Rated by Tourism Australia as one of the “must see events and festivals in Regional Australia” The Australian Blues Music Festival has forged a stellar reputation for showcasing world class, homegrown talent. In 2016 the Festival celebrated its 20th year with its most successful weekend since inception and returns for its 21st year with yet another killer line-up.
Headlining The Australian Blues Music Festival in 2017 is legendary Australian outfit The Foreday Riders. Often cited as Sydney’s “university of the blues”, The Foreday Riders celebrate 50 years as a working band in 2017, and despite countless line-up changes, 2 original members from 1967 remain: the King Brothers, Ron (harmonica, vocals) and Jeff (guitar, Dobro) who continue as happy ‘backroom boys’ in the current outfit.
Bringing an international flavour to the festival in 2017 is Jackson based, Detroit born JJ Thames who is currently riding high with her Eddie Cotton-produced album ‘Raw Sugar’. Mixing R&B, funk, Motown, and soul with strong blues and gospel vocals, and tossing in ska and reggae rhythms for occasional seasoning, Thames has a powerful stage presence, and more than enough talent to back it up as a songwriter and as a performer. Her story reads like a classic Hollywood biopic, full of early joys, tragic losses, and a seemingly predestined turn to music as a career.
2016 artists Jesse Valach & The Blues Mountain and Miss Whiskey will return next year alongside festival faves Dreamboogie (who earlier this year competed at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis), 2016 USA Blues Music Awards nominee (Traditional Female Blues Artist of The Year) Fiona Boyes with her band The Fortune Tellers, Chain founder Phil Manning, another international in the shape of Canadian indy soul performer Anna Vriend (“Holy wow! What a voice” – The AU Review), one of Australia’s finest blues pianists Don Hopkins and many more.
Held on the second weekend of February (in 2017 Thursday 9 – Sunday 12 ) in the Southern New South Wales city of Goulburn, the festival has become one of the premier regional music events drawing fans from all over Australia who are treated to over 70 free performances across 11 venues within the Goulburn township.
Located in the heart of town Belmore Park provides the perfect backdrop for the festival’s markets which take place Saturday and Sunday. Belmore Park is also home to the APRA-AMCOS Stage which features artists in a family friendly alcohol-free environment. As expected with a festival of this magnitude the community spirit of The Australian Blues Music Festival extends to the city’s Auburn Street which features a number of buskers throughout Friday and Saturday who compete for a place at the following year’s festival.
The Australian Blues Festival is a completely free event proudly supported by Goulburn Mulwaree Council, APRA-AMCOS, The Goulburn Soldiers Club, Goulburn Workers Club, Astor Hotel, Hibernian Hotel, Tattersalls Hotel, 98 Chairs Restaurant, Goulburn Bowling Club, Southern Railway Hotel and The Goulburn Club.
Full Artist Line-Up:Celebrating 50 Years – Australian Blues Legends The Foreday Riders, Phil Manning, Fiona Boyes & The Fortune Tellers, Claude Hay Trio, JJ Thames (USA), Sweet Felicia & The Honeytones, Dreamboogie, Jesse Valach & The Blues Mountain, The Blues Preachers, The Groove Kings, Lazy Eye, Fiona Boyes (Solo), Doc White, Pearlnoire & Don Hopkins, Iseula Hingano & Jesse Valach, Dorothy-Jane With Richard Steele, Don Hopkins (Solo), Cass Eager, Catfish Voodoo, Key Grip, Halfway To Forth, Ann Vriend & The Rooster Davis Group (Canada), Bailey Judd, Miss Whiskey, Wilson & White, Simon Kinney- Lewis Band, Big Erle, Nick Wildgoose With Special Guest Eddie Boyle, White Lightning, The Mighty Bluzicians, Jarrod Shaw, Daniel Hopkinsand Blues & Blessings At St. Saviours Cathedral.
The Australian Blues Music Festival takes place 9-12 February 2017 in Goulburn, NSW. For more information go to the festival website www.
