From Buskers to Big Bands – Bluesfest 2016, Byron Bay

Kim Churchill
Australian folk, rock, and blues singer, songwriter, and musician Kim Churchill plays guitar, blues harp (harmonica), stomp box, drums, lapsteel and tambourine – sometimes all at once!

Kim Churchill
Barefoot and down-to-earth, the Australian surf-enthusiast and one-man band Kim Churchill engaged easily with his audience, telling self-depreciating stories with gentle humour, and creating an entrancing sound described by one music critic as “psychedelic whale music, ocean-side blues …”

Grizzlee Train
Winners of the 2015 Byron Bluesfest Busking Competition, young Australian friends Brandon Dodd and Josh Dufficy have moved from the busking tent to sharing the stage with many big names in Australian blues and rock music, and backing Australian country singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers.

Eugene “Hideaway” Bridges
Playing classic blues with undertones of soul, funk, rock and gospel, Bridges performed with the help of a small group of backing musicians.

Kasey Chambers
Unbilled performers and unexpected musical combinations are one of the great joys of music festivals. “Hideaway” Bridges was joined on stage by Australian country singer-songwriter Kasey Chambers.

Tedeschi Trucks Band
Bands don’t come much bigger than the bold, brassy, Grammy-Award-winning Tedeschi Trucks Band.

Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks
Susan Tedeschi, recognised for her original song-writing, her singing voice: a powerhouse blend of Bonnie Raitt and Janis Joplin, her blues-rock guitar playing, and her commanding stage presence, and husband Derek Trucks, formerly of The Allman Brothers Band, and called by Rolling Stone the 16th top (out of 100) guitarist of all time, are the drivers of this completely absorbing stage act.

The National
It was a full-on lights, back-screen and sound experience: American indie rock band The National, from Cincinnati, Ohio, were a hit with the younger audience members.

Tweedy
With a soft-rock sound that reminded me of early British pop, Tweedy is an American father and son rock band composed of Jeff Tweedy, from the group Wilco, and his son, Spencer.

Graham Nash
We older audience-members remember the early pop-tunes of the Hollies, and the later folk-rock songs from Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young.

Graham Nash and Shane Fontayne
Graham Nash was joined by English rock guitarist Mick Barakan “Shane Fontayne” to deliver old favourites and new releases.

Jackson Browne
Another “old favourite”, Clyde Jackson Browne – American singer, songwriter and musician – performed his well-know songs, many of which were originally performed by other people, and newer songs from his recent studio album.

Jackson Browne
An inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriter Hall of Fame, Jackson Browne has sold over 18 million copies of his 19 albums.

Melissa Etheridge
Another house-hold name to those of us of a “certain age”, the Grammy-award-winning American rock singer-songwriter and guitarist Melissa Etheridge was in great form.

Melissa Etheridge
Her powerful, well-crafted lyrics were carried effortlessly by her husky, ranging, voice.

St Paul and the Broken Bones
The sleeper-success of the festival would have to have been the brassy, big-band soul-sounds of St Paul and the Broken Bones from Birmingham, Alabama.

Paul Janeway
St Paul and the Broken Bones’ vocalist Paul Janeway grew up in a strict religious household and trained to be a preacher before finding his voice in his own music.

St Paul and the Broken Bones
Janeway’s voice is range-and-volume bigger than his appearance. As bassist Jesse Phillips is quoted as saying: “Bottom line is that we’re a bunch of kind of nerdy-looking white guys, and when this sort of earth-shaking soul roar comes out of his mouth for the first time, you can always hear the air being sucked out of the room.”

St Paul and the Broken Bones
Their performances (and I went back for more than one!) were high-energy, spine-tingling crowd-pleasers.  “It’s really difficult for me not to sing every time like it’s the last time I’m going to be on the planet,” Janeway explains. “I don’t care if we’re playing to five people or 5,000, I have a mental thing in my brain that clicks that it’s like I’ve got to give every possible fiber of my being into my voice right now when I’m singing.” That was clearly evident.

Night Falls over the Grounds
Getting caught up in music, it is easy to forget what time of day (or night) it is – but hunger brings me out regularly in search of the varied food on offer.

Rick Vito with Mick Fleetwood Blues Band
They don’t get much bigger (or taller) than Michael John Kells “Mick” Fleetwood. I saw him in the mid-seventies with Fleetwood Mac, the British-American rock band he co-founded. The stage at Bluesfest was filled with his drum kit; I had to watch carefully to get glimpses of him through the cymbals.

Rick Vito
American guitarist and singer Rick Vito replaced Lindsey Buckingham as lead guitar in Fleetwood Mac from 1987.

Rick Vito
With a long history of playing with Bob Seger and numerous others, Vito had no problem commanding attention on the stage.

Mick Fleetwood
Why do we get so excited by “famous people”? It was a buzz listening to Mick address the crowd while roadies re-arranged the drum kits on stage.

Mick Fleetwood Blues Band with Rick Vito
The second drum kit arrangement had a much more intimate and accessible feel – it was wonderful to watch the master at work.