The Teskey trajectory has been something of a tsunami; rapid and full of force, collecting masses of people along the way.
It’s Wednesday 18 June and The Teskey Brothers are about to take to the stage in Philadelphia at the city’s historical landmark venue The Met, established as the Metropolitan Opera House in 1908 and revered for its heavenly acoustics. They’re on the tailend of their The Winding Way Tour of North America which has seen them sell out shows across the country.
“We’re about to head on stage in Philly at this beautiful theatre called The Met. It’s a magnificent looking theatre, I think it’s a very old place and it’s a great little part of town so I’m feeling great,” says Sam Teskey, one half of the blues rock sibling band.
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Teskey has just woken up for the day, keeping to Australian time zones as they venture around The States. It’s a strategy that enables him to keep connected with home, adapting to the life of a rockstar of late night gigs with ease and to be able to regulate to early mornings again when he comes home to family life.
This strategy comes in handy on this fateful day. In the early hours of this cold Australian morning, the 2025 summer series of A Day On The Green announces its mammoth lineup, this time with The Teskey Brothers as the headline act.
“It’s very special. It’s one of those things that we’re blown away, kind of pinching ourselves that we’re on the run on the bill of,” explains Teskey.
“We’ve played a few [A Day On The Green’s] – we supported Jimmy Barnes and Crowded House on a few of the shows, so we’ve played a few supports for A Day On The Green so that, again, is another really great feeling to be headlining it. It’s definitely a really cool thing.”
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As presented by the experienced team of Roundhouse Entertainment, The Teskey Brothers join a golden list of music royalty who have headlined the festival in the past. From the most recent of Mr Chris Issak, to The Chicks, their colourful festival cake has included The Chemical Brothers, The Killers, Florence and the Machine, Robbie Williams, Elton John, Rod Stewart and Cyndi Lauper. The Teskey Brothers have well and truly earnt their sprinkles in that mix as one of Australia’s most celebrated exports.
You just need to look to their recent festival appearances to understand their impact. A standout set at Glastonbury last year was timed perfectly in The Teskey Brothers trajectory to further cement their status as standouts of soul but this year’s appearance at Bonnaroo made a major mark, showcasing their undeniable talent amongst a sea of greats. The Saturday session was shared by rock royalty Red Hot Chilli Peppers, along with Cage The Elephant, Diplo, Cigarettes After Sex, Reneé Rapp, Brittany Howard and Sean Paul, but The Teskey Brothers were reported as a highlight with an incredibly memorable set.
“At Bonaroo we changed the set last minute because we had heaps of messages from fans saying they were going to propose to this song so please play this song and people asking for certain songs so we had to add it in,” Teskey says.
It’s not the first time that proposals have popped up at The Teskey Brothers shows as their music lends itself to romantic moments.
“It does happen a lot. Sometimes we hear a big crowd roar or cheer in the middle of the songs and we’re like ‘What happened? That was a weird point in the song to have a big cheer!” because usually you can predict when people will cheer during a song and we’re like “Where did that come from?” and you see someone at the front on their knees and it’s really cool. It’s a really special thing to happen with our songs.”
He adds, “It’s really lovely and beautiful.”
It’s something to be expected as they take to the picturesque winery settings of A Day On The Green, audience members getting swept up in the serenading vocals and rolling green landscape. Another expectation is a generous setlist. Building on from their Bonnaroo epic which was a celebration of their nearing two decade career, the duo are sure to make their set special for their homecoming.
“In these upcoming shows we’ll have more songs in there. Being our own show we get to branch out a bit more and get to play a few more tunes in there or play them for longer. We like to get a bit freaky sometimes and play big long grooves so the set at A Day On The Green will be all that and more, and more fun and jammy. We always like playing longer sets – it’s more fun. But we find the sweet spot is around 1 hour and 45 minutes which is the sweet spot where you capture the audience’s attention and don’t lose them,” explains Teskey.
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“We think it would be fun to maybe put together a medley of songs so we can fit more in there and throw in a bunch of songs that don’t normally make it.”
Adding to the experience is the stellar selection of support, this time feeling A Day On The Green‘s most personally connected and curated selection. Joining The Teskey Brothers are Band of Horses in their first trek Down Under since 2016, prior to their 2022 output Things Are Great, the now exploding acts of CMAT and Sierra Ferrell, and Melbourne’s own Charlie Needs Braces.
“We’re big fans of Sierra Ferrell and Charlie Needs Braces – she has played trumpet with us for many, many years and so it’s so good to have her on the bill and then new fans of the great band of Band of Horses. They’re really cool and it’s really cool to be bringing these American acts out over to Australia. CMAT, we’ve done a lot of touring with – she’s really cool and such a fun artist to hang out with. It’s a lot of fun. We just feel that it is going to be such a special day.”
What may make it all the more special is the possibility of new music from the Teskey’s. Sam and Josh Teskey have been feeling inspired again after playing their 2023 album The Winding Way to receptive audiences across the North American tour. It’s seen them return back into songwriting and composition mode.
“It’s actually creeping in a lot, the foresight of thinking of a new album is coming around now. A lot of song ideas are popping in now. I had three weeks off a few weeks ago and it was nice to be at home on the piano out in the bush in our little cabin. That’s a beautiful place to be after being on the road to come up with ideas and then being on the road you never know when a song pops in so yeah, we’re having a bit of space and time to come up with a few ideas which is really cool. I’m really looking forward to getting in the studio and working on a new album.”
The prospect is exciting but for now the confirmation of The Teskey Brothers coming home is even more thrilling.
Tickets to A Day On The Green to see The Teskey Brothers are now on sale. In Victoria you can catch them exclusively playing Mt Duneed Estate in Geelong on Saturday 11 January. Get them here.
