Bluesfest has been postponed again, this time to Easter 2022.
“It is obvious that we cannot present Bluesfest in a safe manner in October, so we have re-scheduled back to our usual timing with dates over the Easter Long Weekend next year; a time we expect things to be returning to normal,” Bluesfest Festival Director, Peter Noble OAM said in a statement.
“We are a resilient bunch. We have worked so hard since May 2019 to make Bluesfest happen and, guess what, we are not giving up. We are immensely proud of who we are: we are proud of the Bluesfest name and what that represents, immensely proud, and we are already looking forward to Easter. I thought this decision would be hard to make, but it was the reverse. The safety and protection of our loyal Bluesfesters, our festival staff, our performers, our volunteers, stallholders and suppliers is paramount, and I will not put anyone at risk right now. So the decision to re-schedule was a ‘no-brainer’.”
“Now we concentrate on the future, and it’s a bright future – and the return of Bluesfest over four days next Easter: FRIDAY 15TH APRIL – MONDAY 18TH APRIL 2022. PLUS … we are working on something special for Thursday 14th April. I am confident that, by the end of this year, Australia will have achieved at least a 70-80% vaccination rate and will have achieved at least ‘Stage Three’ in the plan to open up the whole country. Lockdowns will be consigned to history. Perhaps we may even see international artists returning. IF THEY CAN COME WE WILL BE PRESENTING THEM! ”
“Almost all the October 2021 artists will return for Easter: MIDNIGHT OIL, PAUL KELLY, JIMMY BARNES, PETE MURRAY, KASEY CHAMBERS, JOHN BUTLER, XAVIER RUDD and all of your Bluesfest favourites will be back to play over the Easter Long Weekend. Only two or three can’t make it. It’s great to be adding FAT FREDDY’S DROP, JOSH TESKEY & ASH GRUNWALD, JOHN WILLIAMSON, C.W. STONEKING, and the return of ROCKWIZ LIVE next Easter: the first of dozens of artists we are adding to celebrate, including more of the biggest and best artists this part of the world has to offer, with many Blues & Roots artists added too.”
And … guess what … I have been working hard to fill these gaps.
And … guess what … I HAVE !!
And … guess what … YOU ARE GOING TO LOVE THE NEW NAMES – and I’ll let you know who they are soon.”“In the meantime, I do ask and urge every ticket holder to hold on to their October ticket – and roll it over to Easter. I promise you will not be disappointed. As soon as this outbreak is over and we are out of lockdown safely, then I will be announcing the incredible new names joining our lineup, and then you can make an informed decision. Rest assured, we will continue to offer refunds until after the new artist announcement.”
“We will return and when we do it will be the greatest Bluesfest atmosphere you have been part of, with easily THE STRONGEST BILL OF AUSSIE AND KIWI TALENT EVER SEEN IN THIS COUNTRY.”
“DON’T SAY WE DIDN’T TELL YA!!”“After all – its only 35 weeks to Easter – LET’S GO TEAM !!”
PETER NOBLE OAM
CHAIRMAN, BLUESFEST GROUP OF COMPANIES
SNAPSHOT BIOS OF NEWLY ADDED ARTISTS
RocKwiz Live!
ROCKWIZ LIVE! The fabulous live show born of the cult TV hit show, RocKwiz returns to the mighty Jambalaya stage. Julia, Brian, Dugald and the sublime RocKwiz Orkestra will bring all the madness and mayhem of the RocKwiz world to the Byron Bay Bluesfest in 2022.Featuring all the crowd favourites and a collection of very special guests. Get your Bluesfest day off to a great start with ROCKWIZ LIVE!
Fat Freddy’s Drop
Fat Freddy’s Drop is internationally regarded as one of the world’s finest live draws. The seven-piece band has navigated its way from the incubator of sunshine reggae through a colour-saturated field of soul psychedelia before swerving onto a desolate Detroit superhighway at night. It is a sound that demands to be heard live, a potent mixture of jazz virtuosity and diaphragm-wrecking digital sonics.
These influences have not only been formed by the band’s individual predilections, but also experiences on the road, clocking more than 500 appearances in Europe, 33 Australian Tours and over 300 shows in their homeland with sellout mayhem ensuing at Zitadelle and Columbiahalle (Berlin), Alexandra Palace and Brixton Academy (London), Paradiso (Amsterdam), Vega (Copenhagen), The Coliseum (Lisbon), Henry Fonda Theatre (Los Angeles), Sydney Opera House, and Le Zenith (Paris). For Fat Freddy’s Drop it’s about the long game, a path that has come about by careful stylistic evolution, ever increasing production values and a heavyweight live reputation. They may have been around since the early Noughties, but they are truly the most modern of institutions.
John Williamson
Australian icon, John Williamson, will celebrates his 51st anniversary in the music industry this year. Like a dust-covered road train traversing this country, his songs capture the beauty of the landscape and its people and, sometimes, the heartbreak of life Down Under, deftly moving between larrikin humour and touching pathos. With his honours including the ARIA Hall of Fame, an Order of Australia, 28 Golden Guitar Awards, Australian Roll of Renown induction, not to mention over 5 million albums sold and thousands of shows performed, John Williamson will be scaling back his live performances at the end of his “Winding Back Tour”. Perhaps John’s greatest legacy is making Australians proud of their country and of who they are. So, don’t miss him, True Blue himself, at Bluesfest next Easter.
C.W. Stoneking
C.W. Stoneking is an artist for whom ‘unexpected’ is probably the default setting. How else to describe such a fine purveyor of American roots music who also happens to be a towering, youthful-faced white Australian man? He surprises first-time listeners, throws curveballs at long-time fans, and everything he does contains at least some background level of bafflement for all involved.
It’s probably easiest to describe him as a ‘blues artist,’ but the term disguises what makes his music special. There’s so much in there. A 1920s pre-war blues sound is key, but there’s almost equal helpings of New Orleans jazz, jug band music, hokum, country and calypso, and he’s lately brought in elements of jump jive, early rock’n’roll and gospel. His gift is that he brings them all together without anything sounding out of place. He finds the strands that connect all of these different styles and gently braids them together. C.W. has been nominated twice for the prestigious Australian Music Prize, scored a couple of ARIA and AIR awards, voiced a cartoon character, and was most recently heard on Jack White’s album ‘Boarding House Reach’ – what’s next? Who really knows – all that can really be certain is that it won’t be what you’re expecting.
Josh Teskey & Ash Grunwald
Last year, two local Blues powerhouses Josh Teskey (lead singer, The Teskey Brothers) and Ash Grunwald teamed up and created an album born out of mutual love for the blues and genuine appreciation for each other’s talents. Released last November, “Push The Blues Away” allowed these two captivating vocalists to cast off the weight of expectation and revel in music’s most simple pleasures. Renowned as one of Australia’s finest live performers, Ash Grunwald released his critically acclaimed new album “MOJO” along with his first book, “Surf By Day, Jam By Night” whilst The Teskey Brothers followed up their ARIA Award-winning and Grammy nominated second album “Run Home Slow” with the 2020 release of “Live At Forum”, earning them their first ARIA chart #1, and an ARIA Award for Best Blues & Roots Album.
luesfest will take place over 4 days from Friday 15th April to Monday 18th April 2022 at the Byron Events Farm, Tyagarah, NSW, AUSTRALIA.
All ticket options plus camping, parking and VIP are on sale now via the Bluesfest website.
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