Music forged in Steel

ROOTS music legend Dave Steel will headline the kunanyi Folk Club’s second gathering at Fern Tree on Saturday.

Balladeer and bluesman Steel is an ARIA Award-nominated singer/ songwriter and a former member of folk-rock favourites Weddings Parties Anything.

He has worked with the likes of Kasey Chambers, Archie Roach and his musician wife Tiffany Eckhardt as a guitarist and producer.

The couple have relocated to the Huon Valley in recent years, and kunanyi Folk Club co-founder David Beniuk said Tasmanians had a jewel in their own backyard.

“Dave Steel is Australian folk-rock royalty,” he said.

“He makes beautiful, honest, roots-driven music powered by his extraordinary guitar work and great songwriting.”

Steel’s debut single, The Hardest Part, was nominated for Best Indigenous Release at the 1989 ARIA Awards.

In 1994 he was nominated for Best Independent Release, and in 2002 for Best Blues and Roots Album.

Steel’s show follows the kunanyi Folk Club’s launch last month, when a full house was on hand to catch Teri Young and the Bower Band.

The new headquarters for Hobart’s folk music scene is a project of the Folk Federation of Tasmania.

It takes place on the first Saturday of each month, with fans warmed by the log fires of the Fern Tree Tavern.

Dave Steel appears at the kunanyi Folk Club at the Fern Tree Tavern at 7.30pm on Saturday. His gig will be preceded by floor spots.

Entry is $12 for adults, $10 for concessions and members, and $5 for youths aged 12 to 17. Children under $12 enter free. To book for dinner, phone 6239 1171.