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News from Oz with Frank

Davidson

ThE ballaRaT blUEs FEsTIVal

The Ballarat Blues Festival “Main Event” —brought to a rousing climax a weekend

of blues situated in and around the various CBD venues in the historic city of Ballarat,
Victoria over the weekend of August 22 to 24th.

The event, now in its fourth year, is the brainchild of Musician John McNamara

bringing together the cream of Australian Blues talents for a showcase with each
group allotted a 20-minute set during the event.

The 2025 “Main Event” lineup kicked off with Melbourne based quartet,

Checkerboard Lounge (Shannon Bourne on guitar, Tim Neal, keyboards, Zoe Frater
bass and drummer/ vocalist and group founder Carl Panuzzo.)

The quartet’s high energy and soulful blend of blues jazz and funk proved a high

energy start to the day.

The Lloyd Spiegel Trio kept the momentum and the crowd going with a musical
set showing the benefits of constant touring in Australia and North America.

Lloyd’s band mates (Lisa Baird on trombone, and Tim Burnham drums) all bring a
mastery of the blues to the fore, underpinned by Lloyd’s wizardry on his Cole Clark
guitar.

19–TWENTY- This trio jumped out of the gate like a locomotive with a blend of blues
and roots rock plus an energetic stage presence, leaving the crowd wanting more.
(Kane Dennelly (vocals/guitar), Jeremy Berg (drums), and John Gwilliam (double

bass).
The Main event continued with Director/Curator John McNamara and Andrea

Marr (The McNaMarr Project) bringing their blues and soul to rapturous applause
from John’s hometown crowd.

Helmed by McNamara’s lead guitar mastery and backed by a 5-piece blue chip band

now with two albums under the belt (and a third on the way) shows the future of
The McNaMarr project to be extraordinarily strong.