Lachlan Belleville
It has been three years since Bluesfest shocked the North Coast with its freak announcement that American rap star, Kendrick Lamar, would be coming to the main stage.
That move proved to be a stroke of genius, attracting a whole audience to the annual event.
The festival has once again departed from the script for 2020, announcing that Australian R’n’B star Guy Sebastian will take to the stage.
The six-time number one single artist is an internationally praised pop and R&B star, but blues is a genre that has been used very little when classifying his work.
Guy Sebastian’s inclusion could be explained by his recent success at the 2019 ARIA awards, where he hosted the event to great acclaim and received the video of the year and song of the year awards.
This would suggest that Bluesfest 2020 is aiming to be fueled by star power, a sense that is supported by Festival Director, Peter Noble.
Mr Noble said he was ‘thrilled that our headliners on this announcement have almost 100,000,000 album sales between them,’ highlighting the emphasis that is being placed on star power for this coming Bluesfest.
The acts joining Guy Sebastian only support this idea.
The eleven new artists are must-watch acts, with nine ARIA Awards and four GRAMMY Awards between them.
It is hard to look past Gipsy Kings. The highest selling artists in French music history will return to Bluesfest after a four year absence. With their original lead guitarist, Nicolas Reyes, and original lead singer, Tonino Ballardo, leading the line on the mainstage, the Gipsy Kings will get the crowd moving with their iconic and loved flamenco style on the Saturday night.
Kool & the Gang will take the stage on the same night.
The band have spent 50 years at the top of the jazz world, penning such classic hits as Celebration, Ladies Night and Get Down On It.
Joining Kool and the Gang in 2020 is American song-writer LP, European guitarist of the year Erja Lyytinen, Godfathers of Australian blues, Chain, and cross-country tourer, Allen Stone.
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