Jamgrass Music Festival Confirms 2014 Details And Line-Up

Cult-favourite annual celebration of all things alt country, southern, bluegrass, new grass and rock, the Jamgrass Music Festival, has finalised its details for 2014’s event, which is proudly presented by The Music.

The three-day party kicks off on October 31 at the Thornbury Theatre ballroom, and will run through till November 2, featuring an all-star line-up of guests including Mustered Courage, Perch Creek, Sal Kimber And The Rollin’ Wheel and ubiquitous Kiwi upstart Marlon Williams, alongside many more.

Melburnian bluegrass outfit Mustered Courage are currently touring the States, having notably just played a gig at more than 3000 metres above sea level – “it’s hard to sing when you’re that high”, the band said of the experience – on Aspen Mountain. The band have a few more stops to complete before they return home for Halloween’s good times with fresh tales and perspectives to inform their triumphant Jamgrass appearance.

The Perch Creek Family Jugband have also just returned home, having completed an extensive tour of Europe and Canada that has been under way since June. The five-piece, four-sibling “psychedelic jug band” have been constantly turning heads everywhere they’ve popped up, from Spicks & Specks to the Sydney Opera House, as well as appearing at local and international festivals including the Edinburgh Fringe, The Green Man, Falls Music & Arts Festival, Woodford Folk Festival and Golden Plains. With recent album Jumping On The Highwire in tow, the talented family (and friend) are well placed to put on a heck of a show come October 31.

Melbourne-bred quintet Sal Kimber And The Rollin’ Wheel bring their Australiana-steeped brand of alt-country to Jamgrass fresh from their current North American tour, where they’ve been pleasing Canadian and (soon) US audiences since last month. It all leads up to an appearance at Nashville’s Americana Music Conference & Festival, from September 16-22, putting the quintet firmly in a position to be a more regular sight and sound around the upper hemisphere, if their history of polished, energetic performance is anything to go by.

Kiwi expat – now Melburnian – Marlon Williams should be a well-known face to Aussie audiences by now, having just wrapped an extensive co-headline tour with fellow ascendant troubadour Melody Pool, and a support slot alongside the renowned Justin Townes Earle on the horizon in October before he takes to the Jamgrass stage. If you’ve been unable to catch him in the flesh to date, you can use Jamgrass to take the opportunity to see a show brimming with maturity and flair from one of the national alt-country scene’s most exciting young prospects.

That A-list of acts will be joined by an esteemed complement of local and international artists, including Raised By Eagles, Sweet jean, The Seals, The Morrisons, Tattletale Saints (US/NZ), One Up, Two Down (US/AUS) and Annie Lou (CAN) – all of which highlights how far the festival has come in a few short years since its inception as a six-act show in 2011.

“We think we’ve got the format right,” festival director Jason Taylor said in a statement. “We have two stages running back-to-back in the one large ballroom, with no overlapping sets and a 360-degree lighting experience. The Thornbury Theatre is a beautiful venue, which we compliment with a big production, décor and a bunch of surprises, which all add to the festival experience.”

Early-bird tickets for 2014’s Jamgrass Music Festival are all sold out (unsurprisingly), but limited second-round passes are now available.

For more information about the event, see our dedicated Jamgrass page.