While it may seem like festival season doesn’t kick in until the warmer months, there’s something about winter that seems so fitting for bunkering down, grabbing a glass of wine and listening to blues music in the clubs, hotels, restaurants and streets.
The Echuca-Moama Winter Blues Festival has been going for just short of two decades (celebrating 19 years this year!), and still stands as one of the best blues festivals this side of the border. For those in Forte territory who are yet to experience the wonder that is the Winter Blues Festival, we’ve put together a little bit of a guide for you.
GETTING THERE
There are a few options to take on your travels to Echuca. For those inclined, a roadtrip is an essential part of the experience. And as a rough 2.5 hour trip from Geelong, it’s quite a scenic country route of regional Victoria. Be sure to stop off in Heathcote and sample some of the great wineries. For those in regional Victoria, V/Line is both a convenience and inconvenience. A bus service and train runs through V/Line from various town centres. Visit the website to find out your best stop (www.vline.com.au ). Lastly, while flying may seem like the best option, the closest airport is Tullamarine in Melbourne, so seeking out one of the above transport methods is still needed. And really, flying is only great for those interstate.
WHERE TO STAY
One thing to remember though is booking accommodation ahead of your trip is a must. With a bunch of caravan parks, hotels and motels available, this entire town is completely catered to bringing you, your family and friends the ultimate blues experience. If you don’t know where to start, there’s a whole list of possible options on the Echuca-Blues website which you can find here, winterblues.com.au/accommodation/.
As we near closer to the festival, it’s possible that hotel and motel rooms will have been booked! In this case, we recommend checking out Airbnb where you’ll find a range of different private rooms, entire houses, cottages and apartments that are still available for the long weekend. The best thing about Airbnb, is that there’s a number of entire houses still available for that weekend, meaning you can round up a whole crew and just split the cost. It’s best to get in early though!
If you have left it a bit late and you do need to stay in an area a little more remote, the festival even offers courtesy buses who will pick you up from the surrounding areas.
WHO TO SEE
With over 60 artists lined up for the festival across 25 stages and three days, you’ll be blessed with sounds from some the most talented blues musicians Australia has to offer. While the festival is set up so you can sample many of the acts across the venues, it can still seem a little overwhelming to decide on who to see. We’ve picked a few performers who offer something a bit different to the bill:
19-Twenty
An infectious riff and groove based blue-billy-grass-rockin’- roots band, the 19-Twenty lads have been performing their high-energy sonic-party nationally, headlining sell-out shows and festivals seven times around Oz and performed gigs throughout Europe. Performing anywhere and everywhere, this straight-up 100% independent act have been gaining new music fans/fiends from their live shows.
Rhythm X Revival
Rhythm X Revival is an energetic new Rocking Country Blues band formed by John-Luke Shelley and Johnny Tesoriero. The two musicians have collaborated and each written songs for a new album which they have just recorded at The Teskey Brothers’ studio. Featuring John-Luke as the lead singer and on lead and rhythm guitar, Chris Win on bass, Jeremy Neumann on the keyboard and Johnny Tesoriero on drums, Rhythm X Revival has a unique and melodic musical style that incorporates the vocal harmonies of Johnny, Chris and Jeremy. They also dropped their self-titled debut album earlier this year which pays homage to the soulful tones of the Country and Blues era, centred around the songwriting and friendship of John-Luke and Johnny so you can be sure to hear a few tracks from that one.
Matty T Wall
Western Australian Blues-rock up-and-comer Matty T Wall is undoubtedly one of the most inspired musicians of this generation. The last few years had seen Matty built himself a solid reputation, releasing his debut album Blue Skies in 2016 which went #1 on the iTunes Blues chart. He recently released his second album, Sidewinder, which seriously packs a punch consisting of 12 bluesy, rock fuelled tracks, dominated with transfixing guitar slingin’. Armed with a powerful album full of variation that could well be imagined to blow the roof off any blues bar, Matty is one you should put on your list.
Charlie Bedford
This one is definitely worth a look! Charlie is a 17-year-old blues guitarist and vocalist from Melbourne. Over the years, he has played with and been mentored by some of the biggest names in Australian Blues such as, Geoff Achison, Sweet Felicia, Jimi Hocking, Andrea Marr, Russell Morris and Lloyd Spiegel to name a few, and has performed at the ‘International Blues Challenge – Youth Showcase’ in Memphis 2017 and 2018 representing the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society. Charlie is a fresh act on the festival scene, representing the next generation – keeping the blues alive! He’ll get your feet tapping and leave a smile on your face!
You’ll also witness sounds from up and coming Blues powerhouse Bill Barber, ARIA award winning blues legends Collard Greens and Gravy and, of course, Australia’s best blues guitar player Geoff Achison. That’s not even a quarter of the acts though, truly proving this festival is the place to be for heart-starting blues and roots music.
THE AFTER PARTY
Closing the Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival is the annual Wrap Up Party. Held at The Star Hotel On The Wharf, the party will be featuring two special international acts, The Turner Brown Band, all the way from the USA, will be performing their only show of the 2018 festival, along with support from Z-Star Trinity from the UK. This is the only ticketed event for the entire weekend, but we can promise you it’s worth it.
EAT & PLAY
Most importantly, the festival is about exploring the town and immersing yourself in Echuca as much as into blues music.
If you’re between acts, don’t forget to take your time and really explore the heritage centre of the city. Aside from the beautiful Murray River as the backdrop, the paddle steamers are an absolute must – with daily and overnight cruises, and then finish it off at the Echuca Heritage Sweet company for every lolly you can imagine. Don’t forget to travel across the border into Moama as well, with this tiny town offering plenty to keep you there for several hours.
Pat a donkey. You heard right, the river-town is about much more than just blues music and paddlesteamers. At Tongala Donkey Shelter more than 350 orphaned, neglected and surrendered donkeys are taken care of that you can give a bit of TLC of your own.
As for the food, Echuca Moama and district offers the very best for those who appreciate good wine and food. You will be spoilt for choice with more than fifty eateries gracing the twin towns. Chinese, Italian, Indian, Greek, Thai and Western cuisine all available. Our contemporary restaurants are second to none and a selection of pubs offer tasty counter meals and a large range of cafes ensure a delightful day-time menu, while baked goodies from one of our bakeries are sure to impress. There’s also a number of wine bars for festival goers to kick back at between acts!
There is no better way than spending a winters weekend at The Echuca-Moama Winter Blues Festival from July 26th – 29th.
You can view the full artist lineup, the list of participating venues and the weekend schedule online at winterblues.com.au.