American folk raconteur Vance Gilbert and acclaimed Australian singer-songwriter Liz Stringer will join the Festival of Small Halls tour in 2017, playing 20 community halls across regional Queensland and New South Wales throughout November and December.
Produced by Woodfordia Inc. in partnership with the Woodford Folk Festival and Mullum Music Festival, the Festival of Small Halls is a locally driven music tour bringing high-quality live original music to small towns across Australia.
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Festival producer Eleanor Rigden says the tour offers more than just a rare opportunity for towns to access a high standard of music. "In general, access to the arts improves everything from quality of life to economic outlooks for small towns," she says.
"This particular project goes even further and empowers communities to create their own space, giving them the skills to deliver similar projects independently."
Now in its fifth year, the Festival of Small Halls tour will take in 20 regional towns across Queensland and New South Wales in 2017 before moving on to Victoria and Tasmania in the New Year.
The Festival of Small Halls Summer Tour will start in Wyreema, a tiny town in the Darling Downs region with a population of little more than 1,000 and will finish in Eudlo, a hinterland village on the Sunshine Coast.
Both artists on this year’s tour are seasoned performers looking forward to the intimacy of playing a regional tour.
Vance Gilbert has released 12 albums since bursting onto the New York singer-songwriter scene in the '90s. His work is an on going commitment to traditional folk storytelling, yet remains true to his jazz roots.
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Melbourne-based musician Liz Stringer is one of Australia’s most respected songwriters and performers. She is fresh from a year-long tour of Australia, Canada and the United States, where she recorded her latest album in Portland, Oregon.
For Liz, already Festival of Small Halls alumni, this tour is all about the inspiration she finds on the road. "Folk music is all about telling stories about culture, about life, about each other," she says.
Liz Stringer"It’s about making sense of being a human and, because of that, it has the ability to connect humans to each other."
Festival Of Small Halls 2017 Shows
Wed 15 Nov - Wyreema HallThu 16 Nov - Bray Hall (Brisbane)
Fri 17 Nov - Mullum Music Festival
Wed 22 Nov - Mount Nimmel Hall (Austinville)
Thu 23 Nov - The Channon Public Hall (Northern Rivers)
Fri 24 Nov - Nymboida Hall
Sat 25 Nov - Valla Public Hall
Sun 26 Nov - Wauchope Community Arts Centre
Thu 30 Nov - Texas Memorial Hall
Fri 1 Dec - Cooranga North Memorial Hall
Sat 2 Dec - Surat Shire Hall
Sun 3 Dec - Ilfracombe Rec Centre
Wed 6 Dec - Koah Hall
Fri 8 Dec - Queen Street Community Hall (Yeppoon)
Sat 9 Dec - Degilbo Hall
Sun 10 Dec - Rainbow Beach Community Hall
Wed 13 Dec - Kandanga Public Hall
Thu 14 Dec - Perseverance Hall
Fri 15 Dec - Woodford Memorial Hall
Sat 16 Dec - Mt Nebo Hall
Sun 17 Dec - Eudlo Public Hall
Wed 27 Dec - Woodford Folk Festival
