Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival 2023

Echuca Moama’s Winter Blues Festival brings the cream of Australia’s Blues bands to town from July 27 to 30.

SOUVENIR 12-PAGE GUIDE

For more than 20 years Echuca-Moama’s premier entertainment venue has been bringing you the blues. Proud Event Partner again for 2023.

Feeling the festival fever for the 24th year

Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival, now in its 24th year, will have everyone in town struttin’ and jookin’ from Thursday to Sunday this weekend.

Music programmer Jon Howell has been involved with the festival since 2008, firstly as a musician, then in his current role for the past three years.

“It’s called the Winter Blues Festival, because the last weekend of July, going back 25 years, was absolutely the worst weekend for tourism in the whole region,” Jon said.

“They used to call it ‘the winter blues’ because there was no one in town.

“Peter Williams, who recently passed away, set up the idea of putting on a blues festival, so they called it Winter Blues.

“It has always been free, completely free, which I think is part of its attraction.”

Winter Blues celebrates grassroots artists, with a focus on Australian Blues.

This year there are more than 50 artists performing across 20 venues for the four days of Winter Blues.

Outdoor stages at Hopwood Gardens, the WBF stage Little Hopwood St and Beechworth Bakery, as well as the Campaspe Library are all family friendly, all-ages venues.

On Saturday and Sunday, from 10 am to 3 pm Hopwood Gardens and the Port come alive as a family friendly space, with free children’s activities.

Activities in the family space include the Winter Blues Arts & Raft tent, jumping castle, face painting, temporary tattoos, games, dress ups and circus performers.

“This year we are trying to encourage people, maybe locally who have kids, who just want to come out for the day and are not interested in going to the pub, that there are things to do,” Jon said.

“That’s why we put Karise Eden on in the Hopwood Gardens, because people might know Karise from television.

The Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival has something for everyone.

You can spend the weekend wandering from venue to venue, pub to pub experiencing some of the best blues music on offer.

“The Echuca Winter Blues Festival over the last 25 years is almost like a blues clubhouse for Victoria, all the best people will come and play it,” Jon said.

“Even artists that are, perhaps doing much bigger shows elsewhere, will still come and play a pub gig in Echuca for free, just because of the vibe of the place.

“I actually think we have punched above our weight with the line-up this year.

“Some commented on social media ‘Well that’s everyone,’ meaning that’s everyone in blues in Australia in Echuca, almost.”

The festival draws terrific crowds to venues throughout Echuca Moama.

Jungle Jim now heading our way

First up at this year’s Winter Blues is oneman-electric-boogieband Jungle Jim Smith.

“I am really looking forward to it, I’ve never been to Echuca, so it is going to be cool,” Jungle Jim Smith said.

“I’m playing on a paddle steamer, the PS Pevensey, which is super cool, I am really looking forward to it.”

Hailing from the hills of South Gippsland, Jungle Jim Smith plays with infectious hooks, seamlessly creating a full band sound that’s a swampy mix of rockabilly grit and hill country blues.

“I play cigar box guitar, have a drum I made out of a licence plate and a small kick drum,” he remarked.

they come out how they come out.

“My set is going to be half on the three-string, half on the six-string, it is going to be upbeat, I try to get the people bopping, moving.

“My whole mission is to get people to boogie, that’s the thing.

“I do a lot of up-beat stuff and some down low stuff, but I think for this one, I am just going to bring the boogie.

“I’m pretty free with it, it’s roots based, it’s all good.

“My mission is to get people dancing.”

Being his first time at the Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival, Jungle Jim Smith sees the gigs as a ‘working holiday’.

“That’s the cool thing about the festival, because you get to check out different spots,” he said.

“I’ve played a lot around

the state last year, in so many cool spots, but Echuca is new for me, so that’s cool.

“The lineup is pretty insane, I am pretty stoked to be on the lineup, because I haven’t been playing as my one-manband for very long.

“I’m looking forward to catching Rattlin’ Bones Blackwood’s HIGHWAY 79, he’s a legend.

“As well as Anna Scionti, she plays a lot of three strings and I’m keen to check out her stuff.”

• Where to see Jungle Jim Smith at Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival

Thursday, July 27 on the PS Pevensey at 4 pm until 6 pm Friday, July 28 on the PS Pevensey at 1.30 pm until 2.30 pm

From Thursday, 27 July – Sunday, 30 July, the historic Port of Echuca’s heritage precinct and surrounding venues will come alive with some of the country’s best musicians. Here is your guide for being ready for this great event.

On song: Jungle Jim Smith is playing at the Winter Blues for the first time.

July 27–30, 2023

July 27–30, 2023

Winter Blues weekend

Bonnie Kay and The Sweet Patooties. Jarrod Shaw.

Kate Madden. Geoff Achison. Charlie Bedford.

Matt Katsis.

The Sunbears. Creek.

Popular 19-Twenty returns to festival

Get ready to be whipped into a frenzy with the return of the infectious riff and groove based blue-billy-grass-rockin’-roots band, 19-Twenty.

“We are three best mates that get to travel around Australia, making noise,” 19-Twenty vocalist and guitarist Kane Dennelly said.

“That’s as simple as it gets.

“We play a rowdy kind of music, but we figured someone has to do it and we’ll be the ones to take it.”

Having played more than 100 separate festivals in Australia, Europe and over the ditch in New Zealand, the band is still hungry to perform, keen to do more.

“It is just what we are built for, we want to be known as the party band and every festival needs that,” Kane said.

“So, we have just really honed our show to be that party band and people respond to it.

“We ask for forgiveness, not for permission.

“We rarely have a set list, it is pretty manic from the start to the end.

“I talk too much, we are way too loud, we say and do the wrong things, we stuff up, we laugh and then two and a half hours later, everyone goes ‘Oh, I just watched a gig’, it was that much fun.”

19-Twenty loves to return to the Winter Blues because the festival has some of the best crowds the

Fan favourites: 19-Twenty is set to return to Winter Blues in 2023.

band plays in front of.

“We do 200 gigs a year and the crowds are some of the best,”

Kane said.

“The venues are great.

“We just love the vibe.

“We can walk around and catch up with our mates and see them play.”

The band requests to do a Saturday show at the Beechworth Bakery, each Winter Blues, so that all ages can experience the raw energy of the band.

“What we do is not for everyone, but the people that come and see us know what they are in for and

Frank rapt to be coming back

One of the artists looking forward to returning to Winter Blues is International Blues Challenge 2023 winner Frank Sultana.

“Last July, I competed in the Sydney Blues Society Challenge, winning,” Sultana said.

Inspired by the American Mississippi Blues, Sultana has been playing Winter Blues since 2018.

“It is a great festival, not for the same reasons that I just described a lot of other festivals,” he said.

they love it,” Kane said. “We just want people to leave feeling better than when they arrived.

• Where to experience 19-Twenty at Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival

Friday, July 28 at the American Hotel at 10pm.

Saturday, July 29 at the Beechworth Bakery at 1pm.

Saturday, July 29 at the Star on the Wharf at 9pm.

Sunday, July 30 at the Shamrock front bar at 2.30pm.

Hat Fitz & Cara set to debut

Hat Fitz & Cara are playing Winter Blues for the first time with their brand of raw rootsy blues.

“The music is quite raw,” Cara said.

“There is a bit of gospel in there, there is blues, it is rootsy, kind of earthy songs, quite warm.

“It is basically convict rhythm and roots.”

Before Hat Fitz & Cara got together, they were artists in their own right.

Hat Fitz is regarded as a veteran wild man of the Australia Blues scene, holding the record for 18 straight appearances at Byron’s East Coast Blues and Roots festival.

Hailing from Northern Ireland, Cara has toured Europe and the United States with singers such as Jamiroquai and Corinne Bailey-Rae.

Cara has a sensational voice, but she is not content with being labelled ‘just a singer’ taking to the drums, washboards, flute and tin whistle, sometimes all at once.

Expect a bit of dancing,

shimming, a sing-along and foot stomping, at Hat Fitz & Cara’s Winter Blues gigs.

“We are just going to bring our best selves to the gig and see how it unfolds, see how Echuca warms to us,” Cara said.

“We are really looking forward to being there for the first time.

“We have been to other festivals in towns, like Echuca, in pubs, clubs and community venues, and they really open up the heart of the town, which is lovely.

“A festival like Winter Blues is great, because everyone goes there to be part of something special.

“It is a great bringing of the community together, and we get to meet the people of the town.

“You get there and you instantly get a feel of what the town is about.”

• Where to see Hat Fitz & Cara at Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival

Thursday, July 27 at the Shamrock Beer Garden at 6pm

Friday, July 28 at Henry’s Bridge Hotel at 3.30pm.

Saturday, July 29 at the American Hotel at 5pm

Sunday, July 30 at Radcliffe’s at 12.30pm

“That meant that I went to Memphis and represented the Sydney Blues Society.

“In January of this year, I went over there for a couple of weeks to compete in the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, up against 150 to 160 other people from around the world.

“Got through a bunch of heats on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and the final was on Saturday at the Orpheum Theatre in Memphis and I was lucky enough to get up and win.”

Winning solo/duo division at the International Blues Challenge 2023 has translated to a lot more work for Sultana, raising his profile and invitations to larger festivals.

“It has meant a lot,” he said.

“It has helped me get on to bigger festivals and then pushing on to that next level of what I am trying to do.

“You get to play on big stages with really great production and to large audiences.

“They are so much fun, interacting with other artists and people at the festival.

“Often we play the same venues, but we don’t play them at the same time, so we are constantly passing a couple of days apart from each other, and not getting to talk.

“Whereas at festivals, we are all there, we are there for a bunch of days, we get to hang out and talk, which is great.

“It is like a gig, but it is kind of on steroids.

“It is a really, very grassroots festival, in Echuca.

“Mingling around the town with the punters and the people that are attending is kind of a different vibe again.

Sultana really enjoys Winter Blues with great packed out gigs.

“I love that it is a free festival,” he said.

“Everyone just kind of gets around the town and sees who they want to see.

“It is always fun, I have always enjoyed it.

This year will be the first time Sultana will bring a band with him to Winter Blues.

“The last four years I have done solo shows at Echuca, so this will be pretty different,” he said.

“They will be band shows, new material, songs that I recorded in Memphis.

“It will be a very different show to what I have been doing for the last few years.

• Where to see the Frank Sultana Blues band at Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival

Friday, July 28 at Radcliffe’s at 9.30pm. Saturday, July 29 at Star on the Wharf at 3pm.

Sunday, July 30 at Henry’s Bridge Hotel at 2pm.

Smooth: Frank Sultana and his band are back at the Winter Blues in 2023.

Debutants: Hat Fitz & Cara will perform at Winter Blues in 2023.

Guitar competition a big hit

Running almost since the beginning of the Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival, this year’s guitar decorating competition had more than 100 entries.

“I have been involved with the Winter Blues for a long time, and the guitar competition was another way of promoting the festival,” Winter Blues Festival helper Jenny Turner said.

“We designed a competition with cut out guitars made of plywood and people can decorate the guitar no matter what age, however they like.

“It is just a way of bringing a bit of creativity into the winter blues and as a way of promoting and increasing participation by a completely different cohort of people to be part of the festival.” All participants will have their guitar displayed in and around the port area in retail stores.

“Everyone is encouraged to have a look at the fabulous guitars as they wander around the festival,” Winter Blues Festival family space coordinator Maggie Ellis said.

The Echuca Moama Winter Blues Festival committee would like to thank the Foundation for Rural & Regional Renewal (FRRR), the Campaspe Regional Library Echuca, Mitre 10 Rochester, the Echuca Men’s Shed, Patricia Rowe and EMFM for making this event possible.

Judged by art teacher and avid blues festival participant

Toni Denson and Echuca Winter Blues Festival chairperson

Laurelin Berick the winning guitars will be on display in the Echuca Library.

There was a new category this year for children aged up to four years.

The winners were the Kangaroo Room at the Campaspe Community Children’s Centre, with the Koala Room at the Campaspe Community Children’s Centre in second place.

Elsie Butler rounded out the top three.

The five to 12 year old age group was taken out by Savannah Dicker, with Elijah Forbes in second and Eva Dicker in third.

First place in the 13 to 17 year old age group was taken out by Jaykob C, with Niya Osborne coming in second and Riley Ireland third.

For the 18 years and older category, Kristine Briggs took out first place, Stacey Suede second and Chelsea Leslie third.

Creative: Winter Blues Festival painted guitar competition winners.

July

ECHUCA - MOAMA WINTER BLUES FESTIVAL

It’s that time of the year! Every winter, our region comes alive with the sound of blues music. Pop in to the Border Inn Hotel during the Winter Blues Festival and fuel up with great pub meals and enjoy some live blues gigs. Enjoy $20 lunch specials, including our ever popular Parmi! Grab our courtesy bus so that you can enjoy a drink or two. See you soon!