IN it’s 20th year, the Australian Blues Music Festival isn’t changing a thing.
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To be held this weekend (February 11-14), there will be no birthday cake, no anniversary gig - nothing different, just the same.
In the words of organiser Geoff Bell: “we’re doing it the same as always, because it works”.
He said this year’s lineup reflected a focus on quality, not stardom, with some familiar faces among the 30 acts.
These include Lloyd Spiegel, Ray Beadle, The Vibrolators, Minnie Marks, Greg Dodd and the Hoodoo Men, Blue Eyes Cry and the PJ O’Brien Band.
“My main focus when I curate this festival is quality. It has to be good. I don’t care how big the name is. If, to me, they are not a great live act, I don’t want to know about it,” he said.
“We are getting a lot of feedback on how good the lineup is. There’s no massive names, but they are big within the blues scene.
“We’re lucky in Goulburn because we’ve got venue operators who are switched on, who have worked with us on the festival and can see that it’s going to be good for the town. Everyone works together.
“We are running it on a shoestring but it’s working.”
The Youth In Blues event, featuring high school students, will kick off the Festival on Thursday evening at the Goulburn Club.
The always-popular busking competition will take place on Friday and Saturday with participants vying for a paid slot during next year’s Blues Festival.
As tradition dictates, the festival will wrap up with an All Star Jam on Sunday from 8:30pm at the Astor Hotel.
“My main thing is having people come to town and that they enjoy the experience, look around Goulburn and get to see what it’s offering,” he said.
Taxi vouchers are now available, along with festival programs, at the Visitors Information Centre.
OWNER of Laing Entertainment, organising body of the Blues Festival, Geoff Bell said Goulburn’s music scene was consistently “building and growing”.
“Goulburn has a really great music scene. More and more kids are playing instruments,” he said.
“It’s all part of a growing community and it’s part of a healthy community. Let’s face it, we all want that.
“Just the fact that they are out there playing is wonderful in this age of technology.
“Hopefully we can have some more next year. That’s what I’m hoping.”
He paid tribute to those that facilitated and encouraged music in the City, including Youth In Blues coordinator (and Mulwaree High School Deputy Principal) Russell Leischke and Goulburn Regional Conservatorium Director Paul Scott-Williams.
For more information on the festival, see www.australianbluesmusicfestival.info.
