Patchewollock Music Festival 2023

And how good is Patchewollock?   Truly a shining example of dogged Aussie resilience!

This tiny northwestern Victoria town (population 149 according 2021 census) with the push of dynamic leadership,  got together and enticed an amazing cross-section of musical artists local and further flung, and an estimated up to 1000 visitors and campers in 2023, for a vibrant celebration of music and getting together in an iconic rural location for their 9th Patchewollock Music Festival.

Apart from a rich diversity of musical artistes, there were raffles, childrens activites, a street parade(!), sheep races, and of course, a rich diversity of Aussie spring weather presentations from stinking hot one day to b….y freezing the next!

Patchewollock is a rural township located within the traditional lands of the Wergaia tribes, whose Aboriginal expression literally means the “place of the plenty porcupine grass”. By the end of World War I, the town was came into its foundation as a soldier settlement.

The town’s most notable feature is a giant mural silo portrait, which depicts the life of grazier and grain farmer, Nick “Noodle” Hulland, painted in 2016 by street artist Fintan Magee.

The name Patchewollock originated from two Aboriginal words: putje, plenty, and wallahporcupine grass.[3] The town was first established after the First World War, when soldier settlement blocks were appearing in the area. A post office (originally a receiving office) opened on 27 July 1920.[4]

 

 

WILLIAM ALEXANDER

Born in Bourke, NSW, William grew up in the western country of New South Wales, forming in him a heart that feels and eyes that see the plains, trees and red dust stained skies of outback Australia as songs and stories. Early musical influences varied from his father’s love of 80s rock bands to his mother’s introduction to Elvis Presley and Nat King Cole. But it was the songs of country singers and folk singers such as Tex Morton, Woody Guthrie, Buddy Williams, Jimmie Rodgers and Hank Williams as heard on radio and through local elders that Williams family were close with that came through in the end. Though William’s family relocated to the Mallee country of North West Victoria when he was a young teenager, he maintained an intense physical and spiritual connection with the land of red dirt that he first came from. 

Over the last few years, 22 year old William has played many concerts in cities, towns, bars and halls. Playing concerts and festivals across the country has gained many loyal fans and friends who encourage and inspire him. William plans to tour the country sharing his new record with people in 2019 once the harvest at the organic garlic farm where he works has ended. 

 

YouTube:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z_oE17XyD6Q 

TWO IF BY SEA

Both beginning their musical adventures on the cello as children, Rachel Johnston and Trent Arkleysmith then took different paths that led Rachel to the world stage of classical music and found Trent on the street- fortunately as an award-winning Street Arts performer and musician in the international circus scene. Two If By Sea gathers together some favourite melodic souvenirs from their musical and geographical travels, drawing on the rich folk music traditions of Scandinavia, Bluegrass, Klezmer and the Celts to present a collection of harmonies that have already delighted audiences around Australia and across the seas.

THE TUMBLERS

After performing solo with his trusty Maton 808 for several years singer songwriter Cornell Davitt chance meeting with guitarist Andy Castle, and Cornell’s wicked desire to plug in his old Telecaster guitar, led to the formation of The Tumblers.
Filling out the rhythm section, Greg Sylvia on Drums and Pete Fisher on bass, The Tumblers mine a seam of blues and country influences.
The Tumblers, are a local supergroup including Cornell Davitt, Andy Castle, Pete Fisher & Greg Sylvia. So much talent on one stage, you don’t want to miss it!

TINY FEET

Tiny Feet comprises of local singer/songwriter Stephanie Rogers, and talented guitarist from the South Coast of NSW, Ben Bamborough. Their studies at Southern Cross University paved the way
for them to form an acoustic duo that writes catchy, funky and soulful original tunes.  Tiny Feet have a wealth of experience in the music industry performing, recording and teaching over the last 10 years in many different formats. The duo have graced stages all over the east coast of Australia, the UK and Europe and have been a part of some exciting events such as; Woodford Folk Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Edinburgh Jazz & Blues Festival, Top Class, Telstra Road to Discovery, Cullulleraine Music Festival, Byron Buskers Competition and Memmingen Folk Festival just to name a few.
Tiny Feet have recently returned from Scotland where they were performing regularly and working on new songs. Now they’re settled back in Mildura and continue to work on their next project, a new album.

THE PITTS FAMILY CIRCUS

Be entranced by spectacular acrobatics! Sword swallowing children!
Baby balancing! Human Pyramids and more…
With humble beginnings 15 years ago as a duo act doing a small street
theatre show The Pitts have now toured the world seven times and
grown into a charming family circus – they now have three young
children- that is popular with crowds wherever they appear.

THE CHERRYPICKERS

The Cherry Pickers’ are a contemporary bluegrass band playing your favourite tunes from today and back in the day. Always on the search to “uncover” some hidden bluegrass in any song, their tasty arrangements are reverent to Bluegrass tradition such that they defy any hillbilly stigma. Coupled with their love of traditional tunes and their original songs, the Cherry Pickers make for an exciting and refreshing bluegrass experience.

THE CAULDRON

THE CAULDRON – a well-travelled Mildura based folk trio, having played in the U.K. for the past two years including the well-known Whitby Folk Festival as well as various folk clubs and sessions throughout the UK and Ireland. The Cauldron are also popular and familiar figures on many local folk music stages.
Their primary interest is in traditional music; however, their versatility sees them playing music from other genres, ranging from the familiar to the obscure. They hold the music they play in high regard and their instrumentation and contrasting vocals guarantee that an interesting and entertaining brew will be served up by The Cauldron!
Instruments include harp, concertina, guitar, harmonica and whistle.

OLD DOGS NEW TRICKS

OLD DOGS NEW TRICKS

Two Ole’ Local Boys,With a Hankerin‘ for Gutsy Blues.

Played on Homemade Cigar Box Guitars (Solid Bods also) Terry ‘TeckaIredale and B/J Boom Boom Hunter have been doin‘ this Blues Duo for a couple of years now.

Luv‘ The Blues’,and we hope you do as well. Best of Blues To Ya’s. B/J & Teck 

LED JELLY

Led Jelly were an acapella staple in Victoria from 1994 to 2006. After a brief performance lull they are regrouping at Cullulleraine Music Festival in 2019 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the first Led Jelly performance. Career highlights include the Melbourne Acapella Festival, the Boite, the Maldon Folk Festival, the Port Fairy Folk Festival, the Benetook Room CD launch and three special concerts that featured local musicians at the old Methodist Church in Mildura. 

  

Heather Crawley, Heather Humphreys, Jacqui Pasquale, Sandi Smith, Joyce Adolph, Carol Aylward, Hilary Thiele, Kerrie Banks, Deb Banks and Brenda Hornsby and more, have variously travelled from Northern NSW, the York Peninsula, Bendigo, Castlemaine and Mildura for this special reunion. If the zimmer frames hold up, they will dedicate their performance to all who were part of Led Jelly who couldn’t make the journey but who left footprints on their vocal chords.  

CAT & CLINT

“The music Cat and Clint make is both disarming and utterly engaging. They don’t just play these timeless songs, they are totally absorbed in them. Their expression comes from a place deep within that is only accessed by artists who live and breathe the music they make.” – Dave Walker, Green South Records.
The Days That Used To Be is the highly anticipated latest release by Cat & Clint.   After 10 years of performing Old Time Mountain Music on the folk circuit in Australia and overseas, the duo are proud to present this album as their finest body of work to date. The album was recorded live, straight to tape, at the beautiful analogue studio Sound Recordings in Castlemaine, Vic. Listeners should expect a raw and un-produced quality reminiscent of Old Time recordings made in the early 20th century. The warm, earthy sound of hand-made acoustic instruments shines through on this record. The vocals come across as pure and unpretentious.
The Days That Used To Be features a range of instrumentation and various styles within the broad genre of Old Time music. If you listen closely, you might hear the roots of the Blues, Ragtime and Jazz, and a multitude of cultural influences from Africa, Native America, Ireland, Scotland, England and more. This album will transport you to a bygone era of country dance halls and wind-up gramophones. Cat & Clint prove that traditional music played in it’s most pared back, raw form with minimal arrangements, can be all that you need.

Continue reading “CAT & CLINT”

BUSHFIRE

In 1994, the ‘BUSHFIRE’ Band was formed in Mildura, Victoria home to most of its members, where Steve Curran and his wife Jo joined forces with the Harris, Rogers, Stewart and Tucker families (and many more) to share their love for playing music together. With original folk songs and Irish jigs and reels, the ‘Bushfire’ band is sure to create a lively and upbeat experience for everyone to enjoy. With a mix of Irish/Australian and English old time dances with a twist, get ready to swing along the old woolshed floor, feel excitement in the hall, choose a partner and meet and greet on the dance floor!

BRODERICK SMITH

After 5 decades on the Australian music stage Brod has a long list of credits to his name, including fronting
Carson, Broderick Smith’s Big Combo and ARIA Hall of Fame inductees The Dingoes. He has since
released 10 records under his own name. He is considered to be a legend by his legion of fans, a
consummate performer by many of his contemporaries and an elder statesman by the new guard of fellow musicians.
Broderick releases his brand-new album and first book, both titled Man Out of Time, and will be joined on
stage by special guest Richard Tankard on keyboards and backing vocals.

Man Out Of Time – the album

The album is a treat, and at times reminiscent somewhat of his old mates Greg Quill &
Kerryn Tolhust’s early 70s band Country Radio. It’s Brod’s first album since 2009’s Unknown Country
(not counting the fabulous and outlandish album he made with his son Ambrose Kenny-Smith’s
band King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard), and it will not disappoint any fans.

Continue reading “BRODERICK SMITH”

BLUGURU

BluGuru sound like –“Jeff Beck meets Ravi Shankar on the set of ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou’ while dancing in Rio.” A twisted tale of Indian, Blues, Celtic, Swing, Jazz, Bluegrass, and adventure. Fringe Award nominee Josh Bennett (Best Music) joins the genre-hopping antics of Andrew Clermont and the extraordinary vocals and
dance of Parvyn (daughter of the renowned singer Dya Singh) to form BluGuru.

STOP PRESS: Parvyn Bennett sang for India at the World Cricket in Melbourne this summer – perhaps that’s why they won 🙂 All bets are off when it comes to what will happen at each show, with the genre and instrumentation changing from one song to the next, but you can expect soaring vocal harmonies, blistering guitar and fiddle, and then ‘instrument guest appearances’ by such as sitar, tabla, tenor banjo, didgeridoo, assorted percussion and of course triple Mandolin!

http://www.bluguru.net
Yo u t u b e


Signature Data & relevant sites
MAIN
http://www.andrewclermont.com.au
http://www.facebook.com/waddiwarra
http://www.bluguru.net
Totally Gourdgeous –
http://malwebb.customer.netspace.net.au/gourd.html
The Apostle String Band Tour –
http://andrewclermont.com.au/latestnews.htm
GIGGUIDE:
http://www.andrewclermont.com.au/gigguide.htm
Director to The Golden Fiddle Awards – of late purely the Golden Fiddle Show 10am Wed morning
Tamworth Country Music Festival at The Capitol Theatre – it sells out so book early!

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