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Leaps & Bounds Festival Unveils Tributary 'Lost Lights' Concert Series

Staff Writer

The event will celebrate and remember four late, great songwriters of the modern era

The impending Leaps & Bounds festival is expanding its program of offerings with Lost Lights, a tribute concert to four of the most remarkable, tortured songwriters of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

Celebrating the life and work of tragic performers David McComb (of The Triffids), Townes Van Zandt, Jason Molina and Mark Linkous, Lost Lights will be held across three venues — The Evelyn, Gasometer and The Pinnacle — and two weekends, with each event boasting a unique line-up of acclaimed artists hand-picked to bring the late musicians' work to life once more.

For fans of Linkous — better known as the emotionally tormented genius behind Sparklehorse — the It's A Wonderful Life scribe will be remembered at The Evelyn on Sunday, 5 July, from 8.30pm, to the sounds of Waywardbreed's melancholic folk, the upbeat slacker strains of Vowel Movement, dream-pop upstart J Lee (formerly Leigh Hannah), the deranged rock of Spacejunk, droneward-leaning psych dabblers Hot Palms, wayward troubadour Lisa Marmur, local singer-songwriter Nicholas Grammaticos, alt-grunge/indie/lo-fi melting pot My Piranha, the lush fuzz of Owen Hughes, and the folk-rock dreamscape of Nicholas Costello.

At McComb's tribute concert, at The Pinnacle, on Saturday, 11 July, from 4pm, the Triffids founder gets the A-list treatment from The Spoils frontman Sean Simmons, fellow vocalist Jules Sheldon, the dreamy alt-country of Conor Hutchinson, the reverb-drenched sonic spasms of Tangrams, well-travelled troubadour Michael Plater, fellow song-slinger Tom Hoskins, the return of Waywardbreed, the poetry-cum-emotive tunes of Sean M Whelan, veteran Melburnians The Coves, and the one-off appearance for Son Of Dungeon, featuring members of Ocean Party and Ciggie Witch.

Also at The Pinnacle, on Saturday, 18 July, from 4pm, Townes Van Zandt will be paid respect by an impressive spread of talent himself: Tasmanian "bush bard" Van Walker is on board, as are ambient surf-pop/indie crew Galaxy Folk, Hot Palms guitarist Jake Core (as Soda Eaves), Canberran singer-songwriter Josh Newham, the '60s garage-pop of Rah Rahs, the evocative tunes of Oscar Lush, the dulcet sounds of Elizabeth Barker, Junk Horses frontwoman Kate Alexander, Gippsland-bred bluesman Tim Woods, the rollicking raucousness of Gun Barrel Straights, local mainstay Nick AW and the stompy blues-country-folk-swing goodness of Brooke Russell.

Finally, US-born singer-songwriter Jason Molina — best known for his work under the Songs: Ohia moniker — gets his turn in the limelight at Gasometer, on Sunday, 19 July, from 8.30pm. The last of the Lost Lights concerts features some of Melbourne's finest musicians, including doom-country outfit Cherrywood, Waywardbreed once again, the ebullient Rich Davies (of Rich Davies & The Devil's Union), acclaimed solo artist Kira Puru, the cinematic lo-fi of Water Music, more Oscar Lush, "warrior street poet" Max Barker, the lilting acoustic goods of Rhea Caldwell and Fabian, aka Baby Blue, and the alternately blissful and brooding George Hatzigeorgiou. Plus, there are even some outsiders being ferried in, with Sydney acts Worthwild and Black River Bell headed down to join the festivities.

The Lost Lights concerts for Linkous and Molina carry an $8 entry fee; Van Zandt and McComb's are free. For more information, see theGuide or check The Music App. To get across all things Leaps & Bounds, hit up our dedicated event page under the Festivals tab.