Angus & Julia Stone, Ben Harper Lead 'SummerSalt 2023' Lineup

Angus & Julia Stone and Ben Harper are set to headline a stacked lineup for the 2023 edition of SummerSalt.

Set against a backdrop of some of the most scenic locations Australia has to offer,  SummerSalt 2023 will see the pair of beloved acts joined by City & Colour, The Rubens, Middle Kids and Alex The Astronaut for what promises to be a highlight of the Aussie summer. 

SummerSalt 2023 marks the first time since the festival's inception that international artists will join the concert series, culminating in an unforgettable music experience.  SummerSalt has become an enormous success over the years delivering feel-good music to unique and picturesque destinations with a family-friendly atmosphere perfect for making memories. The 2023 edition looks to continue that run, offering sun-drenched days, and a sparkling haze of good times. 

A three-time Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter/musician/producer, Ben Harper, has had a long touring history and a great affinity with Australian audiences. He released his eagerly anticipated & fiercely personal 17th studio album, Bloodline Maintenance, on 22nd July this year. The result is a fearless and immensely soulful work, largely inspired by the loss of a long-time friend, and the lingering influence of a mercurial and charismatic father. Along with guitar and bass, Harper also played the drums including an eclectic assortment of percussions and a plastic toy snare. The deliberately open spaces and accented beats influenced, in large part, by the exploratory rhythms of the hip-hop he has loved since his teens. It is less a direct influence than the applying of hip-hop's inventiveness to longstanding paradigms of soul, blues and jazz, spinning it all forward into a reconfiguration of a new black Americana. Bloodline Maintenance is both a political and personally revealing work. 

Ben Harper’s unceasing commitment to touring has seen him amass international critical applause and a worldwide fan following. Whether it’s through the soul of southern Gospel, 70s funk, blues, reggae, or straightforward rock and roll, Harper and his trademark Weissenborn guitar continue to stun audiences with incendiary live performances and timeless songwriting

Sydney-born sibling duo Angus & Julia Stone have had us swept up in their dreamy fairy tale for more than a decade, offering floaty acoustics and raw, emotive lyrics that paint the perfect indie-folk picture. They have built an outstanding international career. The past 15 years has brought them widespread acclaim, seen them perform in front of enormous crowds across the world, and release some of the most captivating music to come out of this country in decades. Their fifth and latest album, Life Is Strange, was released in August last year. They hadn’t planned to make another record — for a while, at least. But life had other machinations in mind, as it always has with Angus & Julia. The pair were famously brought back together by the legendary Rick Rubin and now again, were presented with an impossible-to-ignore opportunity, to reconsider themselves as artists in a new way — as composers, scoring for an award-winning video game. 

Made over the course of a few years, in the moments where Angus & Julia weren’t devoted to their respective solo projects, Life Is Strange is unique in the Angus & Julia Stone oeuvre: it’s the most free, the most willing to cover new sonic territory. It is a testament to life’s strange confluence, the magical and spiritual forces that guide us through. Life Is Strange was recorded in, and inspired by, some of the most beautiful places in the world: the studio on Angus’ farm, Stonecutters, where the bulk of the record was made; Boulder, Colorado, where Life Is Strange, the video game, was developed; and Neil Finn’s studio in Auckland, New Zealand, where Angus & Julia finished parts of the album. 

Tickets for SummerSalt 2023 are on sale Thursday, 13 October at 10 am AEDT via Ticketmaster.

SummerSalt 2023 Lineup  
Angus and Julia Stone
Ben Harper
City and Colour
The Rubens
Middle Kids
Alex The Astronaut 

SummerSalt 2023 Tour Dates

Friday, 27 January - Stage 88, Canberra ACT
Saturday, 28 January - Thomas Dalton Park, Wollongong NSW
Sunday, 29 January - Esplanade Park, Fremantle, WA
Friday, 3 February - Royal Botanical Gardens, Hobart TAS
Saturday, 4 February – Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley VIC
Sunday, 5 February – Torquay Common, Torquay VIC
Saturday, 11 February – Park Beach Reserve, Coffs Harbour NSW
Sunday, 12 February – Broadwater Parklands, Southport QLD