Newcastle indie-pop rockers Acacia Blue have won this year's University of Newcastle Band Comp.
Kaitlyn Simm, Emma Audet, Mariah Murphy, David Kent and Reece De Zilva edged out runners-up Cooks & Bakers at the Bar on the Hill last Thursday.
Well? rounded out the top three and Osprey was chosen by the Cambridge Hotel for the Wildcard prize: a paid set at this year's June Long Weekend Party at the Cambo.
Acacia Blue win a recording package from Novotone Studios, paid live sets at the Autonomy Day Party, a paid live-stream performance, and a free music industry course plus mentoring with Continuous Music.
Student and campus engagement officer Hugh Gordon said the competition had been run by the University of Newcastle for 25 years and was the largest of its kind in Australia. The musical styles on stage ranged from Americana to progressive rock.
"This year we attracted 36 acts and more than 125 performers," he said.
"Over 300 people attended the grand final and the music was outstanding. The atmosphere was like a pumping festival gig. We are so thankful to our friends from the university and music industry who made up the judging panel for the night."
One of the finalists will be selected to do a paid set at The Drop Festival in Newcastle next year.
You can catch Acacia Blue at The Gal on June 9 with Cleapatra and June and the Desert Flames.
New era of new wave
Speaking of The Gal, Sydney post-punk band Johnny Hunter are stopping off there on July 7 as part of their first national headline tour. It's in support of the release of the four-piece's debut album Want on June 24. The record reimagines new wave and new romantic sounds for the 21st century and was produced by Jack Moffitt (The Preatures) and mixed by Adam Greenspan (IDLES, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds).
Gleeson double act
Dave Gleeson has a busy year ahead of him.
He is touring with the Screaming Jets from July to October to celebrate the 30th anniversary of their 1991 debut album All For One. It peaked at No.2 on the ARIA charts and its second single, Better, helped the Novocastrian rockers embark on their first world tour. Hear the Jets play All For One from start to finish for the very first time on August 12 at Belmont 16s. Tickets are on sale now.
As for his other gig - frontman of The Angels - Gleeson will be joining founding members John and Rick Brewster, drummer Nick Norton, and John's son Sam (bass) on the road for the rescheduled Darkroom Recharged and Greatest Hits tours.
Catch The Angels at Belmont 16s on June 10 (Darkroom Recharged) and the Toronto Hotel on July 2 (Greatest Hits).
Nashville calls Max Jackson
This year's Toyota Star Maker winner Max Jackson is busy packing her suitcase (or is it suitcases?) for her trip to Nashville this week. She flies out on Saturday and returns on June 15.
"I won the trip through Star Maker and it's sponsored by Chris Watson Travel Tamworth," the Carrington singer-songwriter said.
"I'm going over to perform at CMA Fest and, of course, getting around to see all of my favourite artists, playing at the world famous Bluebird Cafe, and writing with hit songwriters."
Sounds like fun.
McAlister Kemp back
Country rock duo McAlister Kemp are touring together for the first time in seven years in August and September. They achieved breakout success with their debut album All Kinds of Tough in 2010 followed by Country Proud (2012) and Harder to Tame (2014) before disbanding in 2015 to pursue other projects. The We Roll On Tour stops off at Wallsend Diggers - Mezz Bar on August 27. McAlister Kemp are releasing a new single, Paid for Drinking Beer, on June 17.
Bach at City Hall
Newcastle City Hall is attracting some bona fide talent of late, and can now add Paul Grabowsky and Andrea Lam to the list. They will be performing Bach's Goldberg Variations on June 23.
Grabowsky is an ARIA and APRA award winner, has written scores for more than 20 feature films and has been awarded the Order of Australia for his contribution to music and arts administration. Lam studied at Yale and was a semi-finalist in the 2009 Van Cliburn Competition and silver medallist in the 2009 San Antonio Piano Competition
The unique performance will see both artists coming together to present two very different takes on Goldberg Variations. Lam will perform the piece as Bach originally wrote it and Grabowsky will then improvise his own jazz-inflected interpretation. Tickets are on sale now at musicaviva.com.au.
Jazz album launch
Java Quartet is performing at The Underground at Newcastle's Grand Hotel on June 21 to celebrate their 25th year, and the release of their eighth album, Before Now After. Recorded live at Free Energy Device Studio by long-time collaborator producer Keith Walker, it captures a two-day session of intuitive playing where the band - Matthew Ottignon (sax), Mike Quigley (drums), Greg Coffin (piano) - explored melodic frameworks composed by bassist Michael Galeazzi as part of his PhD studies.
The inside story
As announced earlier this week, Daniel Johns has been working on a semi-autobiographical featurette called What If The Future Never Happened? due for release this year. Johns, played by Rasmus King, describes it as "the most honest and most fantastical thing I've ever done".
