Bulli Showgrounds is set to be pumping with nearly 100 local, national and international artists ready to perform over three big days in January.
“The 38th Illawarra Folk Festival is going to be a fantastic festival of music curated by the growing team of young folk enthusiasts who are stretching the ideals of song, story and dance towards a new generation of attendees,” says festival director Cody Munro-Moore.
“(The festival) prides itself on having variety and diversity- a real feast for everyone,” says co-artistic director, Kay Proudlove.
Get to know some of their favourites on the lineup this year:
Olivia Coggan
FOLK / INDIE / ROOTS
Olivia’s songs and voice fill my heart, I could listen to her all day, and I quite often do.
An up-and-coming singer—songwriter from Helensburgh, this soft country/ folk artist has a warm, heartfelt sound. Olivia’s gentle guitar and vocals with a country lilt invite listeners to an intimate storytelling, often inspired by what she has learned to be true of life and love. Daughter of award-winning Country singer Darren Coggan, Olivia grew up surrounded by music, in theatres across Australia. She’s toured supporting some big Aussie names; Kasey Chambers, Riley Pearce, Boy & Bear, The Dreggs, Harrison Storm and Kyle Lionheart. In August 2024, she released her latest single ‘If You Feel Things’ produced by Kasey Chambers and Brandon Dodd.
Andrew Gurruwiwi
FUNK / REGGAE / DANCE
This powerhouse outfit follows in the footsteps of music icons like Yothu Yindi and, more recently, indie rockers King Stingray
This high-energy 8-piece funk band from Yirrkala, Arnhem Land will have even the shy folks up on the dance floor. Led by Andrew Gurruwiwi—a blind, keytar-weilding Yolngu elder, the band cooks up some groovy beats and reggae-style vocals, sung in their native tongue- Yolngu Matha. Their fresh, feel-good, sound is a unique style of ‘Yolgnu Funk’. In July 2024, the band released their debut single; Sing Your Own Song, inspired by the rhythms of Africa, Jamaica, India, Mexico, blues, rock and flamenco.
William Crighton
ROOTS / ROCK / BLUES
Crighton looks like a bushranger and sings like a sage
From a small town around the Riverina, NSW, Will Crighton rekindles Australian bush ballads with vivid imagery and a fusion of dark folk and rock. From divining the meaning of life from an insect to the revenge murder of a paedophile priest, Crighton’s music is a blend of hearty bush poetics, psychedelia, traditional folk and punk. He’s one of Australia’s powerful storytellers, winning the Aria Award for Best Blues and Roots Release with his album ‘Water and Dust’ in 2022. He’s supported Canadian bluegrass band The Dead South, and Midnight Oil on their farewell tour.
Martha Spencer
ROOTS / BLUEGRASS / COUNTRY
Truly a national treasure, performing in a classic old-time style that’ll have you picturing speakeasies and then a touch of wild Western saloons.
From the Blue Ridge mountains of Virginia, this mountaineer musician is no stranger to a stringed instrument. From fiddle to banjo to dulcimer, Martha Spencer is a connoisseur of old country and bluegrass. Much like her accent, her music is entrenched in the Appalachian Mountains—from the traditional down-picking style of the region to her own country ballads inspired by home. You’ll recognise her from her previous band; Whitetop Mountaineers or by her by her cowboy-boot, flatfoot Appalachian dance moves.
The Ramshackle Army
PUNK / ROCK
Truly a national treasure, performing in a classic old-time style that’ll have you picturing speakeasies and then a touch of wild Western saloons.
Sprung from the Melbourne pub scene in 2010, this 6-piece Celtic punk band has produced many a dance track. Combining spritely and uplifting fiddle and banjo melodies with heavy punk vocals and drums, The Ramshackle Army is a high-energy band with rhythmic tunes that will have you head banging. Releasing music since 2011, The Army has an impressive discography of fast, upbeat punk with folky undertones of hard-core fiddle.
Sunday Lemonade
INDIE / POP / FOLK
Referring to themselves as ‘the lemons’, this bubbly, pop, feel-good duo from Melbourne has been making a fizz across Australia. The lemons: Tys and Loz come from different musical backgrounds, so every one of their tracks is unique. From heartfelt folk to indie rock, the duo’s vocal harmonies and acoustic, percussive beats and earthy sound makes for easy listening. The pair have been steadily releasing singles since 2021, the most recent being ‘West Coast’ released in October 2023. In 2020, they won the Emerging Artist award at Nannup Music Festival.
Check out the Illawarra Folk Festival
17-19 January 2025
Bulli Showgrounds
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