Echuca Moama’s Winter Blues Festival brings the cream of Australia’s Blues bands to town from July 25 to 28.
SOUVENIR GUIDE
For more than 20 years Echuca-Moama’s premier entertainment venue has been bringing you the blues. Proud Event Partner again for 2024.
Wipe away the winter blues at this year’s Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival from July 25 to 28 with free entry at venues all over Echuca and Moama.
Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival programmer Jon Howell said there was something for everyone at Winter Blues.
“It is an amazing testament to the community that put the Winter Blues together,” Jon said.
“It is one of the country’s
longest-running, regional community-based music festivals.
“There are probably three important blues festivals in Australia, and the Winter Blues Festival is one of them, along with Blues Fest and Blues on Broadbeach.
“Winter Blues is free, which is amazing, with everything being so expensive.”
This year’s Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival will be one of the most inclusive events yet.
“It is not just about blues bands in pubs; we are activating the
whole town; there is plenty to do for everyone,” Jon said.
“If you are a hardcore blues fan, there will be something for you.
“If you don’t care about the blues, but you just love good music, and you want something to do with the kids, or if you just love the town itself, because the town itself is just so beautiful, especially in winter, then there is something there for you.”
The family space will run again this year in Hopwood Gardens from 10am to 3pm on Saturday and Sunday.
It will feature free kids’ activities, jumping castles and a children’s play area.
This year, the emphasis is on local talent, with the homegrown artist program on the Winter Blues Festival stage in Little Hopwood St.
Other highlights include the Port of Echuca historic wharf being transformed into an all-ages, laid-back stage and space and the Echuca Hotel expanding its offerings.
Jon is encouraging anyone local who wants to support the
festival to purchase a ticket to the wrap party on Sunday night at Radcliffe’s.
“We just want to stress to everyone that the reason it is ticketed, we do a kind of best of the festival line-up, like a jam session, is all of that ticket money goes to supporting the work of the volunteer committee throughout the year to put the event on,” Jon said.
▯ For more information, including who is playing where and when and tickets to the wrap party, go to winterblues.com.au
Winter Blues’ mission is to include the whole community in its line-up, and in 2024, this will extend to the well-established Homegrown stage.
The Homegrown stage gives local up-and-coming artists a stage of their own as part of the festival.
One of the artists performing on the Homegrown stage will be Louise MacGregor from Bendigo.
“I’m playing with Sam Pollack, who is a blues guitarist from a band called The Ratbags,” Louise said.
“He and I are good mates and we decided to start playing together about six months ago, which made me feel a little bit more entitled to apply for the blues festival.
“We are going to do my songs with a bit of blues guitar flair.”
Many locals would know Louise from regular gigs at the American, the Axedale Tavern and the Handle Bar in Bendigo.
“I just write songs for myself when I feel like it,” Louise said.
“I was trained in jazz and classical, so I don’t sound bluesy or folky and then when I pair up with other musicians, it seems my songs start to lean towards the other genres.
“When I play with Sam, they will start to sound a bit more bluesy than when I sing
Louise MacGregor will play on the Homegrown stage on Sunday at 1.45pm.
with Daniel Mays under my band, Longley Lane.”
Louise is in the process of recording new material with local producer Daniel Mays and asks you to follow her on socials at Lousie MacGregor Music to be notified when the new music comes out.
Louise looks forward to seeing Bill Barber and the Holding Cell at this year’s Winter Blues.
“I used to host an open mic night in Healesville and his father used to bring him in to play his slide guitar on open mic night,” she said.
“And he was enthralling as a 14-year-old and seeing him play with a full band now is out of this world.
“So, I will be very excited to see him play.”
Louise will perform on the Homegrown
Grim Fawkner will play on the Homegrown stage on Sunday at 2.30pm.
stage, Little Hopwood St, on Sunday, July 28 at 1.45pm.
The Homegrown stage is in Little Hopwood St and will run from 10.45am to 4.45pm both days.
Frankie Bell, Dan Duggan, Kamali, Sarah Mackenzie-Ross, Toby Brooks, Rory Phillips and Corey Legge will perform on the Homegrown stage on Saturday, July 27.
Glenn Skuthorpe is a master of melodies and one of Australia’s most prolific and powerful lyricists, composer and performer.
With six highly regarded albums and music featured in movies and documentaries such as The Emu Runner and John Pilger’s Utopia, Glenn’s sound spans a vast gamut from urban street blues to wide-open skies.
The Nhunggabarra Kooma man acknowledges his family’s role in becoming a lifelong musician.
“Honestly, it runs in my family on my mum’s side, I think that is where the music talent comes from,” he said.
“I had eight brothers, they were all guitar players, and all played three chords.
“My Uncle showed me three chords, D, G and A and said that was all you will need to know.”
Glenn will perform at Winter Blues as part of a three-piece band with Steve Wilkie on drums and Mike Haynes on bass.
“Hank Williams would be my first inspiration, but as I grew older, Archie Roach, Kev Carmody
and Warren Zevon and all these different artists,” Glenn said.
“I love to listen to much broader music genres and to put a lot of different inspiration into my music.
“My three-piece band has got that sort of raw guitar sound.
July 25–28, 2024 2024
“There is no rhythmic guitar, just hard guitar playing and pretty loud music.”
Many of Glenn’s songs are about the struggles he has gone through as an Indigenous man.
Glenn Skuthorpe will play as part of the three-piece band with Steve Wilkie on drums and Mike Haynes on bass.
This contributed to his founding ‘First Nation Voices’, a worldwide collaboration of music between different Indigenous groups.
“My lovely sister, here in Adelaide, Nancy Bates, we are collaborating on a tour to Canada and getting the First Nations people from Canada and the US to come over here.
“We have an Indigenous South American lady here in Adelaide called Lenny, who is a marvellous Chilean singer-songwriter and we have been doing some stuff together.
Glenn, Nancy Bates and Lenny recently toured through Outback NSW, doing 16 shows in three weeks.
“It is important to bring cultures
together,” Glenn said.
“We have a Barkindji Song Woman, a Nhunggabarra Kooma man, and Lenny, who is an Indigenous Chilean.
“All three artists were out the front, and every piece of music was different, with different stories to tell, but we all came from the same struggle.
“And people just loved it.
“When I do gigs with the First Nations people from Canada, it is a different sort of set together again.
“We have all these different people, but talking about the same struggle that we all have, and even though we come from oceans away, we still have the
Glenn Skuthorpe, founder of First Nation Voices, will perform this weekend at Winter Blues.
same struggle.
The singer-songwriter is currently recording his seventh album and will perform tracks from it at Winter Blues.
“I am looking forward to it and playing some deadly music,” he said.
You can find out more about
Glenn Skuthorpe, including the release of his seventh album, at glennskuthorpe.com
▯ Glenn Skuthorpe plays Winter Blues: Saturday, July 27 at Radcliffe’s at 6.30pm. Sunday, July 28 at Hopwood Gardens at 11.45am.
8 Ball Aitken is bringing his cigar box three-string slide guitar to this year’s Winter Blues.
After touring the world for over a decade, performing his swampy blues in 20 countries, 8 Ball has earned a loyal fan base while earning his dues as a singer, songwriter, slide guitarist and producer.
“Anyone who loves cigar boxes and slide guitars should come and check out my show,” 8 Ball said.
“I love that a little box can make so much noise, a little cigar box.”
Off the back of 15 albums, 8 Ball has released the blues rock album, Ice Cream Man 2, that recently hit number one in the Australian Blues and Roots Charts.
“I made it in the United States with Buddy Guy’s drummer,”
8 Ball said.
“Buddy Guy is one of the most high-profile blues guys.
“He is 87 and still touring in the United States, an old legend from Louisiana.
played in 2019.
“We are going to be playing some songs from Ice Cream Man and Ice Cream Man 2 and Swamp Boys and Swamp Boys 2 because I have made two lots of sequel albums,” 8 Ball said.
“We are going to play our party rock and fun tracks.”
This year, 8 Ball looks forward to seeing alternative country blues rock artist Corey Legge and long-time Winter Blues favourite 19 Twenty.
To find out more about 8 Ball Aitken and pick up his back catalogue, including the Ice Cream Man albums, go to 8ballaitken.com
▯ 8 Ball Aitken plays Winter Blues: Shamrock Hotel, Friday, July 26 at 8.30pm.
Echuca Library, Saturday, July 27 at 10am.
Henry’s Bridge Hotel, Saturday, July 27 at 8.30pm.
Echuca Hotel, Sunday, July 28 at 6.30pm.
At the 2023 Winter Blues, Darcy Ramage was a late scratching after breaking his arm the weekend before in the Murray Football League round 16 Tocumwal versus Echuca United match.
That will not happen this year, as Darcy’s ‘mumanager’, Mim Ramage, has suggested that Darcy sit out the 2024 season due to his injury-prone nature.
and busk,” Darcy said.
Darcy has been involved in Winter Blues since he was 14, skipping school to attend the previously held Blues Boot Camp. He started busking when he was a Year 7 student at St Joseph’s College at the Port of Echuca.
“But as Nash got older, he didn’t really enjoy doing it as much, so he stopped.
“I took over from there.
“The summer when I turned 18, I got pretty popular playing gigs almost everywhere because I was allowed in the pubs after a certain time.
“That summer, I played every weekend, and I think I had six or seven weekends in a row where I had three gigs.”
This led to forming a duo with his brother Nash called the Ramage Boys and playing gigs around town.
“We would go out in front of where Oscar W’s was in the Port
Currently studying biomedical engineering at Melbourne University, Darcy still loves playing music and performing as much as he can.
Now that his uni exams are over for the winter break, Darcy is busy practicing new songs, with a greater focus on the blues for this year’s festival.
“The summer when I turned 18, I got pretty popular playing gigs almost everywhere because I was allowed in the pubs after a certain time.”
“With Winter Blues, I will probably bring my guitar and my electric guitar and switch between the two, depending on the songs that are played,” he said.
“I will play songs by a band called Kaleo, they are an Icelandic blues rock band, which are very, very good.
“I will also play Ain’t No Sunshine by Bill Withers and do a bluesy version of Johnny B Goode
“I still have to write a few more blues-style songs.
“I will be playing one of my songs, which is a bit more on the blues side of things, maybe a bit of Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters as well.”
Darcy’s recommendations to catch at this year’s Winter Blues are Grim Fawkner, Rory Phillips and the crowd favourite 19 Twenty.
“Grim has been playing around the traps and absolutely killing it,” he said.
“I played the ‘Man from Snowy River Festival’, and Rory was on the bill too.
“He is someone everyone should be catching at Winter Blues and watching out for, as he is very talented.”
▯ Darcy Ramage plays Winter Blues: Saturday, July 27 at the Star Murray River Providore at 1pm. Sunday, July 28 at the Echuca Wharf at 10.30am.
The Echuca-Moama Winter Blues Festival is a celebration for the entire community.
And one way that everyone gets involved is by decorating cut-out guitars.
The colourful guitars are judged and ribbons awarded before being distributed to businesses in the participating Winter Blues areas.
This year there were five categories for ages five and up.
2024 Echuca-Moama Winter Blues Festival guitar decorator winners are:
Five to nine-year-olds
First: The Ramsey Boys — Tommy, Toby and Noah
Second: Sebastian Roberts
Honourable mention: Jack Lamph
St Mary’s Primary School
First: Lucy Andrews
Second: Daylen Samaraweera
Honourable mention: Shaylee Firebrace
Ten to 12-year-olds
First: Ava Joy Siede
Second: Maya Butler
the Echuca Library during the school holidays.
Some of the examples of the guitars painted at the session.
Honourable mention: Evie Gillie
Young adults up to 23 years old
First: Josephine Bevilaqua
Second: Bindhi Stewert
Honourable mention: Jade Rourke
First: Maryann Jenkins
Second: Pat G
Honourable mention: Linda Kelly
Honourable mention: Crossenvale volunteers
Saturday Jim Hocking (Solo) 12pm - 1:45pm Jarrod Shaw (Duo) 2:15pm - 4pm Sunday
Dan Dinnen and Shorty 12pm - 1:45pm Charlie Bedford 2:15pm - 4pm
Courtesy Bus from Henry's Bridge Hotel (via the Visitor Information Centre) departing 11:30am & 1pm Saturday & Sunday
out and enjoy riverside
and
with
Here is your guide for being ready for this great event.
To support the increased number of people and vehicles into the port precinct, the following traffic management will be implemented for the weekend:
From Thursday, 25 July – Sunday, 28 July, the historic Port of Echuca’s heritage precinct and surrounding venues will come alive with some of the country’s best blues musicians.
High St (from roundabout to roundabout) will become 40kph.
The following roads will be closed to traffic both Saturday and Sunday:
Radcliffe St Car Park (Beechworth Bakery),
Little Hopwood Street between High Street and Murray Esplanade,
Watson St between Law Crt Place and Hopwood Place,
Murray Esplanade between Leslie Street and Hopwood Place.
Patrons will be encouraged to use additional parking at the Old Pump Station and High St Carparks.
Traffic bollards will mark the bus stop for the Event Shuttle Bus near St Georges Square, High St.
Crowd barriers will once again be placed in the median strip along High St, encouraging pedestrians to cross at set locations.
To keep the flow of traffic moving on the corner of High & Leslie Street, vehicles will only be able to turn left out of Leslie Street onto High Street.
Patrons who
comply will be issued with a fine.
Doc Halibut’s rock ‘n’ roll, blues and pop exhibits an authentic heart and irrepressible energy that will carry any audience aloft and along for the ride.
Through raucous sections of interpretation and improvisation to precise craftsmanship, the ever-present quip, jibe and plaintive observation of Doc Halibut singer and guitarist Andy Ferguson’s lyricism stands central to the five-piece’s original sound.
“We are inspired by great rhythm and blues players, but equally by great songwriters like the Beatles and Crowded House,” Doc Halibut guitarist Luke O’Connor said.
“We like to think that while we are inspired by rhythm and blues music, we also bring a little bit of esoteric quirky pop sensibility to it as well.
“Andrew Ferguson, the lead singer, and James Ferguson, the piano player, are brothers.
“We all grew up together in central Queensland, playing music together in their shed as teenagers.
“We ended up in Melbourne, playing in various different bands until we settled upon this line-up
with Sam Leskovec on drums and Owen Downie on bass.
“Andrew and his brother were in another band previously and they found the best way to secure festival and pub gigs was to pretend to be a manager named Doc Halibut.
“Doc was a very successful manager until that band fell apart and it felt right to call the next band in honour of the manager.”
Doc Halibut’s live shows recreate and reinterpret their songbook with energy, passion and, more often than not, a large dose of larrikin humour.
“We put good songwriting at the centre of what we do, which I think sets us apart,” Luke said.
“But while we give a nod to blues music, which is what the festival is about, we think there is also a place for great narrative songwriting.
“We also rock, with Andrew Ferguson being one of the country’s best lead guitarists.”
Luke shared a typical blues joke that Doc Halibut does have some songs “that have more than three chords in them often”.
“We do that, but sometimes go into it more complexly,” he said.
Doc Halibut is working on a new album, their third, which is due to be released around
with the new single, The Greatest, on the Winter Blues playlist.
When asked, Luke’s recommendations for this year’s Winter Blues include Jesse Redwing,
You can find out more about Doc Halibut, including signing up to be the first to know about the release of the third album,
at dochalibut.com
▯ Doc Halibut plays Winter Blues:
The Star Hotel, Friday, July 26 at 8.15pm.
The American Hotel, Saturday, July 27 at 2pm.
Echuca Racing Club will once again combine the excitement of live thoroughbred racing with the soulful tunes of blues music as part of the Echuca-Moama Winter Blues Festival.
The event, ‘Winter Blues at the Races,’ will be held on Friday, July 26 and will feature numerous blues acts playing at the Echuca Race Club’s pavilion throughout the day.
These acts include Julian James and the Moonshine State playing from 12.10 pm to 1.40 pm, Paul Buchanan’s Voodoo Preachers from 2.10 pm to 3.40 pm and Eddy and the Exciters from 4.10 pm to 5.20 pm. Gates will open at 11 am, with courtesy buses starting at 10.45 am and travelling from Echuca Race Club to opposite The Echuca Hotel, Caledonian Hotel, The Border Inn and Moama Bowling Club continuously until 5.45 pm.
The first race jump is yet to be announced. Eight to 10 races are projected throughout the day, the last of which will jump at 4.30 pm.
Tickets are still available. The first 200 purchases receive free entry. Otherwise, entry is $15.
A blues-themed menu will also be available for the day, including popular southern United States flavours such as southern fried chicken.
Echuca Racing Club track manager Jarratt Farley is excited about the event and participating
in one of the larger festivals in rural Victoria.
“The weather is looking promising, so we will open multiple bar facilities and have some tables up in the shade and in the sun as well,” he said.
“We generally get an excellent turnout, and it’s great to be part of the Winter-Blues Festival in Echuca Moama, a legendary
event and one of the biggest in the region.”
“So, for us to be a part of it is exciting, and combining horse racing and live blues music will make for a great day.”
▯ To purchase tickets for ‘Winter Blues at the Races’ visit echuca.tickets. countryracing.com.au
