CELEBRATING WOMEN IN MUSIC WILDFLOWER ANNOUNCES YARRA VALLEY, BRISBANE & HUNTER VALLEY FESTIVAL DATES FEATURING MISSY HIGGINS, KATE MILLER-HEIDKE, KASEY CHAMBERS, SARAH BLASKO, DEBORAH CONWAY THORNBIRD, ALICE SKYE
Celebrating women in music and the return of the live scene, Empire Touring and TEG LIVE are elated to announce Wildflower for 2022, a music festival that will bring together some of Australia’s most prized female singer songwriters at some of the country’s most exquisite locations. Featuring Missy Higgins, Kate Miller-Heidke, Kasey Chambers, Sarah Blasko, ThornBird (Vikki Thorn of The Waifs), Deborah Conway and Alice Skye, the festival will take over Rochford Wines in the Yarra Valley on March 12, before moving on to Riverstage in Brisbane on March 19 and Roche Estate in the Hunter Valley on April 2.
Tickets go on sale at www.wildflowerfestivalaustralia.com.au at 9am local time on Friday 15 October, with a 48 hour Empire Touring presale live at 9am local time on Wednesday 13 October.
“I’m beyond thrilled to be a part of Wildflower. All the women involved are total inspirations and some were actually really big influences on me in the early days of my career,” enthuses Missy Higgins, who is set to drop her new single, Edge Of Something next Friday. “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. I was involved in the second round of Lilith Fair in America about ten years ago and it goes down as one of the best experiences I have ever had, I made lifelong friends out of it. I have no doubt this will be the same, but this time showcasing to the country the huge amount of Aussie talent we have here. An incredible way to get back in to playing live music again, holy moly I’ve missed it.”
“The line-up contains some of my musical and personal heroes, as well as some dear friends, and it’s going to be unforgettable not just for the audience but for us as well,” beams Kate Miller-Heidke. “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. 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!”
Masterminded by Empire Touring’s General Manager, Isobel Lanesman, the empowered businesswoman effuses, “Wildflower is here to celebrate women in music, many festival lineups have an underrepresentation of women. It is a time to celebrate women in Australian music – artists, producers, and designers – collaborating to bring together a show of extraordinary talents.”
Tickets to Wildflower go on sale at www.wildflowerfestivalaustralia.com.au at 9am local time on Friday 15 October.
Wildflower will be held with a commitment to a COVID Safe environment. Festival organisers will work closely with and comply with all requirements of the public health authorities. If the show is required to be postponed, a postponement date will be announced and punters will be eligible for a full refund if they are unable to make the new date.
WILDFLOWER 2022
Presented by Double J
SAT 12 MAR | ROCHFORD WINES, YARRA VALLEY | TICKETS
SAT 19 MARCH | RIVERSTAGE, BRISBANE | TICKETS
SATURDAY 2 APRIL | ROCHE ESTATE, HUNTER VALLEY | TICKETS
DRAPHT SHARES NEW SONG PROBLEM HERE FEAT. COMPLETE & ELI GREENEYES + NEW ALBUM SHADOWS AND SHININGS OUT SEPTEMBER 10
Aussie hiphop king Drapht will tonight share his electrifying new track Problem Here, featuring fellow local Perth hypes Complete and Eli Greeneyes, dropping at 8pm AEST. Accompanied by a killer video, Problem Here is the second taste of the prolific artist’s brilliant new album Shadows and Shinings, an introspective and complex release demonstrative of Drapht’s impressive penchant for reinvention, out September 10 – and available for pre-order now. To celebrate the new album, Drapht will be hitting the road in September for a massive national tour, kicking off at Settlers Tavern in Margaret River, WA on September 3, then moving through Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Geelong, Maroochydore, Brisbane and wrapping up at Miami Marketta on the Gold Coast on September 26.
Problem Here follows on from the spectacular Shadows On My Walls (that was complemented by the wacky, supremely clever video), a haunting track written “on the verge of a breakdown”, as Drapht himself describes. The two tracks feel connected through the act of self-reflection – Drapht’s uncanny ability to identify the things poisoning his outlook on life and dissecting them through hooky melodies, nostalgic, persistant beats and clever production. Problem Here feels equally influenced by Eminem as it does Machine Gun Kelly and Andre 3000, and with brilliant vocal contribution from Eli Greeneyes (who also produced the track) and Complete, this song is seriously powerful. Speaking on the inspiration behind Problem Here, Drapht explains, “It was the last song written for my album. I had just bought my dream house in the hills of Perth, and the week I moved all my stuff in – planes started flying over. Then I found termites in the roof, snakes in the backyard, and to top it all off I have a toddler at home and I decided to throw a puppy in the mix just for some extra excitement. It was all a tad bit stressful…!”
Filmed and directed by close Perth friends Complete and Uncool Sam from Drop Shot Media, the video for Problem Here is comical and true to narrative, as Drapht enthuses, “This clip was loads of fun and super easy to make, as we just focused on bringing the lyrics to life within the house where the initial idea came about. Thankfully the termites and snakes weren’t living there anymore.”
The new album Shadows and Shinings is a step into new territory for Drapht, but that’s no surprise – Drapht has proven album after album that he will always challenge himself as an artist and push the genre of Aussie hiphop in exciting directions with every release. Shadows and Shinings is a 15-track adventure through the human psyche, contemplative and deep, but still full to bursting with addictive beats and clever production. Finished during the lockdowns of 2020, Drapht explains the process behind the album, “This album to me has been one big purge and a reset for the most part. It kind of feels like it’s meant to be slotted in just after my 2011 release The Life of Riley. Some song ideas had been following me around for 8 or 9 years, with others only being a few months. For the most part I owe finishing it to the isolation period in 2020. I had a lot of time to reflect on the identity and the relationships that came with making music. I found a lot of peace in letting go, going back to what I knew worked and concentrating on the people who truly matter… I worked with a heap of killer guests and friends on this project. There’s a lot of cathartic venting within the subject matter, but in all, it was the easiest and most enjoyable album I have made to date. I truly believe this is my best stuff.”
Drapht is a national treasure at this point, with platinum records, multi-platinum and gold singles and two ARIA awards under his belt. Shadows and Shinings is a stellar addition to his discography and will further prove his complete legend status, not just in the world of Aussie hiphop, but across the entire Australian music industry. Luckily, fans across the nation will have the chance to see Drapht live on his national tour in September – giving fans a taste of what to expect, Drapht says, “You can expect your old mate, backed by a high energy, six-piece live band of friends, and we’ll be playing 15 years worth of bangers.”
Problem Here featuring Complete & Eli Greeneyes is released at 8pm AEST this evening.
Shadows and Shinings is out September 10 – pre-order now.
SUNSET SOUNDS SET TO DELIGHT HASTINGS FORESHORE RESERVE ON NOVEMBER 28, 2021 – TICKETS ON SALE FRIDAY JULY 2
Iconic mainstay festival Sunset Sounds is thrilled to get Victoria in on the action, set to delight music lovers at Hastings Foreshore Reserve on November 28. This epic Sunday session will kick off at 1pm (gates at 12pm) and will wrap by 8pm and will feature an impressive lineup of some of the country’s most prized singer songwriters; Xavier Rudd, Pete Murray, Kasey Chambers, Josh Pyke, Ben Lee, The Church, Kyle Lionhart and D’arcy Spiller.
Tickets go on sale at 10am AEST on Friday July 2.
Excited to be headlining Sunset Sounds at Hastings Foreshore Reserve, Xavier Rudd says, “It’s been a very long time since I’ve been to the Mornington Peninsula and I’m stoked to be traveling there for Sunset Sounds festival. This is gonna be special day on magical Bunurong country, let’s light it up!! Can’t wait!”
And Pete Murray’s thrilled to join the stellar all-Aussie bill, enthusing, “This will be a fantastic festival to be a part of, it is such a great line up”.
“Looking forward to bringing some live music back with my fellow musicians for Sunset Sounds,” adds Kasey Chambers.
The man doing more than his bit to encourage the return of live music here in Aus, Empire’s Marc Christowski says, “We are thrilled to bring together a lineup of some of Australia’s most awesome live acts. What can be better than kicking back watching the likes of Xavier, Pete and Kasey?”
After an unprecedented write off for live music in 2020, don’t miss this opportunity to celebrate the return of live music with some of Australia’s most beloved live acts at Sunset Sounds Hastings Foreshore Reserve later this year.
General public tickets go on sale at 10am AEST on Friday July 2.
Sunset Sounds Hastings Foreshore Reserve will be held with a commitment to a COVID Safe environment. Festival organisers will work closely with and comply with all requirements of the public health authorities. If the show is required to be postponed, a postponement date will be announced and punters will be eligible for a full refund if they are unable to make the new date.
SUNSET SOUNDS | SUN 28 NOVEMBER | HASTINGS FORESHORE RESERVE, MORNINGTON PENINSULA | VIC | 18+
GATES 12PM | SHOW START 1PM | APPROX FINISH 8PM
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au | 1300 364 001 | All Ticketek Outlets
ABOUT TEG LIVE
TEG Live is a dynamic and diverse promoter of live content operating in many genres, including music, sport, family entertainment, esports and exhibitions. TEG Live connects millions of fans every year with unique live experiences and adds value to events with hospitality, partnership and sponsorship services.
ABOUT EMPIRE
Empire Touring is a widely respected entertainment, promotions, marketing and events company. We have been producing live entertainment across Australia since 1982 and will continue to do so because WE LOVE ROCK ’N ROLL.