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Blues

The Fumes

1.) Compelling Sydney two-piece, The Fumes burst onto the scene in 2004. The Fumes deliver multi-facetted stylistic raw blues tunes mashed with healthy rock riffs and snappy beats. Steve Merry (Vocals, Guitar) spent 12 months in the U.S where he took on some mentoring from Bob Brozman and an opportunity to immerse himself with many styles of music. It helped define and develop The Fumes. The Fumes complete with the addition of Joel Battersby, who had been drumming with members of The Beautiful Girls, proceeded to churn out an 8-track demo.

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Michael Kiwanuka

Michael Kiwanuka is a British musician of Ugandan heritage who writes songs combining soul and rootsy folk influences and sings them with a deep, husky soulful voice. The Home Again Songfacts says that after signing with Communion Records, Kiwanuka recorded his debut EP, Tell Me A Tale, with the help of Paul Butler from The Bees, who took the Muswell Hill, London native to his Isle of Wight studio to record the songs.

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aftermidnight

AFTER MIDNIGHT are the World's No1 Eric Clapton Tribute Band featuring front-man Mike Hall. In 2010 they are undertaking a 25th Anniversary Tour throughout the UK. The band was formed in 1985 in Newcastle upon Tyne long before the term “tribute band” was invented, and named themselves ''After Midnight'' after Eric Clapton’s first solo hit. Their ability to re-create Clapton’s electrifying stage performances really caught the audience’s imagination. In guitar/vocalist Mike Hall, the band possesses a front man who not only looks like Eric, he sings and plays guitar like him too!

Bettye LaVette

With one of her first singles turning into a national hit, 1962's "Let Me Down Easy", Detroit-raised LaVette would seem a natural soul star, but she was never able to cut an album deal. In 1972 her album A Child of the Seventies was shelved by Atlantic Records, then thought lost forever in a fire. She eked out a living on the European festival circuit, occasionally surfacing such as with the disco single "Doin' the Best that I Can"...

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Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen, (born September 21, 1934 in Montréal, Quebec, Canada) is a poet, novelist and musician. His musical career has largely overshadowed his prior work as a poet and novelist, although he has continued to publish poetry sporadically after his breakthrough in the music industry. Musically, Cohen's early songs are based in folk music, in terms of both melody and instrumentation; from the 1970s, though, his work begins to show the influence of various types of popular and cabaret music.

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Bob Brozman

Bob Brozman (born 1954) is an American guitarist and ethnomusicologist. He has performed in a number of styles such as blues, Gypsy jazz, calypso, ragtime, Hawaiian and Caribbean music. Brozman has also collaborated with musicians from diverse cultural backgrounds such as India, Africa, Japan, Papua New Guinea and Reunion Island. He has been called "an instrumental wizard" and "a walking archive of 20th Century American music.

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Robert Randolph & The Family Band

Robert Randolph & The Family Band is a multicultural American blues and funk band composed of Robert Randolph, Marcus Randolph (drums), Danyel Morgan (bass), and Jason Crosby (organ). Frontman Robert Randolph was trained as a pedal steel guitarist in the House of God Church, Keith Dominion, and makes prominent use of the instrument in the band's music. The group's sound is inspired by successful 1970s funk bands such as Earth, Wind & Fire and Sly & the Family Stone, another multicultural band comprised of former members of the Church of God in Christ.

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Daniel Champagne

Recently described as 'the most talked-about rising star of Australia's next generation' Daniel Champagne delivers one of the most impressive one-man-shows out there!

Reaching to musical depth’s far beyond his years and a way with the guitar that can only be seen to be believed. Champagne often sounds closer to a three-piece band than the 21 year old singer songwriter guitarist now established as a renowned performer on both the Australian and international stage.

A reputation on his instrument of choice firmly established, recent descriptions of the live show state 'Proof that the acoustic guitars only limit is our imagination' (Lloyd Spiegel) and 'The best young guitarist in Australia' (IFC President). Daniel's playing runs from the instruments soul to way outside of its box. His Signature explosion of 2-hand tapping, body percussion and fiery runs in a swag of different tunings can be expected. As can the jazzy finger picking and tasteful improvisation of someone that first picked up the instrument at seven years old and as it would seem, hasn’t put it down since.

The same versatility can be said for his writing and material. Pulling off setts from intense blues-driven crowd pleasers, experimental compositions, bags of originals to century old Folk and Blues Songs delivered with an exiting youthful flair. As for the voice...'He sings with a wonderfully pronounced and proud Aussie twang, howling here, hushed there, always confident, fearless and knowing' (Jamie Forbes)

In all, a live show to mark as an absolute must see!

Having released two celebrated studio EPs - 'My Own Design' (2009) and 'Wide Eyed and Open' (2010). Daniel has now taken his explosive live show to all corners of his homeland and received an overwhelming response on an international level. He has performed at some of the fore-most world renowned Folk and Blues festivals including Woodford, Byron Bay Bluesfest, Nationals (Australia) Vancouver Folk, Salmon Arm Roots & Blues (Canada) to name a few. After Sharing stages with some of the leaders in acoustic music today and been marked as a true light in its future Daniel Champagne now holds a firm reputation for dropping jaws, breaking guitars and making festivals buzz wherever he goes!

PRESS QUOTES
"Daniel is proof that the acoustic guitars only limit is our imagination. It's a thrill to see a young artist with so much creativity, desire and talent using the instrument in a unique way" (Lloyd Spiegel)

"The best young guitarist in Australia" (IFC President)

"His on-stage presence radiates a musical maturity well beyond his years and a phenomenal method of playing the guitar leaves audiences thrilled' (TE Herald, Newcastle)

"It's his guitar work that really steals the show. Champagne has not only mastered his instrument, he's conquered it! Reaching into Folk, Blues, Classical, Jazz, Rock and other styling’s, with nods to virtuosos too numerous to mention. Champagne has created a pastiche all of his own... I cannot recommend this cd highly enough. Buy it, spread the word, something wonderful is happening down here" (BDN)

"A precarious young talent in the guitar world!" (Rhythms Magazine)

PERFORMANCE REVIEW
'Today I saw the future of Folk! - Festival goers flocking in their thousands towards main stage to witness the young musical phenomenon from Australia dish out an absolute show-stopper at the evening’s end.

It's not often that what we are told in this industry is reality, but I can tell you...the hype surrounding this kid is!

Daniel Champagne's guitar skills are indeed unparalleled, I've seen all the great players but have never heard such a sound come out of one instrument. Prowling the stage with it swinging around his shoulders and through the air, his hands are a blur as he taps notes with both hands, beats out rhythms on the body and toys with our emotion in a musical rollercoaster running from all out attach to complete silence with a mere slide of hand. Each song is a polished gem delivered in the vein of a old Folk troubadour, yet with an exiting youthful flair. But it's the manner in which he holds his audience...his commanding stage presence, cheeky road stories of a 21yr old on the international circuit and his old school dancing-in-the-crowd, guitar behind the head showmanship that had the audience in hysterics and had me convinced that we've really struck gold here.

In the modern age of Hip Hop and processed rock music where our folk players are getting pushed to the festival side stages in place of the more 'popular' acts. It’s a true joy to see a young performer steeped in our rich folk tradition who is able to hold a festival crowd both young and old with just a guitar, a voice and an old thing called talent!' (Exert from ‘The Firefly Column’ San Francisco by Anthony James)

FESTIVAL APPEARENCES
- Byron Bay Bluesfest
- Woodford Folk Festival
- Queenscliff Music Festival
- Australian Blues Music Festival
- National Folk Festival
- Vancouver Folk Festival (Canada)
- Salmon Arm Roots & Blues Festival (Canada)

Fairbridge Festival, Corinbank Music and Arts Festival, Snowy Mountain's of Music Festival, Wallaby Creek Festival, Cygnet Folk Festival, Illawarra Folk Festival, Mt Beauty Music Muster, Palm Creek Folk Festival, Red Deer Festival, Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival, Cobargo Folk Festival, Candelo Village Festival, Tilba Easter Festival, Bega Valley Transition Festival, Tuross Music Festival and many more...
Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

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Joe Louis Walker

Joe Louis Walker (born December 25, 1949 in San Francisco, California) is an American blues guitarist, singer and producer. Walker's parents were blues fans, and introduced him to the music when he was young.
He learned to play the guitar at age fourteen, and left home at sixteen to work as a performer. He soon met Mike Bloomfield, who introduced him to the Bay Area Blues scene. During the 1960s, Walker opened for such artists as Earl Hooker, Freddie King and Lowell Fulson.

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The Black Sorrows

The Black Sorrows is a blues-oriented Australian rock band that carries strong influences from zydeco, country and hillbilly music. The band formed in 1983 around singer-songwriter Joe Camilleri in the wake of his principal band Jo Jo Zep and the Falcons dissolution. The band has played host to a revolving lineup of musicians with Camilleri the only constant. The band initially played covers until producing originals, some of which saw moderate Top 40 success during the 80s and 90s ("Chained to the Wheel, Hold on to Me.") The band played on before laying dormant in 2004, reviving in 2008 to release a triple-album. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

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