow musicians and music lovers for his abilities as a singer-songwriter and harmonica player.

Luke was part of the popular acoustic duo Good Medicine which built a strong following in the north east of Victoria playing blues/roots covers and originals.  His solo show includes a variety of homemade instruments, from cigar box ukulele to the three-string tea tin guitar that always evokes a response. Luke was one of the artists included on the Murray Arts Music Club’s CD Identity. The critically-acclaimed album featured songwriters that had performed at the Music Club.  He also gained funding though Arts Victoria to help fund his first solo album, released in April 2009.
Luke has been conducting workshops and courses on playing blues style harmonica at community colleges and festivals for some time.

Some of his previous gigs include Yackandandah Folk Festival, Mt Beauty Music Muster, Uranquinty folk Festival, Maldon Folk Festival, Uranquinty Folk Festival, Milawa Gourmet Region Blues/Jazz Festival, Australian Blues Festival, Echuca Winter blues festival, Wangaratta Jazz & Blues Festival and the Wodonga Carnival.
http://ezfolk.com/audio/Luke_R_Davies

The Last Train

Roots collaborators The Last Train perform original songs that reflect the indie attitude and smoky-folk-meets-country-soul influences that underpin their contemporary sound. The Train’s musical foundations are built on the partnership forged between key founding members, New Zealand-born folk laureate Andrina Sheahan and drummer/percussionist Greg “Panky” Pankhurst.

They are complemented by the versatile stylings of core members, guitarist Kevin “Sureshot” Ballard and bassist Dave Gollan. With a unique lyrical sensibility and intuitive musicianship, The Last Train articulate a powerful vulnerability that captures the restless spirit of our times. Members are drawn from the mountains to the sea that span the beautiful Manning Valley on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales.

The Last Train represent the combined talents of several successful Sydney bands from the 1980s, including The Early Kookas, Mona and the Wail and Weeve as well as popular Mid Coast live acts of the past two decades that include The Workshop, Bluesliders, The Hip Pedlars and Peacetrain.  The creative conviction The Last Train bring to their own material has garnered a strong support base from music lovers across the Greater Taree, Greater Port Macquarie and Inverell shires with repeat invitations to perform at community celebrations. The Last Train’s edgy yet mellow sound pays homage to the traditions of folk, blues, swing and country through an alternate voice that epitomises true folk expression. For more info visit www.myspace.com/thelasttraincomin

The Workshop

The Workshop does not easily mould to a particular music style. They rock the blues and they broaden country with a raucous edge. Songs as heavy as Day Away blend into the country reflections of Never Really Sure. The band members both individually and in prior combined band configurations have shared the stage with icons such as Midnight Oil, Cold Chisel, INXS and more-recently The Flood, Smokin’ Joe Robinson and Jenny Morris. Band members are Stephen Benjamin, Dave Gollan, Kevin Ballard and Phil Ridley.

The band is passionate and adamantly original. Their discology includes Tired And Dirty (2005 LP), Untitled (2006 EP) and Drive This Car (2007 LP). From the first listen, these guys show their broad musical talent. A song from the EP, All Things Change, was chosen to feature on Foghorn Records’ Sounds Like Café release, a CD distributed Australia-wide to café chains.

Their inspirational compositions have also provided backing to Martin Dunn’s surfing DVDs. More recently, the band performed at the Wingham Akoostik Music Festival and the Bulahdelah Music Festival. The Workshop were chosen as showcase artists to perform at Sydney’s Lewisham Hotel for Downunda Thunda, an internet radio station. Community events such as the Cancer Relay for Life and Jeans for Genes and the recent Movember dates have rounded out their calendar.

Proudly original, The Workshop focuses on promoting their own original compositions, flavoured by their own experience. To taste their style, you can check them out on http://www.myspace.com/theworkshopband

Wherrol B Flat

This local band has recently burst onto national and international radio with their self-produced album, Life On The Run. In June, four tracks were pre-released and the response has been quite astounding. These songs have now been heard on over 700 stations around the world with an estimated five million listeners. The early reviews are virtually unanimous in their praise with veteran DJs using terms like “a great album”, “very impressed”, “excellent production”, and simply, “wow”. However, this big story started small, out in the Little Run Valley near Wherrol Flat. It is here in early 2008 that it all began.

From different lands and different hemispheres, this pairing of individuals is as unlikely as it is surprising. Graeme Bird has lived in Australia his whole life, the past 30 years out in the bush along the Little Run Creek. He has travelled around the country many times and loves the remote reaches of the outback. During this time, he’s been playing guitar and developing his unique songwriting style.

In contrast, Jay Scott Berry was born in California and grew up in the Sierra Nevada foothills. He has travelled the world for 25 years as a magician, composer and producer. His journey has taken him from Hollywood to Paris, Las Vegas to London, from the grand ballrooms in Beverly Hills to the historic Vienna Opera House. In searching for a place to settle down, he and his wife Lisa discovered the Manning Valley and a peaceful place called Wherrol Flat.
Destiny, it seems, had the upper hand, for Graeme lived just up the road. It wasn’t long before these two men met and, after a few jam sessions on the verandah, Wherrol B Flat was born.  

Eight months later, the duo had their concert debut as the opening act on the Fatherhood Taree Festival. Since then, they have performed up and down the Mid North Coast, gathering a following of loyal fans. This, however, was just the beginning.  For the primary goal was to record their original songs. From their first meeting, Jay and Graeme were determined to create nothing less than a world-class production. In order to accomplish this, they designed and built their own recording studio. Then, they brought in Michael Stavrou, one of the world’s finest sound engineers, as chief consultant on the project. He would also be in charge of the final mixing and mastering of the CD.

For the next step, they began selectively adding musicians to enhance and complement the developing arrangements. Luckily, they didn’t have to look much farther than the local pool of amazing musical talent. The first natural addition was Darren Swannack on bass and harmonica. Next came Kevin Ballard on lead guitar and Hugh Cowley on violin and mandolin. For drums and percussion, they brought in Marc Vassiliou from the Central Coast. Topping things off on background vocals and harmonies was Peggy van Zalm. With these primary musicians in place, the full sound began to blossom.

They carefully selected from a variety of songs to put on the CD. Both Jay and Graeme have their own style of writing but each writes from the heart and personal experience. From the rollicking upbeat celebration of A Day In The Run to the heartfelt lament of Through My Tears, Graeme’s writing is sincere and resolute. Likewise, Jay writes of home and family in songs like Where I Want To Be and Don’t Get Much Better. Add to this his playful, light-hearted tune My Country Song and Graeme’s Mayor of Wherrol Flat and this musical offering begins to take shape. 

Sophiella Watt

Inspired by indie artists such as Ani DiFranco and Regina Spektor, and her big love of old-time jazz and blues, Sophiella Watt’s music swings between folky ballads and funky roots tunes. Playing solo with piano and guitar, she provides a fun and intimate performance.
Visit www.myspace.com/sofiellawatt or www.myspace.com/lewynella 

 

Millie Hauritz

Millie Hauritz uses guitar and ukulele to accompany herself while playing her folk-pop tunes. She is a 15-year-old Taree High School student and plays a variety of instruments. Visit www.myspace.com/fryaneggonaslipperlydipp

 

 

 

Wills & Ways

This collaboration began with the two acoustic guitarists, Tom Fegent and Dave Carr, who have been playing music together since their school days. They were members of the folk-rock band Fergus Recliner which won the 2003 university band competition for New South Wales. In the intervening years, both have been playing a diverse range of folk and acoustic music. In particular, Dave Carr plays banjo and guitar in a high energy Gypsy band Lolo Lovina, in Tapestries of Sound which innovatively blends a wide array of traditional music and movement and in the Dave Bova Guitar Trio. Dave further pursues his talent and passion for music as a guitar teacher. Tom Fegent has been performing as a guitarist and bass player in the Sydney pub music scene and is now concentrating on original songwriting for acoustic guitar. Tom and Dave’s interest in folk music from all around the world is perfectly complemented by singer Aimee Falzon. Aimee is a flexible vocalist who enjoys drawing from her diverse traditions such as Spanish Cantos, Irish Folk and even Old English Madrigals (so many long years in her Nana’s country choir!). Aimee also sings and plays piano with Sydney band ASI and is a talented actor, dancer and visual artist. She has toured with the Australian Theatre for Young People and CuriousWorks, a centre for innovation in arts, technology and education, and is now a fulltime actor, touring schools across Australia.

Hydrafonics

The band, going by the name of Hydrafonics, will make its second appearance at the Wingham Akoostik Music Festival this year. The band comprises Mark Bailey (vox, bass, keys), Jim Bird (guitar, harp, vox), Harley Knight (drums, vox) and Jack Bailey (vox, guitar, tambourine). 
Last year proved to be a very busy one for Hydrafonics. They headlined the Old Bar Beach Festival, won the Manning Valley Battle of the Bands, played the Wingham Akoostik Music Festival and played many Cancer Council fundraisers including the Wingham Relay for Life.
They have also had a big start to 2009. They played Commotion by the Ocean, which was headlined by Ash Grunwald. (Jack made an appearance in his set on tambourine.)

For a band with the average age of 17, Hydrafonics have set goals for what they want to achieve in the future, and by being supported by local festivals with great headlining acts, it helps the young band, to reach them.
When Hydrafonics were asked to back from last year’s exciting and crowd-pleasing performance at the Akoostik Festival, they were thrilled. With guitars, drums, keys, bass, bongos, triangles and some worldly instruments, Hydrafonics promise a little twist. You will not be un-entertained.

Diddley Squat

Diddley Squat are Jeff Miller (whistle, mandolin, voice), Jacob Fryatt (banjo, mandolin, bodhran, voice) and Janette “Nettie” Miller (fiddle, guitar, voice). They play Irish traditional music including jigs and reels, bluegrass and the odd song. Jeff and Nettie, previously from Paddymelon, met Jacob at the monthly Irish music sessions in Old Bar and decided to get the music out into the Manning Valley once again.  Irish rhythms are addictive, and it’s even more fun to play!

Jacob learnt classical guitar and has ventured into bluegrass, Irish and many other brilliant genres. Jeff started out in the world of jazz and has gradually become hauled in by the bug too.  He originally played trombone, which occasionally gets a look-in. Nettie was always hooked on Irish music and took up the fiddle after vaguely learning classical violin at school and spent hours practising jigs and reels; it takes time to get the hang of it but is worth it.

Peggy van Zalm Band

The Peggy van Zalm Band offers up atmospheric acoustic folk-pop that sources much inspiration from the Australian landscape and vibes with positive energy. These are songs about the spirit, the land and feeling that well up inside of us as we work to balance lives wrought with the stresses of living in a big city world.

Peggy’s voice is rich and earthy and the band plays with soulful integrity. You may recall van Zalm as the lead singer and guitarist with Perth band Martha’s Vineyard, who shared stages with Eurythmics, Simply Red, Paul Kelly and INXS, plus others.

Van Zalm has now released four acclaimed independent solo albums and has attracted rave reviews for her inspired live performances:
“Van Zalm has the kind of voice that makes you go dreamy. Vowels soar, consonants gracefully glide and the song come together as elegant emissaries of the rich and talented musician.” Alex Green, USA Discoveries Magazine
“Van Zalm cast as a genuine spiritual voyager in the music a la Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell.” Mark Mordue, Drum Media

The Peggy van Zalm Band is Geoff Nant on drums, Sandra Kwa on keyboards, Hugh Cowley on violin and Peggy van Zalm on lead, vocals, acoustic guitar. For more information, visit http://peggyvanzalm.net

Dave Elith and Hamish McDonald

This collaboration is an eclectic crossover of contemporary folk, blues, island music and jazz. Their acoustic based songs are a melodic interaction between vocals, guitar and ukulele, highlighting the originality and wide audience appeal of this combination.
Having played many styles of music on an interesting array of instruments, Dave brings a wealth of experience and his unique personality to every performance. He has shared the stage with many of Australia’s top touring bands during the ’80s and ’90s, and was invited to join a showcase produced by Paul Norton which was presented to the world during the 2000 Olympics.
To some, the guitar is just a collection of wood and wires. To a musician like Hamish McDonald, however, the guitar is breath and blood and mind. That can be the only explanation for the tremendous output of this talented instrumentalist, composer and producer. Hamish is the owner of Paradyme Studios, and as such has co-written, produced and recorded songs being played locally and around the globe.
Hamish is currently working on Dave’s soon-to-be-released ukulele CD. Drawing inspiration from all points of the compass, this pair is keen show just what is possible with a “collection of wood and wires”.

Circleofdrums

Chris Baker from Circleofdrums was born with a burning passion to play drums – all types of drums – and he loves nothing more than sharing drumming with others.
Starting on a drum kit from a young age, Chris found himself playing drums whenever he got the chance and formed his first band when he was 15 years old.
By his early 20s Chris was playing professionally in a number of bands and started teaching private drum tuition for school students.
A number of years ago, he discovered tribal drum rhythms that were played on the djembe and dun duns, West African drums.
Since then, Chris has been involved in facilitating drum ‘n’ dance gatherings from Mackay to Melbourne and has created Circleofdrums which is a community-based workshop that takes place in various locations around Sydney and the Mid North Coast of New South Wales.
Chris started teaching African drumming on a professional basis four years ago, facilitating drum circles in both corporate and community environments.
He loves to share the sheer joy of drumming – joy brought about through a sense of fun and community spirit created by sharing drum rhythms.
Circleofdrums attendees escalated to over 160 members in a matter of months and, due to its popularity, now hold monthly indoor drum circle gatherings.
This has created the added benefit of a safe, family friendly environment for all age groups and levels of drumming ability to gather together, drum, dance and have lots of fun in a shared community.
For info about Circleofdrums monthly drum circles, community college courses, corporate team building events, private functions and African drum sales contact Chris at
circleofdrums@yahoo.com.au or phone 02 8006 7727.

Illusion

Illusion: nothing optical just four boys who love their music.
Discovered in Jock’s shed in August, their first gig was at the crispy Manning Valley Relay for Life.
In front of the spectators, they rocked four songs and pulled a couple of gigs.
They then started learning some new tunes and writing their own.
After being together for about seven months, the boys went into the recording studio,
and laid down three of their own tunes. There is still a few originals in the making which will be recorded soon.
Stay tuned, as their talent keeps ripening.
The band is made up of Jock Fraser (guitar and lead vocals), Raff Watt (bass and backing vocals), Billy Minett (drums) and Campbell Smith (guitar).
Together, these young lads are the awesome foursome that make up Illusion.
Hope you enjoy and embrace their sounds.

Love Parade

Love Parade has had two main focuses in 2009 – completing the recording of their debut long player A Strawberry Situation and establishing themselves as an exciting live prospect in Sydney. Following on from the modest success of there debut MGM-distributed Sunshine EP, Love Parade are looking to capitalise on the forward momentum and industry exposure afforded by the release.
The band was formed in Newcastle in 2005, and is made up of Nathan Jolly, James Law, Ben Law and Rhys “Kransky” McGowan. Three of the four members originally hail from the local area and attended Wingham High School.
Love Parade’s sound blends an eclectic mix of influences, including The Beatles, The Velvet Underground, Pavement and The Zombies, and can range from a gentle melody to a dramatic blues explosion.
2009 will be Love Parade’s second bite of the Akoostik fest cherry, and the band is looking to put their unique stamp on proceedings.