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2012

The Australian Youth Band is proud to hold the title of the premier youth marching /concert band in Melbourne and Victoria. We perform regularly at popular regional festivals, major sporting events, marching band festivals, and corporate functions. The music we perform covers a wide variety of styles, ranging from exciting marching items to contemporary vocal numbers, and from popular show tunes to more serious symphonic works.
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BETWEEN THE WARS In 2009, two old friends got together in a room in a house. One played guitar and sang. The other played ukulele and sang. Taking influences from traditional Irish artists such as Christy Moore, the Wolfe Tones and the Dubliners, blending in the punk ethic and edge of Flogging Molly and the Dropkick Murphys, and bringing in the folk storytelling of singer/songwriters such as Frank Turner, Billy Bragg and Shane MacGowan, the two old friends forged forward to create a celtic folk punk juggernaut, unlike anything they'd ever done before. They named it after one of their favourite Billy Bragg songs. From the humble beginnings of these two friends in a room came the seven-piece onslaught of Between The Wars. In the same way that the Pogues and the Dropkick Murphys stayed true to their own genre while blending in a strong Irish influence, Between The Wars are setting Melbourne stages on fire with their clever and unique fusion of Irish folk music with punk rock. This makes it mainstream enough for everyone to find elements they can enjoy, without losing their edge and unique flavour. The label of Irish folk music gives connotations of fifty-something year old men on stage, playing songs they learnt as children from relatives of eras long ago. However, Between The Wars take this image and rip it to pieces, cementing their place in the live music scene and showcasing the amazing live talents of all the band members’ vocal and musical abilities. The sum of their parts is so great that their music is taken to a whole new level which allows their audience to be a perfect blend of young and old, never alienating one in favour of the other. In the time they have spent together so far as a group, they have garnered much acclaim all over Victoria for their energetic and entertaining sets, intelligent lyrics and fresh pop hooks. In 2010, Between The Wars released their debut album "Carried Away" through Melbourne independent label Slippery Slope Recordings. With 11 mixed-up tracks ranging from traditional Irish folk to their more established celtic folk punk songs and even branching into some John Mayer style acoustic funk, the band catered for ears from yesteryear, today and tomorrow. This record sold out of its first pressing within 12 months and will be reissued at the end of 2011. In September 2011, the band released "The Rats", a seven-track EP showcasing their new cohesion as a group and the continuing maturity of songwriters Jaymz Stevens and Jason Hatcher. More edgy and faster than the previous record, Between The Wars set out to try and capture the energy and fun of their live show. This EP broke into the world top 10 "celtic punk" EPs of 2011, coming 8th in the list over at the Spanish blog, "Celtic Folk Punk and more". In October 2011, Between The Wars released a double A-side single "The Aces Are Coming/I Forget What I'm Doing Here". The first single has been written as a theme song for the Melbourne Aces baseball club, with the second single changing the pace of the band, sung by ukulele player Jason Hatcher and detailing a convict's life in Tasmania. |

The Scots giant with 'power presence' and bagpipes. He's dangerous, and safe, and always hilarious. In over twenty five years he's performed in 6 Continents and 35 different countries, including Japan 14 times, harassing and delighting literally millions of people. He is, quite possibly, the worlds best solo stilt act.
The nine foot loveable rascal, Big Rory, out for a walk with Ochie, his wayward mongrel. Inevitably there's total confusion as the amorous mutt careers around, peeing on lamp posts and heaven knows what else, with Rory in hot pursuit trying to contain the chaos. If you expect a quiet time from this pair, don't book them!
Watch Big Rory on youtube. Big Rory at Port Fairy
ThTHTHe BordererS
The BordererS Back by public demand: Multi-Award winning Scottish / Irish / Australian band The BordererS formed in 1994. |
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Gary Banks & Rudi Katterl A performance of moving original and traditional celtic songs by Gary Banks - a highly regarded singer songwriter in Ireland and locally, and Rudi Katterl – the maestro guitarist /producer and owner of Mountain Music Studio in the Victorian Alps. |
THE GUINNESS BROTHERS
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McALPINE'S FUSILIERS are a six piece band that combines traditional folk instruments of fiddle, accordion and banjo with a punk rhythm to produce high energy and passionate music that is committed to continuing the burning social relevance of folk music. Drawing on Irish, Scottish and Australian traditional music “the Fusiliers give all this material a special treatment- ‘swaggie punk’ – loud, proud and uncompromisingly Australian” (John Lamp The Pulse). Since forming in 2004 their punk ethos of doing it yourself has won them a large and loyal fan base that sees them constantly hitting the road to play. This has included festival performances at: The Queenscliff Music Festival, The Yackandandah Folk Festival, Pako Festa, The Guildford Banjo Jamboree, Maldon Folk Festival, The Beechworth Celtic Festival, The Westbury Celtic Festival and The National Celtic Festival. Their debut album ‘Sons and Daughters of the Soil’ was released in 2007. “It captures the band’s sound, a musical place where rebellion, toil, tradition, romance and brute honesty connect” (Mark Coombes KLFM). The Fusiliers are currently recording their second album ‘The Edge of the World’ to be released in late 2010. It builds on the bands exploration of the social and musical sources of folk music. Exploring the themes and telling the stories of everyday Australia through our nation’s rich history of immigration, struggle, sacrifice, family and freedom. |
RED CATperform a variety of favourite and original contemporary and traditional Folk/Country/Celtic inspired music. Luscious harmonies with powerful words and music make this trio a stand out act. The Band consists o f Kerry Dawson – Vocals/Bodhran Mike Daley – Vocals/Guitar/Mandolin/Harmonica and Rob Carroll – Vocals/Guitar/Banjo/Bodhran Kerry, Rob and Mike have an enviable performance history between them. Since forming in 2008 they have played at many festivals and venues around Australia to rave reviews, and are now considered a headline act at many festivals. |
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VICTORIAN POLICE PIPE BAND
is a traditional Scottish Bagpipe Band. The band consistsof 10 pipers and six drummers and performs
at various functions from marching in parades to static concert performances.
The Victoria Police Pipe Band takes part in many police, community and corporate events throughout the year. These events include everything from police graduation parades, ceremonies
and funerals, to large community public events such as the Anzac Day Parade in Melbourne, Moomba
Parade and the Melbourne Cup Parade of Champions.
ZEPTEPI Fiddle-tastic banjo-magic folk-rock from Melbourne |
Zeptepi - folk rock band based in Melbourne, Australia. Currently comprises Phil Dean (vocals, guitar, songs), Bernie Dodd (drums), Frank Packer (bass), Hayley Anderson (violin) and CC Thornley (banjo). Zeptepi first appeared in 2001, initially started as a solo project by songwriter Phil Dean. It became a full band in 2004 with the addition of Bernie Dodd (drums) and Frank Packer (bass) and they have now released three albums on their own label – Travelling Through Time (2005), Universality (2007) and Stormclouds (2010). |