One of the Festival highlights has been the interesting and diverse range of music and dance that the Festival offers. Although not a “Music Festival” this is one of the largest items on our budget we do look to try and get a mix of local and Melbourne based artists to perform. The main focus is on the Sunday when we have the big lawn stage and the newer more intimate beach stage. We also aim to have variety so visitors of all ages will find something of interest to watch and listen to. There is also the regular appearance of all the dances, some as young as 4years old, from the local KC Dance Company.

In 2007 RRR radio station did a live broadcast of their popular Sunday morning show, Radio Marinara, from the foreshore. We have invited them back and hope to make it bigger and better in 2008. So come early for you could get on the radio or win a great prize.

If any musicians are interested in applying to be part of the Festival line-up they best hurry as this is being worked on at the moment. (All should be locked in early 2008)

A possible new initiative in 2008 will be a Saturday afternoon concert in the local hall especially for and featuring local youth bands. More on this soon!

CONFIRMED ARTISTS

David LaMotte with Liz Frencham
12.45 – 1.45 Bridge Stage

David LaMotte from Black Mountain, North Carolina has released 10 CDs and performed 2000 shows in 45 states and on four continents. Currently, David is on a "farewell tour" which will take him all over the U.S., as well as to Europe and Australia, before he puts his music career on hold to pursue his vocation as a peacemaker.
The Boston Globe says he "pushes the envelope with challenging lyrics and unusual tunings, but he also pays homage to folk tradition." The Washington Times describes LaMotte's music as "guitar spanking open-tuning grooves as well as gentle folk-tinged pop," and folk music magazine Dirty Linen calls him “a folk poet of elegant simplicity.

David will be playing with Australia’s own multi-talented Liz Frencham.
Embracing her double bass like a lover, seeing Liz perform live is the most delightful way to hear such an amazing talent – her energetic, playful style of double bass playing along with a warm, generous voice and a smile which has become her trademark.   

Read the full story here

www.davidlamotte.com
www.lizfrencham.com

Fred Smith
11.40 – 12.40 Bridge Stage

Fred Smith is one of Australia’s most remarkable artists, having divided time over the last few years between peace work in the war torn islands of the South Pacific and the Australian festival circuit where he is developing a reputation as a prolific and dynamic songwriter.

Fred is a lyrical and inventive lyricist, with an ear for a melodic hook. He has a perceptive eye for modern life, its foibles and joys, and an ability to express this in song. He presents his material with an engaging humour and a wry smile that has won hearts at all major Australian festivals from the National Folk Festival through to the exclusive Blue Mountains Music Festival.

Read the full story here

www.fredsmith.com.au
 

Woman In Docs
3.45 – 4.45 Bridge Stage

A lively folk pop duo from Australia, currently touring the USA, Canada and Australia. Latest US album release 'Under A Different Sky' featured in the Top 40 of the US Folk and Roots Charts, reaching a respectable '15'. If you like The Waifs, Bluehouse, Fruit or Paul Kelly... you'll love the down-to-earth humour, soaring harmonies and catchy songs of Women In Docs.
 
As fiercely independent folk troubadours, women in docs have built a strong, loyal and diverse following, and an enviable reputation for quality performances and recordings. They are widely respected as one of Australia’s premier self-managed acts, and were recognised as such by the Music Manager’s Forum’s Self Managed Artist Award in 2004.

Read the full story here

www.womenindocs.com
 

The Go-Set
5.15 – Close Bridge Stage

When singer/songwriter J. Keenan and bassist Mark Moran formed The Go Set in 2003, it seemed only natural to combine the elements of the music they had grown up on. Having both been brought up on everything from traditional Celtic and folk music, to early seventies punk rock, and with a voice for political perspective and social conscience, The Go Set embarked on a unique musical journey. Combining the folk elements of the bagpipes, accordion, and mandolin, with distorted punk guitars and a rock n roll ethos, The Go Set created a sound and direction all its own...

In addition to its own relentless touring schedule, The Go Set has also toured and played with the likes of The Living End, The White Stripes, Goldfinger, Reel Big Fish, The Stranglers, Pulley, and Royal Crown Revue among others. It has also played some of the best stages around the country, and appeared on Queenscliff, Apollo Bay, FRL and Fall Festivals over the last year.
 
Read the full story here

www.thegoset.com.au
 

Frencham Smith
4.00 – Close Beach Stage

The Frencham Smith collaboration first began at the National Folk Festival in April 2002. At the time, Liz Frencham was growing in her role as bass player with the Sydney Celtic trio, Jigzag, and was looking to spread her wings as a vocalist. Fred Smith had written an album’s worth of ballads for women’s vocals and was looking for the right gal. He found her.

The songs are sophisticated but they’re accessible, strong on emotion and full of wry observation. They’re catchy too. Songs that run the gamut from comic ditties to very personal ballads.

Fred’s under-stated guitar-picking and vocals are the perfect foil for Liz Frencham's warm and generous style. Frencham & Smith tend to accumulate musicians at festivals- pianists, string players and percussionists, adding to the experience for festival goers.

Read the full story here

www.fredsmith.com.au/pages/fshome.html 
 

Rory Ellis with Tim Hackett
2.00 – 3.00 Bridge Stage

| The Melbourne native has spent many years touring locally and internationally with his alt country slash blues based music, he takes inspiration from his homeland and the varied histories of its people, and from his own eventful life. Audiences at Rory’s numerous festival appearances and intimate performances have been captivated by his powerful vocal command and subtle acoustic instrumentation that bring the vivid stories to life.

Read the full story here

www.roryellis.com

Tim Hackett is the consummate sideman who has recently ‘come out’ and now often performing songs in his own right. The past few years have been something of a musical renaissance for Tim as he has explored the sounds and textures of blues, roots, country, bluegrass, folk and Hawaiian music.

Thrill Of The Chase
10.15 – 11.00 Beach Stage

This local teen band formed in late 2006, Thrill of the Chase unleashed their talents with a complimentary combination of vocals, cello, piano, guitar, bass and drums. Their music is described as an exciting mix of pop, cruisey rock and alternative music influenced by a love for the bands Bright Eyes, Feist, Something for Kate, Charles Baby, Death Cab for Cutie and Pete Murray.

Each song has a distinctive sound and leaves you ready to laugh or cry. Past reviewers of their live shows have written "The band played with gusto and ensured that the enthused crowd was so enraptured that they forgot to sip their cappuccinos and wine. Thrill of the Chase absolutely wowed their audience.

Many of the songs have a hauntingly beautiful sound and originality. Thrill of the Chase show maturity beyond their years, and with the average age of the band being 16, who knows what they can do?

The band consists of Sophie Boustead, Sally Buchanan-Hagen, Ginny Werner, Michelle Matthews and Jeremy Bennett

Carus
2.00 – 3.00 Beach Stage

Hailing from Fremantle, it is easy to mistake Carus as “just another roots act” in the style of The Waifs and The John Butler Trio. He hit the folk-rock highway ten years ago, he plays over two hundred shows every year and he has sold tens of thousands of CDs. He plays the major festivals and has a passionate fan base that any D.I.Y folky would be proud of.

Yet, in many ways Carus owes more to the OZ pub rock tradition than his rootsy contemporaries. While he is a story telling troubadour in the Paul Kelly style, he “goes off” in the adrenaline fuelled manner of The Beasts, The Gurus and The Oils. A lyrical observer of society he may be- but a shoe gazer he ain't. While Carus says in the title track- he can fit his life into three boxes and go traveling, he himself is extremely difficult to squeeze into a single box.

Read the full story here


www.carus.com.au

The Subniveans
11.15 – 12.15 Beach Stage

An acoustic electric quartet from Barwon Heads and Ocean Grove, the Subniveans make music from the heart and mind. With guitar riffs, bass lines and harmonies that move through folk, roots, rock and pop, the band play and sing about things that matter to them… happenings and feelings, special places and special people.

Tides of Welcome
10.35 – 11.20 Bridge Stage

The Tides Of Welcome Soul and Gospel choir can be quiet, soothing, gentle, like the lapping wavelets that caress the sands of the Barwon Estuary; they can be wild, dangerous, irresistible like the powerful surf at 13th Beach.
This collection of singers delights in the subtle and the sudden, the shifts in tempo and dynamics, the piano and the forte!

Undercurrents, hidden charms and treacherous beauty. They celebrate diversity and harmony through a shared passion for singing.

Read the full story here

home.vicnet.net.au/~tideswel

The Rustys
12.30 – 1.30 Beach Stage

Beau Torrance – guitar and vocals, Matt Blach – drums and vocals and Lachie McKiernan – bass guitar, are the Rustys. Originally a duo, the band recently added a bass to their line up to form a trio. Fundamentally an acoustic rock band, the Rustys write and perform their own material. The average age of the band members is 14 years.
Beau won the Australian Children’s Music Foundation Song Writing Competition in 2005. Matt and Beau won a Kool Schools Award in 2006. The Rustys have won 2 local battle of the bands; were finalists in the Geelong Star Search Competition and have made it through to the Freeza Battle of the Bands Final to be held in Melbourne in March 08. Last year (2007) the Rustys won the Young Song Writers Award at the Apollo Bay Music Festival and will perform there again in 08.

The Rustys have performed at a number of events such as the Rip Curl Pro, Lt. Malop Night Markets, the Central Geelong Farmers Market, Queenscliff Music Festival, Apollo Bay Music Festival, Skandia and other events.
A debut album titled “Lovely Day” is a compilation of 9 of their original compositions.
The Rustys are easily identifiable by their trademark hats!!!!