With 2022 looking to be the year festivals return to Australia, why not acquaint yourself with some of the fresh faces you might be seeing.
The nominees for the Queensland Music Awards People's Choice Award Festival Of The Year are champing at the bit to be back programming for their glorious returns and have been on the lookout for emerging artists to fill the ranks. Here is a selection of new and exciting acts for you to enjoy that will no doubt be coming soon to a festival stage near you.
Agnes Blues, Roots & Rock Festival
Brittany Elise: Passionate drive and excellent motivation/ work ethic. Sole Queensland finalist 2021 Tamworth Music Festival Starmaker Contest, regularly getting radio airplay for each single release and consistently charting.TJ Carter: Big blues sound for a solo show, great depth of original songwriting and fantastic stage presence.
Kate Mahood: Captivating singer-songwriter who has just released her debut EP and is a wonderful representative of regional women in music.
Airlie Beach Festival Of Music
Tropical State Of Mind, The Wayward Suns, Dorah Jacson, Innocent Eve, Viper Syndicate, Gypsy Soldiers, Matt Tandy, Lucy Gallant, Rebelquin and Rollercam – each of these acts have written and recorded their own music and would be worthy of playing any major festival.Birdsville Big Red Bash
Cloe Terare: A First Nations artist from Toowoomba who is showing strong promise with her individual take on pop music. With a number one spot on the Indigenous triple j charts under her belt, there are only bigger things to come for Cloe once she's able to get out and start performing again.The Chats: Over the past few years, they've moved from becoming support acts to main shows, and are now set to perform at arguably one of the most famous music festivals in the world in 2022, Coachella.
Buskers By The Lake
Our Battle Of The Buskers 2021 winners have to take the top gongs.Under 18 winner: Noah Robertson. This 11-year-old singer-songwriter is "living a barefoot childhood", displaying guitar, vocal and songwriting skills far beyond his years. He's a humble, down to earth, aspiring superstar who demands the attention of his audience from the first song.
Over 18 winner: Jason Daniels. Jason took out the Totally Talented title, his melodic, smooth vocals capturing the attention of all four judges. There's no ego, there's no underlying motivation, there's just a sheer passion for music that oozes from his soul.
Earth Frequency Festival
Mood Swing & Chevy Bass: Incredible live and electronic fusion, always a festival highlight.Grug: Amazing dubstep and drum & bass producer and now label boss of 8Ball Audio.
Hidden Lanes Festival
Sofia Isella: Her unique sound is very popular with the crowds.
Jungle Love Festival
Full Flower Moon Band: The songs rock very hard, and the swagger that Kate oozes is hard not to love.Tjaka: The music is super innovative, combining hip hop, reggae, rock and more with slide didge run through electronics creating a sound few would have heard before, but what's more is they have massive energy, and the grooves are infectious.
Great Sage: They received the third highest number of votes for best act of Jungle Love 2021. This is a truly innovative band. It's incredibly dancey, punchy and electronic. Combine a bit of psych rock, aliens and a stage show to boot.
NOOSA Alive!
Cirque Bon Bon: This performance was made especially for NOOSA Alive! and has gone on to perform in Brisbane December 2021.Tijuana Cartel: Your body can't help but dance, what a vibe!
Troubadour Wagons: We just love working with Sharna and her line-ups are current and local.
Waghorn To West
Melrose: A fantastic performer and lyricist who deserves more hype.Du0: He performed his debut live set at Black Bear Lodge, and you would swear it was a headline slot at Splendour In The Grass with the vibes and atmosphere in the room.
BEKS: A bona fide pop star in the making, her attention to detail in costuming and pop hits will take her very far.
TAS: A local Ipswich R&B/ hip hop producer. We can't wait to have him involved in Waghorn To West this year.
Yonder
Bcharre, DancingWater and WIIGZ – these are all artists that we think are destined for bigger things.Voting in the 2022 People's Choice Awards – Metro Venue Of The Year / Regional Venue Of The Year / Festival Of The Year – is now open and closes 11:59pm EST 9 March.
The public vote with input from an expert industry panel will decide the winners. Everyone who casts their vote is in the running to win an overnight stay at New Farm's Calile Hotel and a double pass to the 2022 QMAs ceremony.
2022 Queensland Music Awards will be staged at The Fortitude Music Hall (Brisbane) 29 March.
