Appreciation and respect for blues music is part and parcel of any musician's life, regardless of the style of music one performs or listens to. At some point, we all come across the blues. And after all, the blues (along with jazz) predates the popular music of the modern era, as without the blues there would have never been the birth of rock and roll or heavy metal or Americana or even country. And one artist who epitomises the spirit of the blues is Australian guitarist and three-time ARIA award winner Jeff Lang, who will be bringing his music to the local area when he performs at the Tallarook Mechanics Institute on Saturday, September 17.
“I love blues music and it has definitely informed my sound,“ Lang told this column.
“But I love all kinds of music, and those other influences show up in my songs too.”
For live music lovers, fans can expect Lang’s show to be filled with intricate, gutsy, melodic music loaded with lots of soul and, of course, the blues.
“I'll be bringing along my acoustic lap steel, a guitar set up for bottleneck slide as well as a regular acoustic guitar,” he said.
“That allows me to pull material from throughout my career and travel through a diverse range of moods and dynamics.”
Lang is looking forward to making his way to our region.
“There's always been a good proportion of music-loving folks outside of the capital cities and I've always enjoyed travelling their way to play for them," Lang said.
I asked Lang if plans were afoot for a performance in Shepparton in the near future.
“If there's a venue that people like for listening to music, then I'd be more than happy to come to Shepparton,” he said.
Festival time
As we move from winter into spring and with the upcoming sunnier and warmer weather, so begins the season for music festivals.
After the success of Tongala's first ever Eats and Beats festival in May last year, a second and bigger event is set to return on Sunday, October 9. Running from noon until 4pm it will feature live music and great food, with the festival again being a free community all-ages event, though a gold coin donation is welcomed. While last year's festival adhered to rather strict COVID-19 conditions and drew a crowd of over 500 people, this year's event isn’t subject to any pandemic restrictions, so a larger turnout is expected.
Also returning for its second year is the Goulburn Valley Country Music Festival. Scheduled for Saturday, April 1 of next year at the Shepparton Showgrounds, the official line-up has just been announced. Leading the charge on the bill are Aussie country legends Kasey Chambers and Troy Cassar-Daley, who will be joined by The Wolfe Brothers, Travis Collins, Adam Harvey, Kaylee Bell and a host of other superb performers.
And the winner is ...
Congratulations to Karen Gladigau of Kialla, who is the winner of the recent Amy Shark competition. Karen has won herself a copy of Amy's latest album, Cry Forever, on vinyl and a signed fan card.
Fun music fact
Did you know before Aussie rock legends AC/DC became global superstars, they had performed live in Shepparton on two occasions. The first was on Boxing Day in 1975 and then again the following year on December 7, 1976.
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As always, keep the music rockin’.
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