OUR OWN BLUES BROTHERS
The Coast’s Hanlon Brothers are set to wow Bluesfest
LIKE most people who’ve seen them light up a stage, Byron Bay Bluesfest director Peter Noble was hooked on the spot the first time he saw Gold Coast live greats the Hanlon Brothers perform.
Hailed by Ben Harper in a recent interview for his “impeccable taste” in music, Mr Noble signed the award-winning Burleigh musicians up for his weekend’s 29th annual Bluesfest after they wowed him during their showcase set at Australian Music Week in Sydney in November.
“These guys are the most exciting Australian act I’ve seen since The Cat Empire first emerged,” he said.
For the Hanlons – brothers Saia and Omar Hanlon and their revolving line-up of feature, MCs, horn players and instrumentalists – the gig was a dream come true.
“We went there wanting Peter Noble to see us,” Omar Hanlon said. ”It was a small venue and we were on a stage outside and it happened to be raining and we thought there’s no way he’ll come and watch us now – but he turned up before we started and stayed the whole time.”
The 2018 Bluesfest swings into action from today until Monday with a typically stellar line-up lead by Robert Plant and the Sensational Space Shifters, Lionel Richie, Ms. Lauryn Hill, John Butler Trio, Tash Sultana, Seal, Jackson Browne, Melissa Etheridge, Gomez, Michael Franti and Spearhead, Jimmy Cliff, Leon Bridges, Mia Dyson and Dan Sultan.
Tickets are available at the gate however Sunday is set to sellout as it did last year, when more than 105,000 music fans poured through the gates across the weekend.
“To be a Bluesfest act is a dream,” Hanlon said.
“It’s Australia’s best festival. We went last year and checked out Eric Gales and then the year before we saw Kendrick Lamar. It’s such a big, major festival and Peter Noble’s the one who books the bands. He’s the scouter. He still has his finger right on the pulse.”
Hanlon Brothers will take their expanded nine-piece line-up to Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm for their two Bluesfest sets – on the Jambalaya stage on Good Friday at 3.30pm (2.30pm Qld time) and the Delta Stage on Sunday from 6pm (Qld time).
The group has spent most of this week holed up in their purpose-built studio, Hanlon Brothers Studios, in Miami finetuning their set.
“Last year we toured with Katchafire which put us on the map in other cities and we’ve got three shows at Festival 2018 straight after Bluesfest,” Hanlon said.
“We’re debuting our new single at Bluesfest. It’s called Freedom. It’s a soul groove song. My younger brother Ruka does the rap. It’s got live horns and it’s really good.”