FRESH from winning the Australian Music Prize, Melbourne post-punk band RVG are among the first headline acts announced for the Gum Ball.
The 19th Gum Ball music festival will return to Dashville in Lower Belford from April 25 to 28.
The first announcement released on Friday also featured US punk band Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds - led by Brian Tristan (The Gun Club, The Cramps) and 2000s garage rockers Dallas Crane.
RVG, led by trans-woman Romy Vager, have attracted acclaim for their three albums A Quality Of Mercy (2017), Feral (2020) and Brain Worms (2023).
Earlier this month Brain Worms was awarded the prestigious Australian Music Prize, to place RVG among an illustrious class that includes former winners The Drones, Angie March, King Stingray, The Avalanches, Sampa The Great, Garrumul and Courtney Barnett.
"Who I am in music means being subjected to an insane amount of bullshit, and a lot of the songs on this album began as a targeted reaction to the kind of situations that most bands/artists would never have to go through," Vager said in a statement.
"So to win this award goes a long way and makes me feel less insane and alone in what I do."
Gum Ball will be only RVG's second performance in the Hunter, after playing the Off The Rails Festival at the Bar On The Hill in September.
Other acts booked for Gum Ball include theatrical metal band Battlesnake, Gold Coast funksters Burger Joint, Tasmanian folk artist Claire Anne Taylor, Kiwi reggae-rock four-piece Coterie, Indigenous folk singer Emily Wurrumara, Sydney indie band Jet City Sports Club, Brisbane rockers Radium Dolls and Perth folk group The Bures Band.
The Hunter contingent is headlined by Dashville favourite Melody Pool, plus Newcastle's Sitting Down, SF Wrens and Main Guy & The Other Guys.
