I am a little bit of her, a little bit of him and a little bit of them. 

Coburg Cafe//Pub//Dining Hall//Bottle Shop//Home of #CoburgLager. Proudly presenting a mix of quality food, booze & gigs every day of the week #poh3058 #pohgigs

Two Australian musos, playing acoustic folk music and singing about sex, love, and everything in between

Hugh Davies (Rue) - Acoustic Guitar, Vocals
Lachie Trappett (Bled) - Acoustic Guitar, Vocals

Hailing from Melbourne, guitar/drums two-piece This Way North are Leisha Jungalwalla (Jungal) and Cat Leahy (Sal Kimber & the Rollin' Wheel, Miss Quincy, Lisa Miller). 

They first met in the north…Canada in fact; at the renowned British Columbian ArtsWells Festival. While hanging at the festival, they discovered that their permanent homes were both north…north-side Melbourne that is…half a world away but only 500m apart. Once they’d returned to Melbourne, they treated their post-tour blues by doing what all self-respecting musicians do playing music and what came out was good…really good. 

This Way North began as a means of finding a way back… to find direction again, and it damn well worked.

Website 
https://www.georgiastateline.com
Youtube
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCaus0cdTomr0EnoIaWYrJCQ/videos?view_as=subscriber
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/georgiastatelinemusic 
Bandcamp
https://georgiastateline.bandcamp.com
Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/artist/7iVOFVLII9rL6xftJn2rqF?si=uxmNf8UiQZWJIE2hDfmFog

With songs about boozy nights, bad decisions, broken hearts and the best intentions, Brooke Russell and The Mean Reds blend vintage Americana with widescreen, dark country. Culminating in a kitchen in Fitzroy North, The Mean Reds are based in Melbourne and consist of Brooke Russell on voice, guitar and mandolin, Grant Taylor on lead guitar, Ben Franz on pedal steel, Luke Richardson on double bass and Josh Barber on drums.

Drawing influence from alt country, jazz and folk styles, the band are also inspired by the songs of Ryan Adams, Joe Henry, Sharon Van Etten, Gillian Welch, Tom Waits and Neko Case. Their debut album, Poor Virginia was released in August 2013, and listed in Basement Discs Top 10 Australian Albums of The Year and Unpaved's 50 Best Albums of 2013. Met with great reception, the album received airplay on Radio National, Triple R, Fbi, PBS, 4ZZZ and Southern FM as well as being featured in Frankie magazine. After an invitation to showcase at the 2014 Americana Festival in Nashville, the band have been working on new material with Joshua Barber producing and released the new single, Never’s Gonna Take Too Long in April 2015 and an EP of the same name released December 2015. Brooke recently received a Creative Victoria grant to return to Nashville in March 2015. 

“Brooke Russell and the Mean Reds’ country-inflected take on timeless pop that you’ll dig if you like Caitlin Rose.” - Nashville Scene

“She’d be at home in the Nighthawks diner, except that she’s maybe not jaded enough. There’s an innocence and hope to most of her songs that feels like a balm.” - McKinley Valentine, unpaved.com.au

“Sweet and slow country, with close vocal harmonies and just the right amount of melancholy.” - Chris Cobcroft, 4ZZZ

www.brookerussellandthemeanreds.com
http://brookerussell.bandcamp.com

Big Smoke was formed in 2009 by lead singer and songwriter, Adrian Slattery. The band became a beloved staple of the Melbourne music scene, building a reputation as a group of phenomenal players with an exceptional command of classic rock ‘n’ roll song-writing.

In early 2015, Adrian was diagnosed with terminal oesophageal cancer. Despite significant health obstacles and the knowledge his cancer was incurable, Adrian was determined and the band was unstoppable, continuing to tour and eventually tracking their debut album between a four-month regimen of chemotherapy and brain surgery in November 2015 (at Soundpark Studios with engineer Nao Anzai). Working tirelessly, the band continued to produce overdubs at The Aviary Studios in Abbotsford from late 2015 to early 2016. 

Adrian died from oesophageal cancer in May, less than a year after his diagnosis. Throughout his illness, he was determined to leave behind a legacy – for his family, his friends and the world. That legacy is Time Is Golden, the debut album from Big Smoke and the record Adrian always wanted to make. 

The album features 10 songs written by Adrian over the period of a decade, with additional arrangements by band members Luke Brennan (drums), Alex O’Gorman (bass), Tim Baker (guitar) and Joe Cope (keyboards). 

“Given my terminal diagnosis, I have a profound sense of urgency and gravitas about what I want to achieve in my career and the completion and release of the Big Smoke album is paramount to this,” Adrian said during the recording process. “The songs on the album were written in the time period following the dissolution of my marriage and diagnosis with terminal cancer, pairing these lyrical themes with our established musical sensibility for rock ‘n’ roll, pop, country and soul.”

Before he died, Adrian and the band had earmarked engineer Shawn Everett to mix the record. They wanted a sound modern yet timeless and believed Shawn – who won a Grammy for his work on Alabama Shakes’ Sound & Color – was the best person for the job. Shawn flew to Melbourne in August and mixed the bulk of the album at St Charles Studios in Northcote. The remainder was done in LA the following week – including an additional guitar arrangement by Blake Mills. Luke, Alex and Adrian’s ex-wife and best friend Paige Clark were heavily involved in the process, acting as creative decision makers in Adrian’s absence. They worked 12-hour days, from midday to midnight, turning Adrian’s grand vision into a bold, beautiful reality. 

The result is Time Is Golden, a testament to the band’s determination and vision that lives out Adrian’s wish to create an enduring, major work. But this tale isn’t a tragedy. As Adrian himself said, “This is not the story of heartbreak or of illness, it is the story of living and all that it entails.”

Time Is Golden is a lasting tribute to Adrian’s immense talent, extinguished too soon. Out now via Barely Dressed Records. Purchase/stream here: http://bigsmoke.lnk.to/timeisgolden

Amarina Waters plays dreamscape electric indie folk, stealing ideas from her dinner plate, the backyard, other people, the world.

Mitch Power is following