September 29th, 2024Gig guide
with Darren Lowe
The Watershed Springband has been added to the bill of the Ballarat leg of the iconic Out On The Weekend, an Americana, all things alt country and roots celebration, festival.
The band features red-hot fiddle and banjo, dreamy vocal harmonies, snappy guitar picking and juicy double bass with a unique blend of vintage country, from driving bluegrass and old time dance tunes to Australiana and Western swing.
The Watershed Stringband is a collaboration between Wendy Phypers and Dave Patterson from the Cartwheels (Glenlyon) and Cat Moser and Clint O’Grady (Blackwood).
In 2022 the four had an impromptu jam around a fire at Mutawintji, a magical spot in outback NSW. They immediately gelled, blending acoustic instruments and four-part harmonies.
The annual Out On The Weekend festival will head to Ballarat as well as its traditional home in Williamstown for its 10-year anniversary.
Ballarat will be the first destination for the finest golden nuggets of country music.
Coming all the way from the USA is Uncle Lucius, Nick Shoulders, Margo Cilker, Jonny Fritz and Joshua Hedley, who will be joined by local legend Freya Josephine Hollick and city stalwarts James Ellis & The Jealous Guys.
Out On The Weekend takes place at Itinerant Spirits in The Goods Shed in Ballarat on Friday, October 11.
The festival continues at Seaworks in Williamstown on Saturday, October 12.
Watershed are also booked to play Mountaingrass Bluegrass and Old Time Music Festival in Bright on November 15-17 and Wirrina Bluegrass and Acoustic Roots Festival in SA on November 22-24.
