Melbourne’s band of knockabouts, The Stetson Family, are at the forefront of Australia’s progressive bluegrass scene. Their songs dig deep into the roots of bluegrass, folk and alt-country to deliver a fresh twist on a timeless sound. The Stetson’s first release, 2008’s Hey Sister Mary Where’d You Get That Gun gained recognition by being included in some of the year’s ‘Best of Lists’ including #1 Best Roots/ Alt-Country Album on BayFm’s Mystery Train. Some of their music was also picked up by SBS/Renegade Productions and used in the documentary ‘Last Chance Saloon’. Their follow-up album, The Devil in His Sunday Best was described by Rhythms Magazine as “A landmark Australian roots album for 2011.” In 2012, they were invited by the International Bluegrass Music Association to take part in World of Bluegrass 2012, in Nashville, Tennesee, with their song ‘O’ Winding River’ being chosen as one of 10 songs to be showcased. The song was also included on the ABC’s Favourites of 2012. The band were finalists in two categories, Best Group and Best Bluegrass Song at the 2012 Victorian & National Country Music Awards. The band formed when Nad bumped into John who happened to be working with Colin – the three of them not having all been in the same room together since being in an electro- pop band in the mid-80s. Having seen the film, O Brother Where Art Thou, Colin bought a banjo, which instantly became his obsession, and they all got back together and discovered their shared love of bluegrass and Americana roots music. Add Andy (My Friend the Chocolate Cake), John’s childhood friend from down in the valley, and Luke (Lamplight & SunWrae Ensemble), the guy who works in the hardware shop across the road from Nad – and so began their song writing once again, only this time the songs were for themselves and not for the pop-music market (not a synthesizer, electronic drum kit or mullet in sight!). Their original songs cover the span of human emotions from joyous to heartbreaking and lovelorn, dark and dusty to downright tongue-in-cheek, with tales of love gone wrong, snake-handling preachers and wandering down life’s crooked highway. The band regularly perform on the Australian national festival circuit having played the Brisbane Festival, Apollo Bay Music Festival, Harrietville Bluegrass Convention, National Music Muster, Kelly Country Pick, Melbourne’s cultural festival, Moomba, as well as many small town and community festivals. Their music and live performances have been described as “great songs played with great feel and great honesty by a bunch of people who are obviously joined by the sheer joy of making good music together” (Alex Morton, Upstream Whispers). - See more at: thestetsonfamily/?page_id=11#sthash.QHHwQCiT.dpuf
Posted on: Wed, 05 Mar 2014 07:16:53 +0000
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