With impeccable timing, Geoff Achison's Gallery Gig happens to land on the first day of this years annual Wall to Wall Festival!

Geoff Achison Music is an internationally acclaimed guitarist, vocalist & songwriter from Melbourne AUS.  .After serving an apprenticeship with veteran bluesman Dutch Tilders, Geoff released his first solo album Big Machine in 1994. He held some popular residencies around Melbourne most notably at The Espy and St Andrews Hotel. In 1995 Geoff represented the MBAS in Memphis, USA winning the Albert King Award in and scoring an endorsement deal with Gibson Guitars’ acoustic division. By 1997 Geoff had relocated to London and established a presence on the UK scene.

To combat the difficulties of travelling internationally, Geoff expanded on his Souldiggers concept, hiring the best local musicians available whether in the USA, UK, or at home in Oz.
In Melbourne he gathered what became known as the ‘A-team’ featuring the legendary Mal Logan on keys, the great bassist Roger McLachlan and the incredible Gerry Pantazis on drums. Inventive and adventurous, this line-up gained a reputation for delivering spontaneous and exciting improvisations within Geoff’s original compositions. “The songs are all designed to be fluid so they can take whatever turn we want on the night. To achieve this, the musicians need to play instinctively; from the heart. That’s what ‘Souldiggers’ is meant to convey”

The group has always had a home in the blues/roots scene but to call it a Blues band or even a Soul outfit (as the name suggests) is a misnomer. Certainly there is blues & soul influence at the core, but like many contemporary roots music acts, the Souldiggers transcend any specific genre. In 2014 the group celebrated 20 years with the release of a live concert album & DVD. Mal Logan departed for sunnier climes (in sub-tropical Queensland) and Richard Tankard took over keyboard duties. In 2016 the group was employed to record Geoff's next studio album. Featuring 14 new original songs and delving stylistically into blues, country, folk and a little funk, 'Another Mile Another Minute' has enjoyed wide critical acclaim (including 5 trophies at the 2017 'Chain' Australian Blues Music Awards) and provided more touring opportunities for Geoff in the UK and US.
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Geoff also performs a variety of blues, soul and folk styles including some world-class original songs as solar acoustic shows. Performing with a simple acoustic guitar he also includes fascinating stories and anecdotes that have led him from shy country kid to international touring artist. He tells of finding his first guitar and ultimately jamming with musical heroes in New York City. Geoff relates these tales with his lively sense of humour and encourages anyone with artistic ambition to dream big and follow their heart.

Local support act Gabe Chowanetz will be warming up the night with some guitar shredding antics.

Drinks at bar prices.
Strictly NO BYO alcohol.
Tix available at NEA or Trybooking until sold out.
Under 18's must be accompanied by a responsible parent/guardian.

A Date for your Diary!  Tim McMillan and Rachel Snow play The Gallery Gigs, Saturday 7 March, 7.30pm. Further details soon...

​Presenting 'Gallery Choir' at NEA, hosted by Beechworth musician Marisa Quigley!  To celebrate NEA's 5th Birthday we'll be rounding off 2019 with a fun-filled evening of laughter, song, drinks and cake on Saturday evening, 14th December from 7 pm..

What is Gallery Choir you ask? NEA's Gallery Choir event draws upon on the community music concept of a pub choir founded in Brisbane, Australia in 2017. The host arranges a popular song and teaches it to the audience, concluding with a performance which is filmed and shared on social media. All ages* and abilities welcome! Tix are on sale now at NEA and bookings are essential!

Birthday and end of year celebrations 5-7pm (free entry, bring a platter)
Gallery Choir from 7pm ($5 adult/under 10's free)
Drinks at bar prices, strictly No BYO
*Under 18's must be accompanied by responsible parent/guardian

Join us for the final Gallery Gigs of 2019 on Saturday October 5th! Tickets $15. Available now on Trybooking or from NEA.

​Born and bred in the historic gold-mining town of Beechworth in North-east Victoria, Liv Cartledge is a rare find. At just 21, her husky tones, soul-filled lyrics and warm melodies married with a voice one can only assume comes from her toes, Liv will draw you in and leave you wondering how you got there.

With each song telling a different story of people she’s met, places she’s been, thoughts and dreams she’s had, Liv’s songwriting will tug at your heart strings and leave you begging for more.

Growing up in a perfectly picturesque town, surrounded by rolling hills and hidden valleys, Liv was spoilt for inspiration when it came to songwriting. Influenced by the likes of Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins and Thelma Plum, Liv draws on encounters with strangers, love and loss from every aspect, memories and dreams.

Fast forward to December 2015, Liv was crowned winner of the Telstra Road To Discovery. In 2016, Liv recorded 4 out of 5 tracks from her debut EP ‘Timber’ in Lake Echo, Nova Scotia, Canada with award winning producer Daniel Ledwell. The title track, ‘Timber’, was recorded with Neilson Hubbard in Nashville, TN whilst Liv was in town for the Americana Music Festival.

Now, two years on, Cartledge has provided fans with a snapshot of her growth and determination as a songwriter and musician with her first release for 2019. ‘Rogue Dog’ looks inward while shining with promise, as Cartledge gets introspective and paints a self-aware portrait of herself, ever-maturing and ever-evolving.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Mandy Connell is bare souled & luminous on stage. With acclaim Throughout the Folk Scene Mandy is admired for her songwriting & delivery. Taking the Declan Affley Award (National Folk Festival) in 2005 and the Maldon Minstrel Award (Maldon Festival) in 2006, Mandy placed at the Port Fairy’s ‘Songs of Peace & Tolerance’. She has toured the UK, formed Trad 5 piece ‘Stray Hens’, & continues to write original music.

“Mandy Connell is the latest in a long and distinguished line of talented female musicians to grace the musical scene in Australia. A fine singer and songwriter in her own right, she also has the knack of taking other peoples’ songs, and by virtue of her original and unique interpretations making them her own, the mark of a truly gifted performer…” Eric Bogle

“Mandy Connell is a folk festival favourite. She’s quick, bright-hearted and liable to break into song mid-sentence. On stage she conjures up moods with an ease that comes from living her music. “I identify as folk,” she says. “If there was an ethnic group you could call folk, that would be me. I’m there. I grew up in it, and I’ve always called myself folk… since before banjos were on t-shirts.”- James M Fahy (Wait Long by The River)

TIx on sale NOW at trybooking OR in store at NEA OR on door if not sold out prior - $15 adult, Under 18's free with responsible parent or guardian. Tickets are limited!

Drinks at bar prices. No BYO

North East Artisans, 122 Bridge Street East, Benalla 3672

​The Gallery Gigs returned on Friday 9 August with a magical gig by Paddy McHugh  and Claire Anne Taylor, supported by Sean Buckley. Thank you Paddy, for persuading Claire to join you on a tour, and thanks New Zealand's Adam McGrath from THE EASTERN  for telling Claire that the Gallery Gigs Benalla would be a great place to start the tour!

Great to read this article in the Ensign!   (Click on article for larger image).

Date for your diaries - next Gallery Gig - Saturday October 5 - Mandy Connell and Liv Cartledge!

The Gallery Gigs - Friday May 3 6.30 pm Exhibitions Gallery at NEA 'The Ocelots'

"Initially cutting their teeth on the notoriously tough busking circuit, this real life band of brothers (or twins, to be precise) have trodden the boards across Europe, wowing crowds and turning industry heads along the way. Based in Wexford, Ashley and Brandon Watson draw inspiration from the likes of Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel and the Followill family, fusing folk and pop-rock to create a bewitching brew of lush harmonies and sweet hooks. They’ve also caused a stir with their guerrilla gigs, where they turn up unannounced in random locations and perform for their fans on YouTube."

​Source:  Edwin McFee 'Hot for 2019 Irish Acts: The Ocelots' Hot Press Website, 1 Feb 2019

We are in the middle of a wonderful 'Gallery Gigs' season at NEA, with three gigs to go before a long winter break.  The Frank Burkitt Band, have "gathered their instruments and hopped over the ditch from their New Zealand home for a 17 date tour across Victoria and New South Wales" which includes a North East Artisans Gallery Gig in Benalla tomorrow night! We are so lucky!

The band's second album Raconteur won the band the Vodafone NZ Music Award for Best Folk Artist 2019. This tour will support their new live EP Lost But Alive.

​Thursday 11 April 2019 at 6:00pm Gallery 2, North East Artisans.122-124 Bridge St East, Benalla, VIC 3672 Tix $15 https://www.trybooking.com/book/event?eid=473746 or at NEA.

​++Over the Wall to Wall Festival we are presenting another magical #gallerygig at North East Artisans++

Join us for a special night of high class live and original tunes in an intimate and comfy setting, surrounded by the works of local artists!

JoJo Smith, who hails from Violet Town, is one of Australia's greatest musical treasures, a sexagenarian pocket-rocket, soul-singing, groove-driving tour de force, who "drops jaws and melts hearts with every performance" (Colin Thompson, Bendigo Blues Festival Director). Across her 50 year career Jo Jo Smith has worked with the cream of the crop, and her capacity to move her listeners through tears and joy with the power of music is stronger than ever. “Jo Jo Smith is a true soul singer. She sings soul music. She sings with and through her soul. Smith has a mighty weapon in her voice, she reserves its power striking only when necessary” (Marty Jones, Rhythms Magazine) “Jo Jo has been an inspiration to myself and many other musicians in Australia for many years" (Renee Geyer)

Lauded for writing "some of the most simple and beautiful songs you will hear" (**** The Age), Lucie Thorne has earned her place as one of Australia’s most striking contemporary songsmiths. With eleven releases to her name and a prodigious touring schedule, Lucie Thorne continues to carve out an extraordinary creative career. From spacious gritty rock n roll to dark and delicate folk, Thorne conjures "exquisitely impressionistic... poetry in motion" (**** Rolling Stone Magazine) with an intimacy and warmth for which her live shows have become so renowned. “a demonstration of power through grace and subtlety. World Class.” (Roots Down) "Atmospheric, innovative brilliance" (**** Sydney Morning Herald)
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Tickets - $20 (presale) at
https://www.trybooking.com/BBUIX OR in store at NEA
OR - $25 on door if available
Under 18's free but must be accompanied by a responsible parent/guardian.
*Bar
*No byo thanks!

Award winning New Zealand based musicians, The Frank Burkitt Band will be performing at North East Artisans at 6 pm on Thursday 11 April as part of their 17 date ‘Lost But Alive’ Australian Tour, fresh from being announced as winners of the NZ Music Award for Best Folk Artist 2019.

After impressing audiences on their debut Australian Tour in March 2018 which included performances at Port Fairy Folk Festival and Blue Mountains Music Festival, they are returning to Australia with a heap of new songs and a new live EP ‘Lost But Alive’.

Frank is a story teller, songwriter, singer and guitarist. In that order. His rambling anecdotes aim to give the audience more of a connection with his songs. A folk songwriter at his core, American roots music with hints of jazz, blues and swing very much shape his music. When he relocated to Wellington from Edinburgh he formed The Frank Burkitt Band, with blues and country mandolin player Cameron Burnell and jazz double bassist James Geluk.

Touring Australia as a trio with vocals, guitar, mandolin and double bass, they will perform original songs spanning a wide range of genres such as Americana, swing, blues and folk.
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Tix $15 at https://www.trybooking.com/BAYVA 
OR in store at North East Artisans.
Under 18's free but must be accompanied by a responsible parent/guardian.
+Bar
No byo thanks!

​Michaela Alexander

i hear django presents Ordinary Elephant (USA)
Wednesday 17th April 2019 - The Gallery Gigs at North East Artisans

International Folk Music Awards 2017 Artist of the Year, Ordinary Elephant are “as genuine as it gets” – Lloyd Maines. The nomadic husband and wife duo captivate listeners with their well-honed combination of insightful writing, effortless harmonies and intertwined clawhammer banjo and guitar. Pete’s understated, melodic and mellow banjo weaves through Crystal’s steady and clean rhythm guitar, with poetic lyrics purposefully delivered in rich harmony, “like their voices were made to go together” – Texas Music Journal. www.ordinaryelephant.net

Doors 6:30pm // Tickets $15 ​

​​Wednesday 27th February, 2019
6:30pm - 9:30pm
Doors open 6:00pm
 
In 2019, Scott Cook is returning with a new intercontinental string band called The She'll Be Rights, consisting of fellow Canadian Bramwell Park on banjo and mandolin, and Aussie comrades Esther Henderson on fiddle and Liz Frencham on upright bass. They're touring in support of Cook's sixth studio album, Further Down the Line, which earned him his second Canadian Folk Music Award nomination!

<Click here to book your ticket/s at Trybooking.com>

Adults - $15
Under 18's - Free

​The musicality and virtuousity of Jaron Freeman Fox and Simon Nyberg at the final Gallery Gig for 2018 was spell binding! Thank you for playing a gig in Benalla, Jaron and Simon - and thank you Michaela Alexander for organizing such a memorable program of 'Gallery Gigs' in 2018!

Jaron Freeman Fox - back in 2012...

Jaron Freeman Fox.... a recent improvisation...

Simon playing in the group 'Six String Yada'... more clips on You Tube...

"Jaron Freeman-Fox is a live looping violinist. Bred in the mountains of Canada’s northwest, and steeped in study under the great traditional musicians of India, Scandinavia, and Siberia, Jaron Freeman-Fox redefines what his instrument is capable of, and gives the listener no choice but to take his unique refraction of world music on it’s own terms.

Jaron’s singular style was encouraged from an early age as an apprentice of Canada’s renowned fiddle pioneer, the late Oliver Shroer, who’s violin Jaron still plays. Jaron went on to study Carnatic classical music in South India under Dr. M Narmadha, hardanger fiddle in Norway under Jan Beitohaugen Granli, Swedish fiddle in Skåne under Mats Edén, Morin Khuur in Mongolia under Batzorig Vaanchig, and throat singing in Tuva under Igor Koshkendey.

Joined by guitarist Simon Nyberg (Sweden) for their Australian tour,

Jaron enjoys long stumbles in the woods, early-morning bedtimes, and unrehearsed fire juggling."