West Coast Blues 'n' Roots festival adds Jason Mraz

The already talent-heavy West Coast Blues ‘n’ Roots Festival lineup has just been beefed up. Heading the latest additions is frequent visitor Jason Mraz, whose latest album has become very popular, should go down a treat. 'We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things' has sold more than 100,000 copies in Australia alone - the tenth highest selling album of 2008. Three 2009 Grammy Award nominations later and Mraz is surely on the international stage map by now.

Also appearing at the Fremantle Esplanade Reserve on Saturday 18 April will be local heroes Augie March and Bob Evans, Minnesota bluesman Charlie Parr, Kiwi blues-rock troupe Little Bushman and seriously dynamic nine-piece Labjacd. The bill is looking really good for a one-day festival. This new crop joins the likes of The John Butler Trio, Ben Kweller, Seasick Steve, Paul Kelly and Missy Higgins.

New line-up additions:

Jason Mraz
Augie March
Bob Evans
Charlie Parr
Little Bushman
Labjacd

This mighty fine list of talent joins (in full): The John Butler Trio, Missy Higgins, Zappa Plays Zappa (USA), Paul Kelly, Easy Star All-Stars (USA), Ben Kweller (USA), Tony Joe White (USA), Blue King Brown, Seasick Steve (USA), Eric Bibb (USA), The Special Beat (UK), Luka Bloom (Ireland), Blues Traveler (USA), C.W. Stoneking & The Primitive Horn Orchestra, Little Red, Ruthie Foster (USA), Kev Carmody, Rodney Crowell (USA), Whitley, Kora (NZ) and Mama Kin.

http://www.sunsetevents.com.au/sites/blues-n-roots.html

Easy Star All-Stars announce Melbourne concert

This April, The Easy Star All Stars will be heading to Australia. The group are a collective family of some of the finest reggae musicians in the New York area. They specialise in covering popular albums in a reggae and dub style and have released two cover albums to date. The first, released in 2003, was an interpretation of Pink Floyd's classic 'The Dark Side of the Moon' entitled 'Dub Side of the Moon' and the second was 2006's 'Radiodread', a song-by-song cover of Radiohead's 'OK Computer'.

The success of the albums called for a touring band, who have now headlined their own shows in the U.S., right across Europe, the Middle East, North Africa and South America.

So far they've announced shows at the Byron Bay Bluesfest, West Coast Blues n Roots and one show in Melbourne. Hopefully others around the country will be able to catch them too.

April 9 - Byron Bay Bluesfest, Belongil Fields, Byron Bay NSW
April 11 - Corner Hotel, Melbourne VIC
April 18 - West Coast Blues n Roots, Fremantle Esplanade, Perth WA

www.easystar.com