Mainland and international performers for 2008

Bluegrass Parkway

Australia's premier bluegrass band, Bluegrass Parkway has just returned from a triumphant tour of the US and hold true to the origins of this exciting musical genre, capturing the magic of the golden years of bluegrass.
Bluegrass Parkway remains faithful to the 1940s style by playing to a single microphone and incorporating strong three and four part harmonies. Whether it be the traditional sounds of Monroe and the Stanley Brothers or material closer to the 'cutting edge', Bluegrass Parkway will thrill you with great picking, strong harmonies and fancy footwork! 
www.bluegrassparkway.com

Bohemian Nights

Melbourne violinist Ernie Gruner and accordionist/singer Phil Carroll play Gypsy, Klezmer, Middle-Eastern, French, Italian, Russian, jazz and tango music which range from soulful to wild.
www.erniegruner.com

Bob Fox (UK)

Bob Fox is from County Durham in the North East of England and his performance is deeply influenced by the working class culture and industrial folk song from that area.
Bob has been described as “the most complete male folk artist on the British folk scene” by The Daily Telegraph and his voice and singing style is envied by many of his contemporaries. Ralph McTell said of Bob “as soon as I heard him sing I realised that Bob Fox must have one of the best voices in England, he is an artist of great ability and integrity.”
www.bobfoxmusic.com

Cloudstreet

John Thompson and Nicole Murray use their stage presence to deliver hot harmonies and beautiful ballads. Experience the vitality, humour and excitement ats they breathe new life into some of the great songs of Australian, English and Celtic traditions.
www.cloudstreet.org

Dev'lish Mary

Dev'lish Mary are a newly formed band from Melbourne featuring Ruth Hazleton, Liz Frencham, Cat Moser and Sally Taylor (in Cygnet last year to play fiddle with Peter Daffy and Steve Gilchrist). All the members of Dev'lish Mary are old-time, bluegrass and western swing junkies from way back, and are raring to bring their own spicy interpretation of hillbilly and American roots music to Cygnet audiences.

Eilean Mor

This Celtic World Music group offer a haunting and thrilling mix of original and traditional songs and tunes. Their music is based on the Scottish Gaelic tradition, uprooted to Australia during the Highland clearances. The band is singer/songwriter Ruth Lee Martin, guitarist Bill Grose, Ed Rodrigues on percussion, Bill Williams on double bass and Catherine Fraser on fiddle. There is genuine excitement in Cygnet knowing Eilean Mor are coming.
www.eileanmor.net

Funny Green Smelly Things

A crazy musical comedy act for kids, packed with songs about bugs, boogers, burps, bottom noises and other cool stuff that kids find so hysterically fascinating. Merri May Gill and Simon Mellor will have you and your kids looking for boogers the whole weekend. Merri May and Simon will also be appearing in their more adult, country and western manifestation Nester Lou & Slim Knackers.
www.thefunnygreensmellythings.com

Grumpy Neighbour

Grumpy Neighbour began life as a demo recording sometime in 2003 as two old mates, Glendon Blazely and Ray Bassett, began collaborating in song. Having pursued separate musical careers since their early days in Tasmania they found they were now both living in Melbourne some 20 years later. The result is a really 'Grumpy' sound based around Glendon's unique bass vocals.

Grumpy Neighbour toured Tasmania in August 2007 and showed the maturity of the band and that the duo is ready to explode their talent. 'Sheep Manure $2 a bag, bullshit for free' is a great album but watch out for the expanded, confident, stage presence at Cygnet in 2008.

Jack Hardy

Jack Hardy is "a more literate, Celtic Townes Van Zandt, grave in his tone and generous in his ideals, as rooted in the present soil and sky of Ireland and America, as he is fascinated by the legends of the past". St Louis Riverfront Times
"Jack Hardy’s so at home in the role of the Celtic bard that it’s hard to believe he’s home-grown." Rolling Stone
Tasmanian Grassroots Union Choir Member Giulia Corradetti came across Jack Hardy in Italy where he has a larger entry in an Italian encyclopedia of rock than many prominent rock stars. She encouraged festival director, Roger Joseph, to listen to Jack's CDs.
The collection of celtic songs on ‘A Tinkers Coin’ is pure magic and his 1984 album ‘The Cauldron’ contains more sublime songs. You will swear that you have heard ‘If I ever pass this way again’ a hundred times before. Jack Hardy is a prolific artist of high standing in both Ireland and America - he has recorded seventeen albums and in 1998, PrimeCD reissued his first 10 albums in a box set.
In a coup for the Cygnet Folk Festival, Jack Hardy is coming to the 2008 festival as his only Australian stopover.
www.jackhardy.com

Jugularity

Jugularity's brand of madcap musical comedy successfully combines skilled, inspiring musicianship with comedy cabaret. Jugularity includes lively, upbeat, eclectic versions of jazz, folk, blues, rap, country, gypsy and other styles of songs they've written, borrowed or parodied.
Surprise, audience involvement, great music, fun and spontaneity make Jugularity popular with all ages.
www.jugularity.com

Kate Rowe

Young singer/songwriter Kate Rowe is one of the Blue Mountains brightest new talents. Kate's songs are irresistibly catchy but there's nothing banal about the messages - there's a complete story in every tune. If you don't love Kate Rowe, it's because you haven't seen her yet.
www.katerowe.com
photo: Damian Baker

Klezmeritis

Klezmeritis main inspiration is Eastern European Jewish traditional celebration and dance music. Klezmer music draws on Jewish musical roots as well as Gypsy, Hungarian, Moldavian, Ukrainian, Greek, Turkish and Arabic modes and rhythms. The band also adds influences from their experiences in the improvised, jazz and middle-eastern areas. Ernie Gruner adds anectodes, stories and cultural or historical explanations.

Klezmer music ranges widely from fast, joyous, dance tunes with pseudo-Balkan rhythms to slow, melancholic pieces designed to make brides weep. Klezmeritis also often includes Israeli dances (including horas), Chassidic ‘niguns’ (wordless singing believed to draw the singer & listeners closer to heaven) & Sephardic (Spanish/Middle-Eastern) pieces as well as music from related cultures including Polish mazurka, Hungarian czardas, Greek hasipiko, Russian Gypsy and original pieces.
www.erniegruner.com/klezmeritis.htm

Kath Tait (NZ)

The songs of Kath Tait have been made famous by other artists. A sure sign of a class act is when Lin Van Hek, Penelope Swales and Totally Gourdgeous want to record your material. Fresh from recording ‘Leaky Umbrellas’ ask for the quirky reverse love song ‘Bastard’. Coming to Cygnet direct from London this will be Kath’s first appearance at Cygnet.
http://kath.elencomp.co.uk

Michael Kennedy

Michael Kennedy is a singer/songwriter from Victoria and possibly the most celebrated voice on the Australian festival circuit. The success of his first album "Digging for Soul" has catapulted him to onto stages across Australia. His beautiful voice, exquisite songs and a guitar style thrills audiences wherever he plays.

Mick Thomas

Mick is one of Australia’s finest songwriters and captures an audience with his stage presence. He still carries the mantle from Weddings Parties Anything, even though the last ten years has worked solo or with his band The Sure Thing. Last seen at Cygnet in 2000 I wonder why we have waited eight years to get him back.
www.mickthomas.com

Margaret Walters & Roaring Forties

Margaret Walters has been part of the Australian folk scene for many years and she was so impressive last year, performing with Don Brian as the Southern Cross Trawlers, we're welcoming her back to Cygnet, this year with the Roaring Forties. In partnership with songwriter John Warner, Margaret will be bringing their epic song and verse cycle 'Yarri of Wiradjuri' which tells of the great flood on the Murrumbigee in Gundagai in 1852, the struggles of the white settlers and the steadfast heroism of Yarri and other indigenous people.

www.margaretwalters.com

Shane Howard

Remember Shane from Goanna and ‘Solid Ground’?
"He sounds as though he has drunk deeply from the same fountain that gave the world Henry Lawson, Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan". Bruce Elder - Sydney Morning Herald - January 25th, 2007
Shane continues to pay homage to the culture of his Irish ancestors and the culture of the Aboriginal people whose land on which he lives. He combines a deep understanding of poetic and musical folk traditions and captures something essential of the spirit of Australia in words and music. A timeless teller of stories.
www.shanehoward.com.au

Shooglenifty

For a decade, Shooglenifty have been sprouting dance beats from Celtic roots and the audience for their energetic live shows keeps swelling, thanks to six albums and constant touring to such unlikely places as Borneo and Mexico. This famous Scottish Celtic band features Tasmanian (Cygnet’s own) Luke Plumb on mandolin. A smash hit in 2001 when they made their Cygnet debut, they needed a replacement mandolin player while touring here. Former bass player Conrad Ivitsky thought of Luke Plumb, a 21-year-old he'd heard busking in Hobart while there on his honeymoon. Luke joined the band soon after, is still touring the world with them and writes many of their tunes."Shoogle" means "shake" in the old Scottish vernacular. "Nifty" means "nifty".
www.shoogle.com

The Spooky Men's Chorale

This ruthless bunch of hirsute larrikins from the Blue Mountains have found themselves the darlings of the Folk Festival circuit, both here and in the UK. Described once as a comedian with nineteen straightmen, the Spooky men can sing so tenderly that they reduce women to tears, and their pointless grandeur, buffoonery, facial hair configurations and preoccupation with power tools is so endearing it gives all men cause to believe there is a role for masculinity in the 21st century. They have recently released their second CD, Stop Scratching It.
www.spookymen.com
Photo:Sarah Delaney info@sarahdelaney.com.au

Stephen Taberner

Stephen was born in New Zealand and is one of Australia’s pre-eminent choral leaders. He has toured the UK giving choral workshops, led the “Choral Sea” event at Sydney Town Hall, worked with Sydney Playback Theatre, an East Timorese cultural group, “Another Roadside Attraction” and the Millenium Chorus in Melbourne as well as directing the Spooky Men’s Chorale.
www.stephentaberner.com

Tete

Now one of France’s most well regarded song writers, Tété started out playing bars and cafés, just him and his guitar. France’s original troubadour, he has sold over half a million records, also selling out The Olympia five times in one year. Described as ‘terribly human’, his music blends the pop, folk and blues influences that shaped his early musical life. This will be your first and possibly only chance to see Tété in some very intimate venues and festival appearances.
www.myspace.com/tete75

Photo:Lisa Roze

Trouble in the Kitchen

TIK have been regulars at Cygnet because they are just so good - acclaimed as one of Australia’s most exciting and innovative trad folk acts, it's hard to find an Irish band to match them for their driving energy and consumate musicianship. For this festival we invited them back, after a break of three years, to do their traditional Irish stuff.
www.troubleinthekitchen.com