Australian Blues Festivals
Slim Pickens & Dr. Baz play the East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival , Byron Bay
Easter sees the east coast surfing town of Byron Bay come alive with the biggest and most colourful blues festival in the Southern Hemisphere, the annual East Coast Blues and Roots Festival.
The 2003 festival featured some truly great artists, such as Ben Harper, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Johnnie Johnson, Marva Wright, Michelle Shocked, Jimmie Vaughn, Angelique Kidjo, Jack Johnson, Eric Burdon, Robert Randolph and many more.
2004 featured quite a different range of artists including John Lee Hooker jr., Michael Franti & Spearhead REM, Missy Higgins just to name a few.
For lovers of the live music experience, it's an absolute must to get to this fabulous, over-the-top event - crowded and buzzing with colour, atmosphere, and wide-ranging diversity of musical talent.
[ click this link to see some images from the East Coast Blues & Roots Festival, Byron Bay, 2003 ]
For the 2004 Byron mayhem, Slim & Doctor Baz were joined by talented percussionist / vocalist Neil McCann.
Neil McCann is a unique multi-instrumentalist, with cool skills in the percussion department and strong vocal/vocal harmony abilities. Neil also a great acoustic guitarist so it's a breeze for him to slot into the Slim & Baz musical feel.
2007 Byron Blues Fest - bigger and better than ever. To view photos of this years bash click here.
The Blues on BroadBeach Festival on the Queensland Gold Coast (www.bluesonbroadbeach.com ) is another annual festival event which Slim & Baz have particularly enjoyed performing at, for the past two years. Their sets soon pull a crowd, and the crowd response has been sensational both times. It's already become something of a tradition for them to be joined for a spot of spontaneous combustion by master blues harpman Doc Span.
The Gympie Muster, Australia's number two country music event after Tamworth, has a strong blues and roots component and has to be one of the most enjoyable festivals on the Australian festival circuit because of it's setting in the Aramoor State forest in Queensland. You have to like camping but the temed camp-sites are outrageous and hilarious. See pics.
