the AU review is proud to present the 25th annual Bluesfest in Byron Bay next Easter weekend. One aspect of the festival we love every year is the discovery of young and emerging artists – alongside, of course, the more established on the lineup, and the countless “legends” along the way. As we look towards the 2014 event, we’re proud to launch the new Bluesfest Discovery Page on the AU – a section that highlights artists we think you should discover yourselves, while also giving you the chance to win tickets to the festival!
Every other Tuesday over the next six weeks, we’ll be highlighting five young and emerging artists on this, the Bluesfest Discovery Page. We invite all readers to learn more about, and listen to, these fine musicians, and vote for your favourite!
Every vote serves as as entry for a MASSIVE giveaway. The grand prize winner will receive two five day tickets to the 2014 Bluesfest, with camping*! One lucky runner up will win two three day passes^ and third prize is a mystery prize involving some of the discovery artists! We will reveal more on that one as the competition progresses… Winners for the major prize will be drawn December 17th and contacted later that day.
So, without further delay, here are the first five Discovery artists…
Nikki Hill
Read our exclusive interview with Nikki Hill HERE.
She has been hailed “The Southern Fireball”, “the new soul sensation” and even “the new Queen of Rock and Roll”. North Carolina born Nikki Hill’s career is rising fast and she is only in her twenties. Nikki will be playing the Bluesfest stage – and Australia – for the first time with her guitar-playing husband Matt Hill and their band.
She draws on vintage female rhythm and blues influences such as LaVern Baker, Etta James and Ruth Brown, as well as some of her favorite male singers Otis Redding and Solomon Burke, her tough vocal style fits with contemporary sensibilities yet evokes all the great blues shouters of previous decades.
Nikki will be bringing her new album with her, Here’s Nikki Hill! If you haven’t heard of Nikki Hill yet, you soon will, and once you see her perform, you won’t forget her…
JIMMIE VAUGHAN WITH SPECIAL GUEST NIKKI HILL
Metro Theatre, Sydney – 16 April 2014
The Corner Hotel, Melbourne – 17 April 2014
Tickets: http://www.bluesfesttouring.com/
The older brother of legendary “Texas Blues” guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan comes from good stock and, with a genuine love of and finesse with the guitar, plays some of the best God-damn Blues on the planet.
Allen Stone
Read our exclusive interview with Allen Stone HERE.
Check out our photos of Allen Stone at Bluesfest last year HERE.
Allen Stone made such a huge impression at Bluesfest this year, they had to invite him back! Not only did the 26 year old manage to get everyone in the audience put their phones away, he captivated the entire crowd with his heartfelt lyrics and social morals not to mention he also sold out his entire Australian tour.
Stone is the son of a preacher man, and like many soul singers, he got his start in church. Surrounded by gospel music, Allen didn’t discover soul music until he was a teenager and started collecting classic albums from the 60’s and 70’s.
Allen Stone can sing, and the raw, soulful power of his voice is winning him an adoring fan base world-wide, as USA Today puts it, he is the “pitch perfect powerhouse” if you missed him at Bluesfest this year make sure you don’t make the same mistake at their 25th Anniversary.
ALLEN STONE SIDESHOW DATES:
The Corner Hotel, Melbourne – 12 April 2014
Metro Theatre, Sydney – 13 April 2014
Brisbane, The Zoo – 16 April 2014
Tickets: http://www.bluesfesttouring.com/
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
Check out our photos of Grace and her band at Bluesfest last year HERE.
We also reviewed her performance at Jazz Fest in New Orleans. You can read that HERE.
Read our exclusive interview with Grace Potter HERE.
Grace Potter has a voice you rarely stumble across; a smoky, assured voice that spans effortlessly from a whisper to a soaring cappella within a single breath and after captivating the crowd at her Bluesfest debut earlier this year, they have understandably invited Grace Potter & the Nocturnals back for their 25th Anniversary. It won’t take you long to see why the band have established themselves as one of the most exciting and energetic live acts around today.
The release of their most ambitious album to date, The Lion The Beast The Beat (2012) saw Grace and the boys streamline their vintage signature sound, with a bunch of songs that are, just as the title suggests, powerful, pitch perfect stories. The album was produced by Grace as well as Jim Scott (Wilco, Tedeschi Trucks band, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers), and Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) who also co-wrote three songs, the swampy ‘Loneliest Soul’ and the album’s most melodic sing-along tracks and first single ‘Runaway’ as well as ‘Never Go Back.’
Live, Potter’s sultry vocals, rock chic flying V guitar and keys combine the vintage sound that reminds you of songs you listened to on your parents’ car radio, with electric energy that makes you want to get on the soles of their feet and dance til dawn. Equal parts seductive and dangerous, live this evocative voice and commanding presence translates her inventive, soul-searching poetry to life and is sure to have you transfixed for her entire set and leave you covered in goose bumps.
Valerie June
Catchy, big melodies that just make you want to dance. This is everything you need to know about Valerie June, but we guarantee you’ll want to know more the minute you hear her vintage wail echoing around the festival.
Tennessee native Valerie June is a self-taught musician, singer and songwriter who came to the fore after a mesmerising debut UK TV performance on Later… With Jools Holland and it has snowballed from there.
Her new album, Pushin’ Against a Stone (which entered the Billboard 200 Charts at 41) saw her collaborating, writing and producing with Dan Auerbach (multi-Grammy winners The Black Keys & Dr. John) and Kevin Augunas (Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros, Sinéad O’Connor, Florence & The Machine) to create a truly unique sound.
The album also features another Grammy award winner, the legendary Booker T. Jones. The debut single, “Workin’ Woman Blues”, is a riot, a brand new bona-fide blues-pop anthem, but it’s only the beginning. Watch her official video from the single “You Can’t Be Told” below.
The Soul Rebels
Check out our review of the band in Perth last year HERE.
And we also caught them at Bonnaroo in the USA in 2012. Check that out HERE.
Mixing R&B, funk and hip-hop, with a traditional brass band style, the sound of The Soul Rebels – making their debut appearance at Bluesfest’s 25th Birthday Party – unique, catchy, infectious sound is quickly earning them a worldwide fan base. The Soul Rebels initially formed when percussionists Derrick Moss and Lumar LeBlanc met as members of Harold Dejan’s Young Olympia Brass Band and made the timely decision that they wanted to reinterpret the tunes they were hearing on pop radio within the context of old school New Orleans brass and marching bands.
The now eight piece band have totally blurred the boundaries between the old and the new world and to date have collaborated with the likes of Metallica, Green Day, Suzanne Vega, Alabama Shakes and Arcade Fire and have shared the stage with legendary artists such as The Roots, Bootsy Collins, Robert Plant & Jimmy Page, Counting Crows, Drive By Truckers, James Brown, Roy Hargrove, Allen Toussaint and many more. They harness their horns and enthusiasm to create a party-like atmosphere when they play live and have been billed on shows with the likes of Kanye West, Snoop Dogg and Cee Lo Green.
Selling-out shows throughout the US, The Soul Rebels combine top notch musicianship and showmanship and songs with grooves that celebrate life in time-honoured New Orleans style. Brassy, groovy, funky, horny… This Bluesfest – get ready, get excited and prepare to party to the contagious grooves of The Soul Rebels!
ENTER THE COMPETITION!
Entries have closed for the artists above… discover the artists in the current period of this competition HERE for your chance to win tickets to the 2014 Byron Bay Bluesfest!
