Portraits of Homegrown Favourites: Byron Bay Bluesfest 2014

Music festivals are a great opportunity to try new sounds on for size, but they are also a great place in which to give oneself up to the comfort of old favourites.

We did both at the recent Byron Bay Bluesfest; because we had indulged ourselves and pre-purchased five-day tickets for this year’s annual Easter Weekend music festival, we were able to pick and choose from a broad range of musical options. Of course, it is always wonderful to see the old classics – those living legends who embody the very history of “Blues and Roots” music – and to get a peek at, and a listen to, current hit-makers and chart-toppers. And we did both (Full Blast and Full Colour). We also enjoyed some “other-worldly” options that might not otherwise have crossed our paths (Cambodian Space Project).

But, we also looked forward to – and thoroughly enjoyed – some familiar, homegrown favourites. When I say “homegrown”, I mean resident Australian – though their roots, origins, and musical influences are far more wide-ranging. And, though they may be homegrown, rubbing shoulders with the international stars and musical legends at festivals has given them world-class polish and lustre.

Take Hat Fitz and Cara Robinson, for example. I first saw Hat Fitz perform at the 10th Byron Bay Blues and Roots Festival, in 1999, many years before he met his current wife and musical partner Cara Robinson at (the story goes) a music festival in her native Ireland in 2008. He has a voice of gravel; she has a vocal range and power that often has me choked with tears. Together, they are captivating. My husband and I first saw them together at the 2012 Thredbo Blues Festival, and we made sure to introduce our friends to them at last year’s Byron Bay Bluesfest, and this year’s Thredbo Blues.

(Double click to start Wiley Ways from the album of the same name by Hat Fitz and Cara.)

Their latest compilation, “Do Tell”, hadn’t yet been released by Bluesfest, so I give you (above) a sample from their previous album, which I have uploaded before.

Another local act we’ve been privileged to hear before, is the young Genevieve Chadwick. The first time we saw her, at another Thredbo Blues Festival (2013), was the day she got the news that she had been chosen as one of only three Australians to participate in the international “Playing for Change” project. We also caught her first Bluesfest performance last year.

(Double click to start Down to the Bone from the new Playing for Change Presents Genevieve Chadwick album)

At last year’s Bluesfest, our friends steered us toward a very local group: The Round Mountain Girls; Round Mountain being about an hour’s drive from the festival venue at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm. We were sufficiently captivated to want to get in early for their only performance at this year’s Bluesfest, early on the last day. As before, they made me smile.

[audio:https://www.ursulasweeklywanders.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Faith_Mail_Chimp.mp3|titles=Faith|autostart=no]

Audio clip: Faith, from the Round Mountain Girls album, One Step Closer.

It is impossible not to get caught up in the enthusiasm, the energy, the raw joie de vivre that is live music –

But then, why would you want to resist it?

Keep smiling!

Pictures: 18-21April2014