Charm of Finches return to Castlemaine. This time, in their full band form, with a support set by Riley Catherall

Melbourne sisters Charm of Finches and their band perform intricate folk-pop with seamless blood harmonies, celebrating the release of their anticipated fourth album ‘Marlinchen in the Snow’. 

With songs simultaneously graceful and darkly bewitching; the sisters, Mabel and Ivy, toured extensively in UK/Europe in 2022/23 and recorded the album in rural Nova Scotia, Canada with acclaimed producer Daniel Ledwell. Inspired by the frozen beauty of the landscape in which it was created, the album reflects on the sisters’ transient life on the road, themes of belonging, home, and the fragility of relationships. They were the 2021 Music Victoria Best Folk Act and were nominated twice for the prestigious Australian Music Prize. 

“Melbourne sister duo Charm of Finches are perched for stardom. For lovers of tight sibling
harmonies, chamber folk, and those who long to be carried-away by a lullaby…”
- Ariana Morgenstern KCRW Today's Top Tune

Special guest Riley Catherall will open the night with his “beautifully constructed and immaculately delivered” songs. Riley has built a credible status as one of the country’s most promising songwriters through his poetic sincerity and alluring live shows.

Doors 2:45PM

Riley Catherall 3:15PM

Charm of Finches 4:00PM

Please note, if it is about 18 degrees, this show will be ouitside. Ticket holders under the age of 18 must be accompanied by and adult. 

$25 + BF here | $30 Door

Chillax after your time at the Pride picnic with a meal and a drink amongst good company at The Bridge – just across the road!

FREE EVENT

Hannah Crofts, under her new moniker Baby Velvet, is on a mission to find whether you always get what you deserve. Her soaring harmonies and aching lyrics are gloriously gritty and heart-wrenching but always familiar with hard-won reflections on the artist’s life.

As one quarter of the indie folk group, All Our Exes Live in Texas, Crofts has toured the world in vintage gowns and rhinestone boots. The band’s debut When We Fall reached #6 on the ARIA charts, won an ARIA for Best Blues and Roots Album along with the band having supported the Backstreet Boys, having sung on Kesha’s Grammy Nominated Album and traveling across the USA with Midnight Oil.

An activist and musician, Crofts feels the world sparkle around her. Baby Velvet inspires lucid rage, clarity and power from which to take on the world. This is strident power pop that saturates and sparkles while sinking sharp teeth into the patriarchy. There is no turning back.

Doors 2pm | Performance 3pm
Free Entry

MIGHTY HORSE are a genre defying four-piece band from Castlemaine and Melbourne playing all original music that pinballs between grooving psychedelia, rock, alt-folk, post-punk, ska and dub.

In April ‘24 the band release ‘River’s Gonna Rise And Fall’, described by the band as occupying the often overlooked genre of “Death Flamenco”, it’s the second single from their soon-to-be-released epic double vinyl LP ‘Road Movie Dream’

The video for the album’s first single ‘Crystal Green’ was filmed right here at The Bridge Hotel, a collaboration between Mighty Horse and local projection artist Jim Coad. Check it out…

MIGHTY HORSE: Crystal Green “I just love this single, can’t wait for the rest of the album” Crispi: PBS 106.7fm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWiKFv_MyTs

Doors 1pm

Performance 3pm (Two sets)

Free Entry

For Tori Zietsch, who records emotionally direct and woozily romantic songs under the moniker Maple Glider, music has been an escape from a series of oppressive institutions: religion, enervating relationships, her own brain. Zietsch’s music has formed new pathways both literal and metaphorical; physical and neural, that have allowed her to step outside herself, and shake you— yes, you, the listener—by the hand.

Striking emotionality is at the centre of her performance, leaning into an intimacy that is achieved by way of deeply personal reflections and velvety melodic compositions. Vocals melt into layers of plucked acoustic guitar and lulling piano, drawing on the sombre styles of folk contemporaries with a stark tenderness and introspection that assumes the listener is inside her bedroom as she plays for herself.

With special guest, ELIZA HULL (solo)

Tickets $25 plus BF here | $30 on the door

Doors 9pm

C.W. Stoneking returns for a handful of shows along Australia’s east coast this March / April.

These shows will feature C.W performing in trio mode, for the first time, of course performing songs we know and love from the entire catalogue.

Stoneking’s most recent release, Gon Boogaloo, came out in 2014 and has since collected a slew of awards (ARIA Award, AIR Award and Music Vic Award) and was praised by many including The Saturday Paper, who called it ‘a masterpiece’. His previous album, Jungle Blues, was certified gold in Australia. He spent years touring Australia and overseas, both solo and with a band, but hasn’t previously performed as a trio.

Doors 7:30pm

Performance 8pm

Tickets $59.90 inc fees available HERE

The world's greatest one man band is coming to The Bridge

Renowned for the absolute mayhem and madness of his fast, furious, funtastic garage blues live show, you can’t claimed to have lived, or to have truly seen live music, until you’ve seen this man in his stuntman jumpsuit and helmet sing into his phone receiver, pound his drum and shred on his guitar with everything he’s got.

Tickets $20 plus BF available HERE | $20 on the door

Doors 9pm

Bob Log III 9.30pm

The Owls are a 4 piece rock n roll band who's sound rings out somewhere within a realm defined by the countrified rock of the Byrds and CCR, the melodic guitar tapestries of Television and the wide open range of Neil Young's Crazy Horse, as they bring to life the songs of singer/songwriter Sean McMahon.

With a string of independent releases to his name and over a decade of non stop writing, recording and performing, Sean McMahon has honed an undeniably genuine voice as a singer/songwriter. His poetic, melodic songs glisten with lyrical beauty, weaving vivid story telling, confessional narratives and abstract musings through timeless sounds inspired by classic 70's folk, rock and cosmic country. 

The Owls will be playing tunes from Sean's 2023 album 'Victoria' plus a bunch of cherry picked gems from a catalogue spanning 5 albums. 

Doors 2pm | Performance 3pm
Free Entry

Breaker Breaker bring the coast to the bush with waves of reverb drenched guitar tunes . Expect the classics from the likes of the Ventures, the Trashmen, and the Atlantics, as well as unexpected detours down familiar roads not usually surfed.

When the waves aren’t rolling, Breaker Breaker also keep a batch of groovy spy  tunes in their arsenal to keep things mysterious.

Whether you need cool sounds to chill by the lagoon, secret agent vibes for the tiki bar, or lively surf twang to keep the beach party jumping, Breaker Breaker have the set for the occasion.

Courtyard show at 3pm

Free Entry

In the music of Romanie, the listener is invited to become immersed in a rich palette of sounds and influences, buoying a natural vocal talent. For Belgian-born, Melbourne-based singer and songwriter Romanie Assez, the music has always stemmed from an innate desire to express creativity through personal and engaging storytelling.

Following on from a string of foundational singles, a 2021 EP that heralded her true arrival, and a strong start to 2023 with numerous music releases that have further cemented her status as an artist to watch, Romanie now delivers her debut studio album – Are We There Yet? The record, a striking collection of music that captures the energy and effervescence of one of Melbourne’s best new songwriters, is dynamic and fitting for where Romanie Assez is in her creative journey. Already developing a strong reputation as a talented artist in her local community, the last two years have seen Romanie broaden her scope and become embraced by music communities around the country.
The release of Are We There Yet? is matured, emotionally intelligent and immersive: twelve tracks of gorgeous indie compositions that speak to the heart and individuality of Romanie’s personal style. Come catch her with her 4 piece band live at The Bridge. 

Free Entry
Doors 2pm | Performance 3pm

Town Folk Festival is back in 2024!

This one day event celebrates a diverse, compelling and exciting line-up of 16 artists who make music under the broad umbrella of folk.

Taking place in Castlemaine on Dja Dja Wurrung Country across 4 stages in three venues, The Bridge Hotel, Shedshaker Brewery and Boomtown Winery, all a short walking distance from each other, this is an afternoon-into-evening packed with locally sourced musical greatness, food, drinks and company.

2022 and 2023 were sellouts so don't be slow like the music you love - get your ticket HERE. Onsale Friday 8th Dec 10am.

Line-up:

Banjo Lucia
Charlie Needs Braces
Charlotte Le Lievre
Cool Sounds
Dan Kelly's Regional Crisis
Eliza Hull
Feelds
Jess Parker Band
Juice Webster
Leah Senior
Quality Used Cars
Quivers
Skyscraper Stan
Sugar Fed Leopards
Taylah Carroll
The Orbweavers

COUPON DAY have spent the later parts of 2023 recording a record at Sound Recordings in Campbells Creek. With the record set for release in mid-2024, the group returns to the stage for the first time in almost a year.

Featuring members of Kid Sam, Footy and Blush, the group play folk and pop tunes influenced by the likes of The Clean, Michael Hurley and Wilco.

COUPON DAY will play two sets in the beer garden, starting from 3pm. Come down for a lush afternoon of sun-soaked music.

Doors 2pm
Performance 3pm-4.30pm

Free Entry

Ella Hooper and Van Walker team up to showcase Ella's latest single Oh Goddess and celebrate the troubadour with a tour around the country. 

Ella Hooper is an Australian singer songwriter and media personality. She was a young teenager when she burst onto the scene by winning a national radio competition with her brother Jesse as the nucleus and songwriters behind 90’s/00’s sensations, Killing Heidi. Number one singles and platinum records followed. At 18 Ella became the first woman to be awarded APRA’s Songwriter of the Year. After releasing three albums and more or less surviving teen fame, Killing Heidi called it a day and Ella entered her ‘slashie’ era, working in radio and TV, and behind the scenes in mentorship, governance and activism. Not one to sit still, Ella returned to music and embarked on a solo career in 2014. Her albums ‘In Tongues’ and ‘Venom/New Magic’ signalling a departure from the pop-thrash of her early days, showing a more mature aesthetic. Her new album, (out now on Reckless Records) Small Town Temple – written during Covid lockdowns in her hometown of Violet Town, Victoria– has been hailed as a new beginning, showcasing Ella’s deeply personal songwriting. Exploring family, community and her childhood in the bush, the record is spiked this time with a fitting country twang. The record has been widely and warmly received, debuting at no. 1 on the ARIA Aus country chart, no. 7 on the vinyl chart and has been nominated for the Australian Music Prize.

Tassie's own Ramblin Van Walker is a prolific and celebrated songwriter in the genres of folk, country and rocknroll. A 'cult figure' in his adopted home of Victoria, with a vast catalogue of poetic lyric-driven material that explore a range of personal and social themes, his early solo work was compiled on the album Underneath the Radar 2008-2012 (Fuse music),  the rocknroll on I Wish Life Could Be...Swedish Magazines (Rubber Records), and his latest solo album Ghosting (Green South Records) was the Rhthym readers runner-up album of 2o2o. He continues to tour consistently nationally and internationally, having just returned from Ireland and also Canada where his next solo album has been recorded, due out next year. Along with his work with The Ferriters, who have been described as "one of the best new acts on the Irish-Australian scene" - Koroit Irish Festival, and his own solo career, he continues to build his loyal following and receive critical acclaim for his contributions to the industry.

Tickets $30 plus BF available HERE | $35 on the door

Doors​​​​​​ 8PM
Van Walker 8:20PM - 9:00PM
Ella Hooper 9.20PM - 10.00PM​

00_ (spoken aloud, “double oh nothing”) are an experimental rock outfit hailing from Naarm/Melbourne on Wurundjeri and Dja Dja Wurrung Land. Formed in the midst of lockdown 2021, the band has quickly affirmed themselves as a fan favourite for genre nomads and punk rock weirdos. Blending elements of no wave, noise, post-rock and post-punk, they’re post-conventions, enthralling listeners with free-wheeling riffs and intricate layerings of sound. Instruments crash against one another and tension builds with ecstatic, harsh transitions and explosions of energy. Foreboding, crumbling, urgent.

Good Moon are a Castlemaine band featuring Zeb Olsen from K5 and Matrimony, Eamon Orchard from World Turtle World, and Peta Godfrey playing love songs and breakup songs with overlapping vocals, quiet, careful drums and unexpected but comforting riffs.

Tickets $10 plus BF available HERE | $15 on the door

Doors 9pm

There’ll be something for everybody when ARIA Award-winning singer, songwriter and raconteur Phil Jamieson brings his solo magic to stages next January, with a stripped-back acoustic show set to captivate Australia for the Nobody Else Tour in 2024. Armed with his latest solo full length, Somebody Else, Jamieson will showcase the critically-acclaimed debut album and beyond with (nearly) nobody else but his pristine vocals and captivating tunes, visiting new and familiar locations around Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania - and an extra special performance at Shoalhaven’s Milton Theatre.

Supported by Emilee South

Tickets $44.90 plus BF available HERE | $50 on the door

Doors 8pm

Emilee South 8.15pm
Phil Jamieson 9.00pm

The Presbyterians return to The Bridge Hotel to deliver their smorgasbord of slinky dance tunes and molten rock rumblers Saturday the 27th Of January. 

An ecclesiastical two set sermon, served piping hot by the tightest congregation of eclectic egalitarians this side of The Great Divide! 

Take a pew, have a few ( responsibly of course ) and dance like the real you!

FREE SHOW

Performance 9pm

The shimmering star of Alex Cameron continues to shine bright from the gutters of show business four albums into his prolific career as an entertainer. And yet, people still have questions. Is he really 6 ft 4 inches tall? Why do none of his suits fit him properly? If he really is Australian, then why does he speak in a strange sort of European world news accent? And while the answers to these questions may or may not be of any interest to anybody - there they remain - shot into the sky like flares as red hot as the notes from his business partner and horn player Roy Molloy's alto saxophone.

Tickets $35.60 plus BF available HERE | $40 on the door

Doors 8pm
Performance 8.30pm

Esther Edquist is Melbourne artist Sweet Whirl. 

After a handful of releases acclaimed by the likes of Gorilla Vs Bear, The Guardian and Clash Magazine, Sweet Whirl released her debut album How Much Works in May 2020. 

The album is a beautifully crafted triumph over bleak moments. It’s the love-addled confessions of a seasoned party girl, romantic yet sardonic, a troubadour who sings of the heart with a knowing sense of the timeless victory of song. Esther dissects experiences with wit and depth, emerging as a powerful, indomitable voice.

Musically and lyrically, Sweet Whirl draws on wells as deep as Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Jean-Paul Sartre and Sheryl Crow. She distils personal, reflexive narratives into something universal and wondrous.

Esther has previously served in Melbourne duo Superstar, who released two delay-drenched albums during the mid 10s. She has also been a member of Scott & Charlene’s Wedding.

Sweet Whirl returns to the Bridge for the first time since 2018. Don't miss this one! 

Doors 2pm | Performance 3pm

Free Entry

Pop Filter is a new Australian band whose members stretch between cities and who’s shared history binds them together. With the number one goal being that of nurturing their friendship and continuing to make music together at an age when children, work, and distance can easily hamper this.

Free Entry

Doors 2pm | Performance 3pm

2 Pretty Cool bands return from hiatus at the Bridge to welcome Nadia Phillips and Jez Furlong home from Europe 

Nadia and Co. celebrate the release of their latest EP! New songs are on the forefront, continuing to bring together sounds of folk, rock and heartfelt lyrical melodies. Nadia explores life through the lyrical lens of love, loss and longing in aim to capture fleeting moments in time. After performing solo for many months, Nadia is excited return to the stage with her incredible band. 

Oh, Sweet William is a 4 piece post-rock outfit Inspired on one side by the lo-fi and introspective works of Phil Elverum and Joanna Newsom and the other by heavy and cathartic soundscapes of Slint and Sun O))). Also having released an EP they will play none of it. 

Tickets $20 plus BF available HERE | $25 on the door

Doors 9pm

Oh Sweet William 9.15pm

Nadia Phillips 10.00pm

Folk duo Valley Road are celebrating the release of their debut self-titled album, a timeless collection of beautiful, honest songs of people and place, that are brought to life through their signature aching harmonies and Rod McCormack’s minimal production. Since winning the Troubadour Foundation Award in 2022 to make this album, the pair have been steadily capturing the attention of folk and country audiences alike. Their first singles, ‘The Wind Blew West’ in mid-2023, and follow-up singles ‘1982’ and ‘The Briny Blue’, have garnered wide-spread radio play and been featured on ABC’s Saturday Night Country and Grass Roots.

Rebecca Jane Howell and Marty Mckenna are friends from Central Victoria who have been singing together for over a decade, and this connection shines throughout the album. Their distinct voices create an unexpectedly harmonious and emotive blend, enhanced by their delicate and thoughtful guitar playing. Rebecca could sing before she could speak, and honed her instinct for harmony through years spent in the Australian Girls Choir, and now lives off-grid in the Central Victorian bush near Chewton. Marty grew up singing to the sheep on his family farm, with his dad, where he still tends the flock to this day. The farm provides a perfect setting for the duo to explore their shared love of intricate songcraft.

Their album is available from 27th October via all streaming platforms or visit valleyroadduo.com.au

Doors 2pm | Performance 3pm

Free Entry

Sunshine Tip are a Melbourne-based acoustic trio playing dark, melodic alt-country originals.

David Bowers (guitars, vocals), Dee Hannan (mandolin, vocals) and Alice Garner (cello) perform evocative, sometimes melancholic but always memorable songs, sparsely and imaginatively arranged and featuring sweet interweaving vocal harmonies.

The band is releasing their debut EP We were the endlings, having released two singles in October: So Long Galveston and January Song. In the studio, ARIA Award winning producer and musician Mitch Cairns immediately grasped what Sunshine Tip were after: a sonic richness that honoured the rough edges and remained true to the constrained instrumentation.

The five tracks on their We were the endlings have been through a long maturation process. Sunshine Tip’s total sound draws on the varied musical experiences of the band members. 

Bowers has criss-crossed between rock, lounge, country and jazz (The Nubiles, Mr Universe, Hogbelly Morton’s Country Revue, Eugene Hamilton & the Money & more). Hannan and Garner played for many years together in Xylouris Ensemble and euphonia, reworking Greek and Irish traditions. They collaborated on the soundtrack of award-winning film One Night the Moon with Mairead Hannan, Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody. Hannan has also played and recorded with Caroline No, Xylouris White, Mick Turner and Ekranoplans, and worked with international producers such as Donal Lunny (IRL), Guy Picciotto (USA), and Stelios Aerakis (GR).

The title of the EP references the name the three originally played under, the endlings. The new name Sunshine Tip captures the combination of beauty and ugliness we all live with day to day. 

Doors 2pm | Performance 3pm
Free Entry

The powerhouse lords of dirge “BATPISS” are finishing off the year with a small run of Victorian shows before gearing up to release their long awaited new album in 2024.

“The Piss” will be stopping by The Bridge Hotel in Castlemaine on Dec 8th showcasing new works and rip up some old bangers of course.

Ear plugs advised.

Tickets $20 plus BF available HERE | $25 on the door

Doors 9pm

Batpiss 9.30pm

Melbourne / Naarm-based songwriter and producer Feelds is set to take his sophomore album Brilliant Mud on the road - performing at The Bridge Hotel in Castlemaine on Sunday December 3.

Sparking a desire to collaborate more within the Feelds project, frontman James Seymour began writing with the likes of Julia Deans, S.A.B and Mimi Gilbert to piece together the record, which also features cameos from the likes of Zack Levine (Pinegrove), Allysha Joy and Elizabeth M. Drummond.

The genre blurring next chapter for Feelds is James at his most self-assured and magnetic, with a magnitude of layers that reveal themselves more and more with each listen.

This summer, Feelds will bring songs from Brilliant Mud to the live stage for the very first time, embracing a more collaborative, experimental and resolute world.

Doors 2pm | Performance 3pm

Free Entry

ARIA award-winning singer-songwriter Alexander Gow celebrates the release of 'Dizzy Spell,' the first album under the former 'Oh Mercy' songwriter's given name. 

Recorded on a 1970s 4-track tape machine in a formerly grand terrace in Melbourne, 'Dizzy Spell' is a collection of Gow's finest work to date.

'Dizzy Spell' is an album out of time, created by a student of the tradition of the singer-songwriter. Recorded in 2023 using 1970s technology, it is best consumed in its entirety. Featuring no obvious radio singles, it ignores the pursuit of instant gratification and instead asks for a modest investment from its audience. Those who invest are thoroughly rewarded with a collection of compelling and original Australian songs. One word repeated by all who listen to the record is "beautiful." And that beauty serves a purpose. It invites the listener in, seduces, and quietly yet confidently demands attention.

Gow will bring 'Dizzy Spell' to the stage with a 5-piece band of local music luminaries.

Tickets $25 plus BF available HERE | $30 on the door
Doors 9pm

Felicity Cripps 9.15pm

Alex Gow 10.00pm

Ryan Downey returns in 2023 with his most moving and defining project yet, an EP titled Songs For Dreamers. An ode to dreamers everywhere, these songs traverse the battles and the ecstasies of being a romantic in our fast-paced contemporary world. As always, at the centre of his music is his achingly breathtaking voice - a rich baritone with an ability to distil the beauty in life. Join Ryan for a night of romance and reverie as he brings the record to life with an enchanting solo performance.

Tickets $20 plus BF available HERE | $25 on the door
Doors 8.30PM
Ryan Downey 9.00PM

Melbourne combo The Breadmakers have been playing their high energy rhythm and blues and garage rock all over the world for more than three decades now and they are super excited to bring their rock n roll show to the Bridge Hotel’s salubrious Beer Garden. Please come along and check them out if you are fans of early British R’n’B like The Rolling Stones and Pretty Things, or perhaps if you enjoy obscure mid 60’s Aussie garage classics like The Pink Finks. If you are partial to a bit of early 60’s Louisianna Swamp Pop or need to hear some American garage punk nuggets – then this afternoon is for you!

Doors 2pm | Performance 3pm
Free Entry

Maggie Rigby is a singer, songwriter, guitar and banjo player from Castlemaine, Central 

Victoria, Australia. The eldest child of Central Victorian folk musicians, she grew up sitting under the chairs of tunes players, sleeping on the floor at the side of side of stages or singing harmonies with her sisters in the back of the car. 

In the last 10 years she has toured all over the world with her iconic Melbourne folk band, The Maes (formerly The Mae Trio) with her sister Elsie Rigby. The band have produced three multi-award-winning albums, sold out shows around the world and played many of the world’s most prestigious roots music festivals including the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in the US, Edmonton Folk Festival in Canada, and Celtic Connections Festival in the UK. 

This new solo project was born from the pandemic. From the sudden, seismic shift from full-time, touring folk musician to full-time carer for a grandparent with dementia. From six years of perpetual, northern and southern hemisphere summers to two long, lonely winters in lockdown processing a career change, a breakup and how to be an adult when you are sitting still. Her self-produced, debut EP, Best Love in the Universe is gentle, wintry, complex, catchy, joyful and bold. It features Maggie’s spine-tingling vocals, intricate songwriting as well as exploring her skills on guitar, banjo, marimba and glockenspiel and percussion. 

Tickets $25 plus BF available HERE | $30 on the door

Doors 9pm

Maggie Rigby 9.30pm