-----Thredbo Was A Blast !!!

This year was my first at the Thredbo Blues Festival, and it's another one I would recommend to any-one.I can see where the  ''boutique festival '' tag comes from, as the festival is held in various venues in and around the village. It puts almost everything within walking distance, and from an artist's viewpoint, the venues were all very comfortable, first class food and sound systems, and incredibly well scheduled and organised programming. Naturally, I was fairly stoked to be part of this year's line-up, which was 100% Australian, so if I'd ever had the luxury of picking a year when I'd like to have played, this was it! A special thanks to Ron Ind, who was at all three of my gigs, was once again the ideal guest, and played some great stuff.

 FOR PHOTOS OF 2005 THREDBO BLUES CLICK HERE

 Having got my own 3 gig's done by the Saturday evening gave me a chance to party a bit and catch some great music, and I didn't have to go far to find either!! Great gigs by Wayne Jury, Alison Penny and the King Bros.,Harper, The Brewster Bros , KB and the band, Chubby Rae, Kerri Simpson, Kate Meehan, Lil Fi. The future is alive 'n well with some very cool young gun's, and excellent performances by Jacko, Pete Cornelius, Adam Pringle and Redbeans.Ash Grunwald just goes from strength to strength, and I was honoured to have been asked to sit in with him at Cascades on the Sun arvo. What a fine entertainer he is! I'll also make special mention of Mia Dyson.Totally modern, with undeniable blues roots ( I'm also reminded of Ricki Lee Jones, for some reason ).Spacious and beautifully simple arrangements with a very cool and laid-back approach, great musicianship and I think she has it all, really! There was also much I didn't get to see, because of the afore-memtioned 'party' vibe which permeated the air.

All this and more, in a very surreal and beautiful environment, and we even saw some large patches of snow on the way in!

My very special and personal thanks to Peter Ghossein, Stuart Wauchope, Jo Hearne, Matte and Kiwi at the Snowgoose Lodge, James Glendenning, Steve Garry and all the crew and sponsors at Thredbo.For the record, it took me a week to get over it!!

SEE 2002 FESTIVAL REVIEW