The 20th Bluestone – as good as it gets

The Bluestone New Year’s Eve/Day blues festival this year is a milestone for Sleepy Hollows Blues Club – it’s the 20th anniversary of the annual event.
One big party is planned – the lineup this year is as impressive as it’s ever been and bumper crowds on both days are expected, with many camping overnight to get a taste of the total Bluestone experience.
Kicking off the celebrations at 6pm on NYE will be local lads Brian Fraser and Dave the Bastard.
Brian is one of the country’s finest acoustic blues performers. The multi-award winning artist has been strutting his stuff for more than three decades all around Australia at festivals, pubs and clubs, delivering his own brand of stompboard-driven blues. Brian is joined by another familiar face and formidable local talent – Dave the Bastard, a man who makes the harmonica talk.
The pair will well and truly warm things up for Miss Whiskey – a gritty female duo who mix up their own original stuff with classic blues standards. With Anna Scionti on guitar and vocals and Julie Noble on harmonica, the pair put an unmistakable raw and original stamp on blues music.
They’ve made their mark since forming in 2014, including winning the 2015 MBAS Blues Challenge (solo/duo category), and are off to the 2016 International Blues Challenge in Memphis later in January.
Next up, it’s another duo – Illawarra’s Jacky Howellers, featuring Rod Mitchell on guitar, kick drums and vocals, and harmonica maestro, Dan Sullivan. They pump out a great brand of footstomping, powerhouse blues, drawing heavily on influences like Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf and BB King.
Next on stage will be Paulie Bignell and the Thornbury Two. Paulie is well known across the country for his work with the Detonators, which he formed more than a decade ago. On NYE he and the Thornbury Two – Peter Beulke on bass and backing vocals and Craig Hadlow on drums – will set Bluestone alight with a great sound featuring Paul’s driving, rhythmic guitar that twangs, hypnotises, screams, seduces and stings.
It’s an amalgam of traditional rock ‘n’ roll, blues, rockabilly and country – and all punched out with energy and attitude…hollering, barking and moaning, stomping and yelling at the mic like there’s no tomorrow.
As midnight gets closer, the Hogstompin’ Zydegators are next to turn it on. Michael Murphy on vocals, guitar and bass, Jarrod Irvine on bass and guitar, Dave Lodge on accordion and piano, Brendan Dowd on percussion, vocals and harmonica and Brianna Reeves on drums are long-time favourites at the Port Fairy Folk Festival. They’re well known for their original stuff, which reflects their influences over the years – the music from Louisiana swamplands and the streets of New Orleans, Clifton Chenier, Stanley Dural Jnr and Australia’s own Psycho Zydeco (Sydney) and Zydeco Jump (Melbourne).
The final act to see in the new year is Jesse Valach’s Blues Mountain.
Jesse, a fiery blues/soul infused, reggae/roots inspired singer/songwriter and guitarist, weaves together intense guitar and soulful vocals, which is much admired in Melbourne and further afield.
With a killer rhythm section behind him, Jesse and Blues Mountain deliver a tight, riveting show, with Jesse, Nick Ohlson on bass, Anthony Murray on drums and Rowan Mumford on the Hammond.
Recovery Day begins the same way as New Year’s Eve with Brian Fraser and Dave the Bastard taking the stage for another set at 11am.
Then it’s the Mud Peas – another local Geelong-based act who play a genre of music best summed up as ball tearing blues/rock.
Aaron Salta on ugly stick, guitars and vocals, Troy Love on lead guitar, Shaun Hilton on bass and Mark McLeod on drums will belt out a feast for NYD punters in a style reflecting the band’s mission – not to preach their music or become famous, just to have fun and good times.
As heads get a bit clearer – or hazier – the Andrea Marr Band steps up to administer a dose of their feel-good, high energy original funk, groove, blues and soul sound.
Another MBAS Blues Challenge winner, the band reached the semi-finals at Memphis in the International Blues Challenge in 2013.
Andrea is joined by Greg Dodd on guitar, Clint Healy on bass, Dean Matters on drums and Sean Vagg, Martin Zakharov and Andy Free on horns.
The task of finishing off the 20th Bluestone is in good hands – Louis King and the Liars Klub are the headline Recovery Day act. Scots-born Louis, the king of the rockabilly blues, boasts impeccable credentials having played festivals and other venues Australia-wide, toured Europe five times and supported the likes of BB King, Buddy Guy, Jimmie Vaughan and Screamin’ J Hawkins.
It’s touted as a dangerous mix of blues and rockabilly songwriting with a stage act that is a mixture of an outback roadhouse and a Glasgow pub fight…roll on 2016!
When & Where: Murgheboluc Oval, Murgheboluc – December 31 – January 1