Axe and the Ivory

Rosie Roberts, Ben Lovell and Paul Cooper perform as part of the Adelaide indie-folk band, Axe & the Ivory (full band members include James Lovell and Charlie Worthington). They have released two EPs and are building a reputation for their intricate guitar melodies, harmonies and song writing skills.

Axe & the Ivory have supported artists including the John Flanagan Trio, Raised by Eagles, Kelly Brouhaha and Patrick James and recently performed at the Chill’d Out and Fired Up Festival (supporting Ash Grunwald) and the Tamworth Country Music Festival. They also recently toured with Adam Harvey, Brad Butcher and Aleyce Simmonds on the 500 Miles of Music Tour through regional South Australia and will be rejoining the 500 Miles Tour in 2021.

Sam Brittain

Following the release of his sophomore album “Live Simply” in May 2014 Sam Brittain was touring relentlessly throughout Australia, Europe and the United Kingdom.

Having supported international success stories such as British folk troubadour PASSENGER, breakthrough Australian artist MATT CORBY, Irish rock outfit THE CORONAS and Australian Triple J favourite MAT MCHUGH of THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS on the road, Sam has forged a unique sound blend of alternative country & folk songs. Sam’s sound rings out with an honest and unadulterated simplicity. His song writing is reminiscent of artists such as Ryan Adams, John Moreland & Jason Isbell. Highlights from the last two years include Sam performing at the sold out MadNes Music Festival (2014/2015) in the Netherlands as well as joining West End Theatre star Daniel Koek as a special guest artist at The Royal Albert Hall in London.

Starting out busking the streets of Adelaide in 2011 and a hugely successful first tour, Sam’s lead single ‘Bruises’ from debut album release “Our Shining Skin” hit #1 on the Triple J Unearthed Roots Chart on New Year’s Eve, 2012/13, where it consolidated its lead for a consecutive four weeks, peaking at #6 in the Overall Top 100. 2012 proved to be a milestone year that saw him back in the recording studio to commence album number two almost immediately. Since then Sam has gone on to release his second full length LP “Live Simply” once again cracking the Triple J top 10 with lead track “Small Town” and gaining accolades from Roots N All host Sarah Howells as well as a special recording from Melbourne’s prestigious Athenaeum Theatre whilst on the Passenger theatre tour with fellow Australian songwriter Stu Larsen.

“Busking has been an incredible way to meet people and have my music reach a wider audience no matter what city I find myself in. It has made recording my albums possible as well as making touring sustainable in Australia and overseas…In turn it has really become a lifestyle I love and am extremely grateful for. I hope its something I can continue to do for a long time to come. The people you meet, the lives and stories you become acquainted with and on a daily basis through busking has had a huge impact on my song writing” Aside from writing, recording and touring his own music Sam has also recorded, produced and played drums on albums for successful Melbourne based band Amistat, solo artist Bernie Carson and is currently co writing an album for South Australian alt country musician and friend Tara Carragher.

After a solid 18 months touring Australia the United Kingdom & Europe Sam and the band reconvened in their hometown of Adelaide to begin recording sessions at Mixmaster’s Studio with owner/producer Mick Wordley at the helm. Four years down down the road since his debut Sam is touring Australia this winter in support of his third full length album release “Signal Lights”, his lead single ‘Stab in The Dark” has become a crowd favourite during the live solo shows and is set for release on this coming May.

Our Shining Skin delivers a lot more than could be expected of a 22 year old’s debut. Vocally, his experience shines through with control and range that will allow Sam to hold his own on any stage. Our Shining Skin is a formidable and wide-spanning resume from Sam Brittain and it will be very interesting to see how his writing solidifies as his career continues, as this record proves he has far more options for direction than most. I only regret that it took me 2 months to take this record out of its plastic” – Timber & Steel (2012)

Significantly more honed within this style, Live Simply explores concepts of home and origins on a number of tracks, through stories shared by people and celebrates the potential for emotional immensity of small things in a large world. Brittain thankfully also perseveres with his penchant for good old fashioned story telling, which has delivered some of his finest work in the past” Timber & Steel (2014)

“The songs may have been written on an acoustic guitar, but they have been arranged and presented with more thought and production than a simple six string strum along. This is a stunning release from a young man who writes and sings songs with a maturity that goes beyond his years. LIVE SIMPLY – SAM BRITTAIN (FIVE STARS *****)” – Phil Cately / Music SA (2014)

Chloe Veronica

This year we offered an Emerging Artist Scholarship to eight of 25 applicants. In addition to music business mentorship with artist Kelly Brouhaha, sound engineer John Simpson and venue owner Mike Roberts, winners get to perform a couple of songs at the start of the show. We are really looking forward to hearing Chloe Veronica,  a 14 year old emerging singer/songwriter from the Barossa, South Australia.

Our feature visual artists: Jed and Jim Dunstan

The Barn at Wombat Flat offers a visual art exhibition at each show. We are proud to kick off with a local father and son team for our first four shows. So much talent in one family…hopefully Ronda will bring along some of her pottery!

Jed started drawing weekly editorial cartoons for the Stock Journal in 2015. His cartoon “Drawing Conclusions” is now published across Australian Community Media’s (ACM) rural newspaper network including the Stock Journal-South Australia, the Stock & Land – Victoria, Queensland Country Life and the North Queensland Register. Jed also draws a single panel gag cartoon titled “The Rabbit Trap”, which is published weekly.

Each year Jed creates two calendars, one depicting life in The Australian shearing industry. The other is a collection of The Rabbit Trap cartoons.

Jed draws is cartoons with pencil and ink pens on paper. He mostly scans his hand drawn line work and colours digitally but occasionally colours by hand for special projects.

Jim Dunstan is an artist based at Ngapala in the mid north of South Australia. Jim lives and works on his farming property named Gumvale where he has made a huge effort to preserve the native bushlands and revegetate large sections of his property. His artwork has appeared around Australia and overseas. Several of his paintings have been purchased by private collectors.

Jim mainly paints using oils or acrylic on canvas and board. He also paints with underglaze on stoneware tiles which are displayed around SA. His tile table tops depicting local history are displayed in public areas throughout the Mitcham council zones. He has also painted tiles for projects in other areas around SA and the APY lands.

Jim is also a stone mason. He has used his skills to complete large landscaping projects in his local towns of Eudunda and Marrabel. Most of Jim’s stone walls feature more of his artwork on tiles, hand painted with historical images and information from the area. Tiles are inlayed into the stone walls for the public to view when they visit the town gardens. While landscaping the towns gardens, Jim worked with school students from Eudunda Area School, St Johns primary and Robertstown primary.

Jim has conducted several other community art projects working with locals, often as part of SALA. He has painted murals in the Kapunda and Eudunda. He also worked for 10 years with primary and high school students, teaching them about the environment and sustainable food production. Often he would use artwork with gardening to help teach and make it more interesting for his students.

More recently Jim won the 2020 Clare Valley portrait prize and people’s choice for the Burra portrait prize.

Ricca Terra Wines, Food stall, Eudunda Bakery goods, beer, soft drinks, hot drinks for you to purchase on the night.

NO BYO FOOD OR DRINK PLEASE.

Gates open 5:30pm / Show 7:00pm