'We Feel Honoured & Empowered': The Acts Heading From The Grammys To Bluesfest
Five acts heading to Bluesfest are up for Grammys on Monday. We got two of them, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram and Larkin Poe to dish the Grammy goss and tell us who they think is going to clean up at Bluesfest 2020.
Christone “Kingfish” Ingram
Congratulations on your Grammy nod. Were you expecting to be nominated? It was a real surprise, especially because this is my first album. I wanted to make the best album that I could and to be acknowledged at all is a dream come true.
What do you reckon your chances are of winning? Have you sized up the competition? I know all of my fellow nominees. They're all really amazing and made really great records. For me to be in the same company as musicians I look up to is an honour.
Will the Grammy make the trip to Australia with you if you win, or have you already figured out a place where it might live? I wouldn't want the customs people to confiscate it! So I'll probably keep it at home in Clarksdale, Mississippi
Who do you reckon is going to win at Bluesfest and be your must-see set of the festival and why? I'm looking forward to seeing George Benson, Kool & The Gang, Lenny Kravitz plus good friends of mine Larkin Poe, Tal Wilkenfeld, and Marcus King. I'm excited to see and hang out with them.
Bluesfest also is regularly nominated and wins awards, so it seems like a good match for you - what made you want to come out and play the festival here? I've known about Bluesfest for years. A lot of artists I love and are my friends play. They all speak highly of the event. With my first album less than a year old, it's great to be invited!
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Larkin Poe
Congratulations on your Grammy nod. Were you expecting to be nominated? It was unexpected! As independent, self-produced artists, we feel honoured and empowered to have been nominated. We're hardcore indie with a small and hardworking team; we all invested so much of ourselves into Venom & Faith so to get some recognition for the energy that everybody cranked out feels good.
What do you reckon your chances are of winning? Have you sized up the competition? We're honoured to be nominated for the Contemporary Blues Award alongside the likes of Gary Clark Jr and Robert Randolph; I'd say that's some strong competition. We'll be happy whichever way it goes - the blues are getting represented and that's what counts.
Will the Grammy make the trip to Australia with you if you win, or have you already figured out a place where it might live? Since there's two of us sisters, we'll likely have to chainsaw the darn thing in half so that each of us can have a piece of it to display on our mantels back home.
Who do you reckon is going to win at Bluesfest and be your must-see set of the festival and why? When you've got Brandi Carlile, Allen Stone, Jimmie Vaughan, Crowded House and John Prine all on the same bill - is it even possible to have a winner? We want them all.
Bluesfest also is regularly nominated and wins awards, so it seems like a good match for you - what made you want to come out and play the festival here? We played Bluesfest for the first time in 2019 and had such an amazing time that we were really hoping to get invited back; when our managers forwarded us the invite for 2020, we were stoked.
NEED MORE BLUESFEST CONTENT IN YOUR LIFE?
Byron Bay Bluesfest takes place from 9-13 April 2020. Tickets are on sale now, head to theGuide for all the info.
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