Hold onto your panties ladies … Bluesfest organisers have announced that Welsh crooner Tom Jones will be performing for the first time this year.
Organisers also said British songwriter Noel Gallagher will be performing with his band, the High Flying Birds, and, a few hours later, added Jackson Browne to the list of performers.
Over his 50-year career, Tom Jones has sold more than 100 million records, won a Grammy and two Brit Awards, and delivered countless hits.
He has been knighted by the Queen, and adored by generations of female fans especially.
Back in his Las Vegas performing days, his fans would throw their knickers and hotel keys onto the stage.
He has had thirty six Top 40 hits, including It’s not Unusual, What’s New Pussycat, Delilah and Green Green Grass of Home.
Organisers also said British songwriter Noel Gallagher would be performing with his band, the High Flying Birds.
Gallagher, the principal songwriter, lead guitarist and vocalist for multi-platinum, award winning mega band Oasis is also making his Bluesfest debut.
Jackson Browne has written and performed some of the most literate and moving songs in popular music and has defined a genre of songwriting charged with honesty, emotion and personal politics.
In a career spanning over 45 years, he has released nineteen albums: 11 Top 40, 4 platinum, 3 multi-platinum, & 2 Gold. 1977’s Running on Empty is 7 times platinum.
Other artists announced in the second instalment include the Decemberists, an American indie folk band from Portland, Oregon, who are also making their Bluesfest debut, having spent the past decade charming audiences around the world with eclectic live shows.
Other notable announcements include Jason Isbell, an American Country and Southern Rock singer whose album Something More Than Free went number one on three different Billboard charts.
Alternative Country artist Sturgill Simpson, who has been heralded as the next Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash all rolled into one, will also be making the trip Down Under.
Steve Earle, American rock, country and folk singer will be back at the Bluesfest with his band, The Dukes, as will be Jamaican Reggae icons, The Wailers.
The Wailers will be playing on all four nights of the festival, featuring one of their classic albums on each night.
In another Bluesfest debut, Lord Huron, the rising Indie Folk band from the US, is joining Bluesfest’s second artist announcement.
Lord Huron, which begun as a solo project by Ben Schneider, has grown into a band with a big following all over the world.
Other artists in the second announcement include World/Folk/Hip-Hop/Roots music collective Nahko and Medicine For The People, and American Rhythm and Blues band Vintage Trouble, who just finished a special guest spot for the legendary AC/DC on their Rock Or Bust World Tour.
Blues man Lucky Peterson, who released his first record at five years old in 1969, discovered by Blues legend Willie Dixon, will also be making his Bluesfest debut in 2016.
And from Australia’s Top End, eMDee will be taking a break from his season at the Sydney Royal Easter show to deliver a mind-blowing performance on the didgeridoo that has to be seen to be believed.
Bluesfest organisers said more artists would be announced in coming weeks for the five-day festival, held annually over Easter, just north of Byron Bay.
