Bluesfest Adds More Acts

Jethro Tull and John Legend join the already revealed ZZ Top in the second announcement for Bluesfest 2010.

Others to feature in the second announcement are Gurrumul, Toots & the Maytals, Pete Murray, Wolfmother, Funky Meters, Irma Thomas, Booker T, Los Lobos, Kasey Chambers, Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band, Tim Robbins & the Rogues Gallery Band, The Dingoes, Diesel, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, B.B. & the Blues Shack, Joe Louis Walker. Phil Jones & the Unknown Blues, The Snowdroppers, Ray Beadle, Nat Cole & The Kings and Barrence Whitfield.

These acts can now be added to the previously announced collection that included Bob Dylan, B.B. King, Ben Harper & Relentless7, Elvis Costello & the Imposters, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Rodrigo y Gabriela, The Cat Empire, Blind Boys of Alabama featuring Aaron Neville, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Fistful of Mercy, Mavis Staples, Xavier Rudd, Trinity Roots, Kate Miller-Heidke, Washington, Little Bushman, Tony Joe White, Indigo Girls, Eric Bibb, Ash Grunwald, Ruthie Foster, C.W. Stoneking, Jeff Lang, Saltwater Band, and RocKwiz Live.

The ever effusive Bluesfest promoter Peter Noble stated, “Our second announcement really takes Bluesfest 2011 to another level: The beautiful tones of Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu will truly light up the festival – and this is exclusive, you won’t see him perform anywhere else. We also have the reggae royalty of Toots & the Maytals, the absolute reigning soul queen of New Orleans Irma Thomas, the stunning soul voice of John Legend who has just recorded a killer album with the Roots, the greatest soul Hammond organ player ever in Booker T, and the preeminent Mexican-folk-meets-rock-and-roll band Los Lobos.

“Nowhere else in Australia will you find so many artists who are the best of the best. You’ll see the band that practically invented funk music: the Funky Meters, a jaw-droppingly great German band with the best blues guitar player in Europe – B.B. & the Blues Shack, Joe Louis Walker – one of the last of the great blues guitar heroes with fans including Mick Jagger, B.B. King, and Herbie Hancock, and the pumped up blues and soul of Barrence Whitfield who’s been described as Little Richard meets James Brown

The 22^nd annual Bluesfest is on from Thursday April 21 to Monday April 25, 2011

Dylan Does Byron Bay

Bob Dylan is the headline act for the next edition of the iconic Bluesfest at Byron Bay and the good news doesn’t stop there.

Bluesfest from Byron Bay, Australia’s favourite counter-culture, family-orientated, ethnically and artistically diverse music festival, has announced a whopper of a signature first artist announcement – and it’s the first of many! Tickets are on sale now for Bluesfest – which just won the Australian Event of the Year for Bluesfest 2010 – and festival dates next year over Easter are from Thursday April 21 through to Monday April 25, 2011.

Once again, Bluesfest 2011 offers its passionate fans a very tasty – almost holy – array of simply the best local and international blues and roots music with its renowned blend of multi-genre, multi-demographic and multi-generational sounds.

The first Bluesfest announcement for 2011 includes:

Bob Dylan, B.B. King, Ben Harper and Relentless7, Elvis Costello & the Imposters, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Rodrigo y Gabriela, The Cat Empire, Blind Boys of Alabama featuring Aaron Neville, Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band, Robert Randolph & the Family Band, Fistful of Mercy, Mavis Staples, Xavier Rudd, Trinity Roots, Little Bushman, Tony Joe White, Indigo Girls, Kate Miller-Heidke, Eric Bibb, Washington, Ash Grunwald, Ruthie Foster, C.W. Stoneking, Jeff Lang, Saltwater Band, and RocKwiz Live.

Sarah McLachlan Brings Lilith To Australia

Sarah McLachlan, multi Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter and original founder of Lilith Fair, is confirmed to return to Australia in October with “A Taste of Lilith.”

Joining Sarah for “A Taste of Lilith” in Australia are songbirds Court Yard Hounds (Martie Maguire and Emily Robison of Dixie Chicks) and Australia’s own Kate Miller-Heidke and The Verses.

From 1997 through 1999, Lilith Fair was one of the highest grossing touring festivals in the world, with over 1.5 million fans in attendance and raising over $10 million dollars for national and local charities.  Founded by Sarah McLachlan, along with Dan Fraser, Marty Diamond and Terry McBride, Lilith Fair was the only tour of its kind-a celebration of women in music-led by McLachlan and featuring artists like Sheryl Crow, Christina Aguilera, Erykah Badu, The Dixie Chicks, The Pretenders, Nelly Furtado, Queen Latifah, Indigo Girls, and Tegan and Sara.

After a 10 year break, Lilith Fair returned to the United States this year for 23 shows and featured a veritable who’s who of solo artists and female-led bands.

The philanthropic spirit of the original Lilith Fair remains intact, with $2 from every ticket sold going to charity: $1 to a local women’s charity in each tour market, $1 to the Lilith i4c Campaign, a for-profit venture that will help fund Lilith’s future non-profit initiatives.

In June, 2010, Grammy Award-winning singer and songwriter, Sarah McLachlan, released Laws of Illusion, her first studio album of new material in seven years, since the double-platinum Afterglow. In the years between these two releases, Sarah has married, separated, and is raising two young daughters. These crucial life experiences have enriched her artistry and infused her new songs with the full range and complexity of adult emotions. Sarah McLachlan has sold over 40 million records worldwide since her recording career began in 1988 with her debut album Touch.

Strictly speaking, it’s only a few feet from stage left or stage right to the centre spotlight, but it took Martie Maguire and Emily Robison a couple of decades to move those couple of yards with Court Yard Hounds.  As the mainstays of the Dixie Chicks since they formed the group in 1989, the sisters have been familiar faces to many millions of fans. Their debut, self titled, album was recently released in Australia to rave reviews and fans can expect to see this rootsy alter-ego to the Dixie Chicks take shape in their anticipated appearance in Australia.  Featuring Robison on lead vocals, there will be no shortage of spine-tingling bluegrass tones and harmonies, acoustic ballads, banjo good-times, and some gorgeous guitar-and-fiddle folk songs.

A brilliantly tangled mix of exuberance and invention, fearlessness and fun, Kate Miller-Heidke released her sophomore album Curiouser last year which peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Album charts. With extensive airplay on radio, her national Curiouser album launch tour sold out Australia-wide and its second single, Caught in the Crowd, has recently been announced as the grand prize-winner of the prestigious 2009 International Songwriting Competition. Kate’s track was chosen as the unanimous winner from over 17,000 entries across the world by a panel of judges including Tom Waits, Robert Smith, Neil Finn, Ray Davies, Jerry Lee Lewis, Rob Thomas, Black Francis, Weird Al Yankovic and Loretta Lynn.

The Verses is a stunning collaboration between contemporary singer/songwriter duo and siblings Ella and Jesse Hooper, formerly of multi-platinum recording act, Killing Heidi. Together they have spent the past four years crafting the recently released Seasons album; a mature, adventurous and personal record of warm roots rock and alt-country balladry that is inspired by the music they grew up with.

For each ticket sold, A Taste of Lilith will donate $1.00 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.  Liz Heliotis, Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation CEO & Co-Founder, said  “In Australia, one woman in Australia dies every 10 hours from ovarian cancer; an intolerable statistic that can only be changed through supporting research towards the development of an early detection test. Tragically, over 50% of the population incorrectly think that a pap smear detects ovarian cancer.

Tickets on sale 9am, Thursday 2 September

October 04 : Sydney (Enmore Theatre)
October 08 : Perth (One Movement Music Festival – Twilight)
October 10 : Adelaide (Entertainment Centre)
October 12 : Melbourne (Palais Theatre)
October 16 : Brisbane (Convention Centre)