If you think folk festivals aren\u2019t your thing, read on<\/b><\/p>\n
I have a confession. I\u2019ve been writing about the Folk Festival for two years now and have never actually attended, but this is my year. Another confession. I don\u2019t consider myself a \u2018folkie\u2019, but I am a big music lover and have spent my career working in music, producing all sorts of TV shows, even the ARIA Music Awards.<\/span><\/p>\n So, I\u2019ve been spending some time getting to know the performers who have been booked for this year\u2019s festival, working in my sodden garden with headphones and Spotify, and I have to say I am super excited about some of the artists who, like me, are making their KVFF debut.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A sucker for a catchy headline or name<\/span>, Sunday Lemonade <\/b>grabbed my attention and I was instantly hooked. Laura \u2018Loz\u2019 Kirkup and Tyson Richardson have also caught the attention of TripleJ Unearthed for having \u201cinfectious joy, feel good melodies and high energy performances\u201d. Originally from the Mornington Peninsula, they packed a van in 2019 and became musical nomads, busking and playing shows across 70,000km, fortunately landing in WA for nine months of Covid. They have a good feeling about our festival. \u201c<\/span>We\u2019re actually still very new to the festival scene! We had our first taste at Nannup Music Festival in February 2020 (where they won the Emerging Artist award) and have been itching ever since, so the comeback is a bigger deal than you can imagine!\u201d says lead singer Loz. They are both amazing singers and have a soulful Indy sound, and I\u2019d agree joyful. <\/span>\u201c<\/span>We\u2019ve been told our sets are like a big wall of infectious joy! Lots of bouncing, groovy rhythms and harmonies. We love to have fun and the chance to share that with people is just the cherry on top!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Another surprise for this self-confessed non folkie is an eight-piece band from Canberra, <\/span>The Decideds.<\/b> \u201cWe’re a collection of songwriters and jazz musos who came together to make something different\u201d says Rafe Morris, guitarist and co-songwriter. \u201cOriginally we set out to make dub and roots music, but we quickly ventured into Latin, Romani, and now we seem to be playing a lot of disco! We love exploring the different genres and rhythms that get people dancing and having a good time, keeping people on their toes.\u201d Tick.<\/span><\/p>\n A couple of couples from Melbourne are <\/span>Tinman<\/b>, another on the Indy-Folk spectrum. \u201cA few years back we went camping together over New Years, and were jamming around the fire with a ukulele and a cigar box guitar, and that’s literally how Tinman was born – we just wanted to keep doing that. It almost seems strange that we hadn’t thought of it earlier\u201d says Richelle Bourne, singer,\u00a0 guitarist and songwriter.<\/span><\/p>\n Covid was tough on the Victorians. \u201c<\/span>It’s definitely been hard, especially being in Melbourne and being locked down for so long. We had a whole bunch of gigs lined up and they disappeared overnight, and we didn’t see each other for months at a time.\u201d Like many artists, Richelle found solace in writing. \u201cIn the first long lockdown I wrote heaps of new music, but when it happened again, I had nothing to say and just needed to wait it out. In the end though we’ve come out the other side with a bunch of new material we’re excited about (as well as two babies)! The babies will be joining the band for their first trip to KV \u201cWe’re really looking forward to checking out the local scene and the other acts playing. We love the community vibe that folk festivals offer and can’t wait to be part of the action!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The community is something folkies talk about a lot and it\u2019s what drew me to get involved when I moved here nearly three years ago. It\u2019s what makes local events happen, and many of the team behind the Folk Festival have been dedicated to it for nearly two decades. They are looking for others to get involved, to volunteer on the weekend and to open the home to billet some of these lovely interstate performers. I hear that over the years some great friendships have been formed with reciprocal offers of interstate stays.<\/span><\/p>\n