2019 Festival Line Up
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Blue Limit
WITH a strong passion for bluegrass music, Blue Limit are a dynamic trio who together, combine amazing picking and strong harmonies to capture a true traditional mountain sound.
Grounded in varied and vast experience and years of performing, Blue Limit evolved through the bands shared love of the bluegrass genre and endless hours of playing, singing and performing together at festivals.
Blue Limit includes: Heath Joyce (mandolin/banjo/vocals) – lifelong musician and singer, music teacher, bluegrass aficionado and extraordinary multi-instrumentalist, Tom Wales (guitar/vocals) – avid bluegrass fanatic and sensational flat-picking guitarist and Andy Calwell (double bass/vocals) – bluegrass obsessive, banjo nerd and harmony queen.
The band performs a tight arrangement of their own unique blend of vocal chemistry and hot instrumentals, promising classic songs, exciting fast picking and unexpected musical magic.
Arkie T Williams
Original/Alternative Country/Folk
Victorian award winning singer/songwriter Arkie T Williams weaves story and song together with skilled beauty. A diverse artist, Williams delivers tunes with conviction and an alternative country edge, at the same time her voice is captivating.
Her tales of love, war and moments in between leave audiences in no doubt of her skill as both writer/performer.
Geoff Jones
Geoff has been playing the pipes for almost 30 years, playing with top grade pipe bands and competing in solo competitions. Geoff was involved in the Victorian Highland Pipe Band Association and former Pipers' Club of Victoria, as well as occupying the role of Official Piper to the Scottish Gaelic Society of Victoria for many years and is currently the president of the Celtic Piping Club. Geoff is an accomplished musician who plays and teaches the Great Highland Bagpipe, Scottish smallpipe, Northumbrian smallpipe, Border pipes and other instruments. Geoff has performed with several Scottish folk bands and has been a guest musician for many others including Area 7, Thunderstruck, Melbourne Scottish Fiddle Club, Eilean Mor, Donegal Express, Cath Connelly, Jamie MacKinnon and Braemar.
Paige & The Vinleys
Paige & The Vinleys explore Paige Duggan’s original songs, blending music styles for an easy listening, but reflective experience for the audience. Joined by Andrew Vincent on double bass, Lesley Williams on drums and Mary Card on vocals.
You'll hear bluesy, jazzy, indie, alternative pop, even rockabilly references all weaved together with a contemporary roots and folk sensibility holding it altogether. The mood of songs is as diverse as is the subject matter the group delve into, but themes of searching for equality and common human experience form much of their basis.
Simon Carroll-Performer
Simon Says Banjo!
Simon enjoys expressing himself through music and stories in a variety of settings. He has performed in numerous small festivals as a banjo player and storyteller, as well as regularly treading the boards in local and not so local theatre establishments. He has even published a really gross children’s book!
Now this local performer can’t wait to pick and sing some Country Blues and Old-time tunes Claw Hammer style at the Inaugural Bended Knee Music Festival.
For further information:
https://www.facebook.com/Ilovebanjo1/
https://www.simonays.com/
Shane Gilbert
Shane Gilbert is an accomplished electric & acoustic guitar player, performing for over 3 decades.
With great voice he plays an acoustic selection of folk, rhythm ‘n blues & rock tunes, including some of his own originals.
Boondockers
The Boondockers are made up of regular and irregular Sunday session players and their friends at Irish Murphy’s Ballarat. The line up can vary from 4 to 10 players strong.
Playing for all occasions from Bush to Colonial to Celtic....and some random stuff in between. Members may include vocalist Jimmy Leary (from Tipperary), Mark Russell on bass, Ken Smith on percussion, Steve McKenna on Mandolin, Pascal and Leah on button accordion, Sam on fiddle and Ceilidh on flute.
For booking or further information ,send an email to Stevemck58@gmail.com
Hardies Hillbillies
The Hardies Hillbillies play music distilled from the mountain dew that forms on the slopes of Hardies Hill Volcano, within a basalt stones throw of Mount Buninyong, where blackberry juice, turpentine, banjos and fiddles are squeezed from local stills and combine to form a mighty fine blend of old timey music as smoky and genuine as campfire roasted pig trotters. Spine tingling vocal harmonies and foot stomping fiddle tunes will transport you to a time when music had soul and enlighten you to life’s simple truth: that everything sounds better with a mandolin, a fiddle and a banjo.
Mick Trembath
Mick Trembath is a Ballarat born guitarist who specialises in open tunings and fingerpicking. Growing up in the three minute pop filled 80's Mick became fascinated with guitarists like Bukka White and John Lee Hooker and began looking for musician's who were the absolute opposite of the Count Down presented and Top 20 music of the day. With influences ranging from early Cajun genius Amede Ardoin, through to the sonic guitar landscapes of Fred Frith, Mick has developed an approach to the guitar that is rooted in tradition, yet keeps its high branches out into the world of improvisation and inspiration.
Playing an array of guitars, from hand made parlour instruments, to brass resonators, through to baritone six strings, Mick's music is always seeking to re-invent itself in the modern world by letting the old rhythms of the last centuries breath through it.
Peter Anderson & Men O' The Hill
Peter Anderson, ‘Captain Accordion’, comes from Melbourne, plays guitar, sings cheeky and funny parodies, plays accordion, plays movie themes, leads dance bands, repairs accordions, sings traditional Australian folk songs, has a cool campervan, calls dances, loves a campfire session, doesn’t believe in mornings, is suitably left wing, and is thoroughly entertaining on stage, to name but a few things.
At Bended Knee he is joined by fellow members of Sovereign Hill’s house band ‘Men o’ the Hill’; Paul Flowers on guitar and vocals, Martin Scuffins on Fiddle and Graham McClean on double Bass. With decades of combined folk music experience between them this will be a bushdance not to be missed!
Django Fretts
The Django Fretts are a gypsy jazz trio from Castlemaine, Australia. Catching them live is a real musical treat!
Sean Keenan & Geoff McArthur
Sean Kenan & Geoff McArthur are experienced players of the traditional music of Ireland. Both have a great love of this music and its heritage - the stories behind the tunes and the legendary players past and present. Sean has performed the music for many years across Australia and abroad on fiddle and banjo and is a highly regarded fiddle teacher and session leader. Geoff has developed his own dynamic style of accompanying traditional music on guitar and is also skilled at playing tunes on mandolin and has performed at many festivals with some of the finest Irish traditional musicians. Irish reels, jigs and more played with great groove and respect for the tradition. You will find it hard to stop your feet and soul from responding to these ancient rhythms and melodies.
Barry James Gilson
Barry James Gilson is a Wathaurung man. A singer, poet, writer, narrator and storyteller.
Barry specialises in bringing back the ancient words and language of his people the “Wathaurung”.
Working strongly towards reinstating a lost culture that has survived genocide and colonisation. Great odds he has overcome to work towards leaving a legacy of hope and survival for future generations to follow.
The language around Ballaarat for thousands of years was called “wathawurru”….without language there is no echoes from the past.
Bar Choir
Bar Choir is a simple concept- go to a bar/pub/venue, put a drink in your hand (not compulsory) and sing your face off with a bunch of random people. Mary Card and Paige Duggan have been working and singing in choirs for many years, and have created a project that made singing together user-friendly for everyone.
Bar Choir isn’t an original concept but oh well! Mary and Paige have wanted to do an informal choir for years, so they jumped on the bandwagon and got Bar Choir happening. After all, singing in a bar/pub is just reviving the grass-roots tradition of people enjoying music organically. People love singing songs they know, so the Bar Choir team enjoy many arguments about song choice in order to bring these songs to the people.
Come along to the Festivals Town Hall Venue Saturday afternoon for a sing along!
The Infusers
The Infusers are a local Mowgrass 6-piece band that play a mix of fun, contemporary, and old timey music, highlighted by 3-piece harmony vocals and the use of a range of instruments: Fiddle, Banjo, Ukulele, Guitar, Mandolin, Bass and various shakers.