Flower power
AN ALL-STAR, ALL-FEMALE LINE-UP WILL TAKE THE WILDFLOWER FESTIVAL STAGE, CELEBRATING WOMEN IN AUSTRALIAN MUSIC
Sarah Blasko looks forward to the year when the newly minted Wildflower festival isn’t a novelty. The allfemale line-up for the 2022 event also stars singersongwriter crowd-pullers Missy Higgins, Kasey Chambers, Kate Miller-Heidke, ThornBird (The Waifs’ Vikki Thorn), Deborah Conway and Alice Skye.
Collectively, the women have sold millions of tickets over the past 20 years to their headlining tours or courtesy of their names on the bill at music gatherings including the Day On The Green winery circuit, Bluesfest, WOMADelaide and countless regional festivals.
“It is strange that this is somehow kind of a slightly novel concept; it does feel long overdue to have something like this,” Blasko says.
Australian festival bills have been under the microscope for the past five years since social media posts went viral after blocking out male artists names on event posters to reveal the gender inequality of most line-ups.
Wildflower is one of dozens of new events launching over the next two years with a funding boost from the federal government’s RISE grant scheme to restart the live music industry after its Covid hibernation.
As well as spotlighting some of our finest female talent on the festival stage, promoter Empire Touring also plans to bolster the gender representation of arts workers from technicians to designers employed on the three Wildflower events.
“Wildflower is here to celebrate women in music, many festival line-ups have an underrepresentation of women,” says Empire general manager Isobel Lanesman.
“It is a time to celebrate women in Australian music – artists, producers, and designers – collaborating to bring together a show of extraordinary talents.”
Higgins has supported the development of women in maledominated career paths in the music industry in her own team.
And having played hundreds of festivals over her career, including the 2010 reboot of the pioneering Lilith Festival in the US started by Canadian pop superstar Sarah McLachlan, she says there is a different vibe at events which have a more inclusive representation of artists and workers.
“There’s something about being on the road with so many powerful creative women, it’s so rare it kind of creates magic when it happens,” she says.
Her belief that the superstar line-up would rate with fans was evidenced by the social media reaction after it was unveiled last week, with thousands of prospective festivalgoers plotting a weekend away with their friends.
The much-loved performer is already plotting a big finale featuring all these voices. “I feel there is a lot of crossover with our fans even though our music is quite diverse,” she says. “Kasey Chambers was a massive influence on me; I’ve toured with her over the years. And I go back forever with Vikki from The Waifs who was also influential on my style, I toured with them way back at the start of my career.
“I’ve played with most of the women on the bill and I think it would be so powerful to have these different generations of female musicians all on stage together, harmonising together, collaborating together. It would just be very poignant.”
She may already have the song for such a momentous occasion. Her new single released this week, Edge Of Something, was written for the second series of the ABC political drama Total Control and inspired by the brave activism of
Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins.
The song is a cathartic vehicle for those in Australia who have felt frustrated by the glacial pace of addressing gender inequality and sexual harassment in the workplace to “shout it from the rooftops”.
After two years of touring turmoil due to restrictions and border closures, the festival also offers artists and fans the chance to reclaim the joy and exhilaration that only a live gig can offer.
“It’s been a rough couple of years, and I can’t think of a more beautiful catharsis than being a part of this festival. It’s impossible for me to overstate how much I’m looking forward to it,” MillerHeidke says.
“Humans need connection. Wildflower will be a celebration of everything that brings people together. I’m actually choking up slightly at the mere thought of it.”
Fresh from an early morning boot camp session, a slightly puffed Blasko says fans can expect a communal lack of match fitness of Australia’s live performers which adds an extra layer of excitement to returning to the stage.
While performers pride themselves on their professionalism, fans love it when they mess it up.
“I think that there’s going to be a real vulnerability coming back into that space,” Blasko says.
“It’s always good whenever you can shake up what you do but it has been hard to look at things positively, to be honest, it’s been really tough. Not being able to perform live, which is such a unique thing, has really made me miss that part of myself.”
Wildflower opens at Rochford Wines, Yarra Valley on March 12 and then travels to Riverstage, Brisbane on March 19 and Roche Estate, Hunter Valley on April 2.Tickets on sale from October 15
There’s something about being on the road with so many powerful creative women, it’s so rare it kind of creates magic when it happens