Yowie for Howie
Howie Howie Howie collects songs like some people collect antiques, the weirder the better.
Howie was stuck in a ski lodge with a bunch of school friends at about the age of 18. ‘The weather was terrible. All we had to do was drink beer, listen to a couple of Clancy Brothers (Scotch and Irish) LPs and sing along. They were tough times but we got through. The songs stuck, so much so that we are still singing them 47 years later.’ Add some bush poetry, contemporary songs from Bernard Boland, John Williamson and a few originals and you have Howie Howie Howie on the banjo, 12-string, electric jug, electric boot and a few other dangerous accessories such as Dan Brown on bass and keyboard, Chrisy Bell on sousaphone and Geoff Hill on washboard. At Club Lennox on Sunday.
Put the Billi on
This Sunday the Billinudgel Hotel offers up an afternoon of free Easter entertainment when Queensland cow-punks The Demon Drink join local rockers Shake Appeal in a double header sure to get feet a-stomping and tails a-wiggling. From 1 till 7pm these guys will blow the cobwebs out of the beer garden in the last of the great old country pubs. Get there any way you can.
G U R U
Tweed-born Gary Kafoa has a long history as a local musician using traditional and modern instrumentation. Gary sings of what was passed down to him by his elders and reflects on the contemporary issues affecting us today. Dr Greg is a veteran of more than 40 years on bass with bands of every hue from deep funk to krautrock, and his lifelong interest in ethnic musical forms means he supplies a unique groove. Guitarist Nick Gruen from Germany brings his extensive experience in world music and new-age blend enhancing the funk, blues and trance rhythms. Guriguru play Sheoak Shack in Fingal Head on Saturday.
Easter Cigar
Rarely has an Aussie band received as much consistent widespread acclaim from critics and fans alike as the Bondi Cigars. With half a dozen albums under their belt and over a dozen years of touring this award-winning quartet have worked their way into the Australian musical heart. They play the Beach Hotel on Thursday and Ballina RSL on Saturday.
Holy Babies
As a special Easter treat, Mullum’s Middle Pub hosts a Holy Saturday arvo show featuring those sultans of sexy pub rock, Shybaby, who have to attend (a probably lengthy) confession the next day so they promise to be on their best rocking behaviour. From 2pm.
Whistlin’ tin
Want to learn to play the harmonica? This Saturday Kelvin Carlsson will be running a blues harmonica beginners workshop at Byron Community Centre. The harmonica has been a major feature of blues music going back a century. Around 1910 African-Americans began playing the instrument in a completely different way from the way the Germans played when they invented it way back in 1860. By utilising such techniques as bending notes, imitating the sounds around them like children wailing, train whistles, even chickens, they made it sound earthy and expressive, and ideally suited to the blues. For the past 25 years Carlsson has been playing in bands and teaching the secrets of the harmonica up and down the east coast of Australia with some of the country’s finest players. To book your spot, contact Kelvin on 0416 160 996 or go to www.learnharmonica.com.au.
The Hunt is ON
Lisa Hunt and her band bring a night of sweet, sweet soul to the Ballina RSL on Friday. It’s the best of Motown, rhythm and blues played by one of the area’s most darling divas!
Busking for the Blues
Don’t miss the final of the Busking Comp at the Beach Hotel this Easter Friday. This annual competition provides opportunities for unsigned artists to gather momentum as they embark on a musical career. They get to perform at Bluesfest, plus they score themselves a recording package with Studio 301 in Byron.
Knock on Woods
Ku Promotions are proud to present local composer Cye Wood’s new project, Cave In The Sky, at the Byron Community Centre on Sunday 27 April. This project is a natural extension of Cye’s solo work and will see him presenting these pieces as an ensemble with two other truly gifted and unique artists, Tunji Beier and Purdie Wood. The core of their sound can be traced back to their collective individual studies covering a broad range of musical cultures, the most prominent being western Classical, African Yoruba (Nigeria), Karnatic (South Indian) and indigenous South American (Peru) traditions. The other defining aspects that inform their approach are an instinct for improvisation and the desire to explore beyond established musical boundaries. Byron Theatre. Tickets $25/18. 7.30pm. Tix at the venue.
Pub Pickens
Slim Pickens is a blues and roots musician with more than 40 years’ experience in the music business. In the last 10 years he has played some of this country’s top music festivals as well as touring Europe. He plays the Eltham Pub on Sunday.
The East Beat Goes ON
The Life and Music of Stevie Wright and The Easybeats features Scott McRae reliving the story Wright had with drugs, women, and rock ’n’ roll. In the 50th anniversary year since the Easybeats formed, fans have the chance to see this Australian story of the music makers who laid the foundation for the Aussie rock scene. The production is upbeat and cheeky, like Stevie himself. McRae endeavours to tell Stevie’s story with respect and features archived footage, clips of his mates and fellow musicians such as Jon English, Angry Anderson and even some old girlfriends. Byron Community Centre, Friday and Saturday April 25 and 26. 8pm. Tickets at the venue.
Potato Clouds
Cloud Control hit the Hotel Brunswick on Wednesday as part of their epic Australian acoustic tour. They have just released their gorgeous new album Dream Cave Unplugged. Catch them with local faves Potato Potato.
Quinton and Kite
In 2013 T.J.Quinton and Ahliya Kite collaborated on a 15 date east coast tour promoting T.J.Quinton’s concept album Sorry Business. Now they are working together in song creation and performance as a striking duo in which both parties sing and play guitar whilst also complimenting one another with soaring vocal play and noteworthy twelve string guitar work.
T.J.Quinton and Ahliya Kite feature a host of exciting musical elements as the duo interweave song and story amongst a mesmerising backdrop of vocal harmony, double guitar work and rhythm. Ahliya Kite’s debut EP Coal Train is a representation of her years spent performing live and working alongside some of Brisbane’s finest musicians.’Coal Train’ is defined by Ahliya Kite’s powerful vocal and delicate songwriting that has captured the hearts of all her fans.
See them at The Treehouse on Belongil Friday April 18 and the Sphinx Rock Cafe, Mt Burrell 1pm Sunday April 20
Jacobi’s Ladder
Having performed at this year’s inaugural Byron Falls Festival and at the recent Mullum Music Festival, Bill Jacobi will be bringing his one-man band to this Easter weekend . As a solo artist, Bill uses foot percussion, open-tuned guitars, lap-slide and banjo with a combination of fingerpicking and bassline-driven rhythm that snakes and rattles around songs both evocative and passionate. The result is a repertoire of engaging material that runs the gamut from folk to funk to hillbilly stomp and beyond
Sunday April 20 The Riverview Hotel, Murwillumbah from 2pm and Monday April 21 at The Eltham Hotel from 1pm.
Time for Simes
The Cath Simes Band is a dynamic four-piece that captivates audiences wherever they perform. This band plays all your favourite songs. Hits from the 60s through to current chart toppers, they are the party band to get you up dancing.
Fronting the band with excellent delivery and vivacious presence on and off stage, it is no surprise singer Cath Simes is surrounded by such a high calibre of brilliant musicians. Some of the east coast’s finest are Jamie Sullivan on bass and male lead vocals, Tim Corcoran on guitar/vocals and Scott Hills on drums/vocals.
All are highly respected accomplished players with degrees in music, in high demand for work with Australia’s leading artists in fields as diverse as jazz and country to pop and hard rock.
Mary G’s Lismore Saturday April 19.
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