BBQ Blues & Brews
Raised on rattlesnake venom and moonshine, the Burning Hands Band play dance music from a forgotten time. Swing, shuffle and the hypnotic train beat, playing traditional blues music in a time-honoured fashion. Featuring double bass, harmonica, brush drums, guitar and harmonies. This eclectic bunch will be bringing their foot-stompin’ blues tunes to the Byron Bay Brewery this Sunday for the BBQ, Brews and Blues.
Along with the timeless blues music, their will be an American-style smoking barbecue out in the beer garden. It all kicks off at 2pm this Sunday at the Byron Bay Brewery and it’s free entry.
Crighton me a River
Buoyed by a mesmerising debut record and a slew of live appearances that defined ferocity of spirit, William Crighton’s 2016 was nothing short of a breakthrough year. The singer/songwriter, now based in the Hunter Valley, is known for his powerful and mesmerising live performances. Respected Australian music journalist Iain Shedden, of The Australian, recently described Crighton’s Tamworth Regional Art Gallery appearance in glowing terms: ‘Once in a lifetime a gig surpasses all expectations, slapping you in the face with its grace, majestic singing, the quality of the material, and, in this instance, the acoustic ambience of the venue… [it] demonstrated music’s power to stir the heart and soul. In my all-time Top 10 that one.’
Hope Recovery sees Crighton collaborate once again with producer and drummer Matt Sherrod of Crowded House. The release, recorded in various locations, including Mullumbimby, in the mountains of Laguna, and his own backyard studio in the Hunter Valley, is presented as an 8.46-minute piece of music. It flows seamlessly from the epic jam and rumination on religious accountability Talking to God, into the uplifting and delicate Australiana soundscape of the title track. The bonus is Neil Young’s classic environmental lament After the Gold Rush.
Friday 9 June at Club Mullum at the Mullumbimby Ex-Services Club. 7.30pm. Tix & info at www.redsquaremusic.com.au or phone 6684 6195.
World Environment Day Music
Find yourself at Knox Park in Murwillumbah at Knox Park this Sunday for World Music Day. With great speakers including Steve Harris, the CEO of Enopva, and Greg Reid from Tweed Climate Action Now. With a full lineup of music, 10am–3pm.
Market Music
Cheynne Murphy and longtime collaborator Mark Heazlett are bringing their trio to the Byron Markets for some homegrown folk-rock with some Irish tones in some of the songs. Through the Hills of Inishmore is the second single off Celtic Heart, Cheynne’s latest album. After visiting family across the mid and west coast of Ireland Cheynne ventured over to the Aran Islands off the coast of Galway, and rode around the ‘big island’ of Inishmore.
To recreate this west coast Ireland inspiration on return to Australia, Cheynne engaged some local players he knew had the right ‘feel’ in his home of Byron Shire, namely Guy Anderson, whose brief was to play a groove like he was playing the traditional Irish drum – Bodhran. It came out like a rocking Pogues live track.
Cheynne was nominated as songwriter of the year at this year’s Dolphin awards and you can preview the track on his website or catch the boys live at the Byron Markets this Sunday starting at 10am.
Young & Green DJs
Young & Green Family Fun Day at the YAC on Saturday 10 June and features DJ Tympanic and DJ Smemozzle. Both young men have studied electronic music production at SAE and their talent knows no bounds. ‘My style of music is quite diverse as I love producing dubstep, trap, house, drum and bass, and also melodic dubstep,’ says Tympanic.
‘A good friend of mine, who really inspires me, once told me, “If you want something badly enough it will happen for you, and if it doesn’t happen for you, then you just never wanted it badly enough”. DJ Shemozzle is an electronic music producer based in the northern rivers. Having recently completed the Diploma Electronic Music Production at SAE in Byron Bay, 2016 Shemozzle produces genres of techno, house and dubstep.
Shemozzle has an unorthodox technique of live mixing commonly referred to as the shemozzle effect. Using genres and sounds not commonly heard together creating and intense, unpredictable musical journey leaving listeners in awe.
Full Vassella
The Lismore flood has seen residents and business owners pull together yet again as the town recovers, and local musician Luke Vassella felt compelled to write the goodwill he saw in song. ‘I was overwhelmed to witness the scale of the flood and inspired by the way my community came together,’ he said. ‘I wrote these songs fairly quickly and was able to record them almost immediately.’ The resulting EP Something Good is Luke Vassella’s tenth CD release. Recorded at Southern Cross University by Steve Law, it contains three songs about the flood event in Lismore on 31 March 2017. Profits from the sale of the CD will be forwarded to Centrechurch Flood Relief Fund to help Lismore residents affected by the flood. Online download information available at www.lukevassella.com and the video clips can be viewed at: www.facebook.com/lukevassella.
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