Tag Archives: blues rock

Dirty Suits Headline La La La’s Wollongong

October 22, 2025 Marshall Cullen

Dirty Suits (Blackwater Bay – Tour) November 8th

Lineup – (See below)

Dirty Suits

Born from the shores of the Illawarra Escarpment in 2020, Dirty Suits is a band shaped and moulded by the likes of Nick Cave and Hoodoo Gurus, with a sprinkling of Robert Smith magic.

Dirty Suits’ brand of bluesy swamp rock cloaked in avant-garde punk has already produced two albums: 2023’s ‘Where’d Ya Park The Karma!’ and 2024’s ‘Tales From The Swamp’.

Now they’re taken the covers of new single, ‘Blackwater Bay’, a bruising song that bubbles and froths, squealing in intensity, biting with an Australiana-flecked blues rock that’s equally intoxicating as it is menacing.

Zion (2nd Support)

A hard hitting grunge rock band from the Illawarra’s northern suburbs. Since forming in 2021, the trio have matured into a band that is recognized for their distinctive gritty sound and raw energy.

Drawing their inspiration from the dirty, distorted sounds of 90’s grunge bands, Zion released their first 2 singles, Mongoose and Saturation in 2023, receiving accolades from both industry professionals and their growing fanbase.

The Dirty Merchants (1st Support)

Hailing from Wollongong, NSW. The 5 of us combine a blend of aussie surf and alternative rock, creating a unique, laid back, yet highly energetic sound.

Ticket Price – $20 plus b/f or $25 on the door –

Click Here for tix

An impressive lineup all hailing from the Illawarra on Dharawal Country have shared stages, beers and waves and now come together to bring you a night of pumping alternative rock, grunge and original tunes. Tickets will sell fast, the production will be hot and the show will rock in one of Wollongongs finest live music venues.

DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW.

Dirty Suits Spotify Artist Link

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Dirty Suits Release Single ‘Rio Tinto’

September 4, 2025 Marshall Cullen

Through a tight rock groove Rio Tinto tells the story of the Juukan Gorge disaster. Of people trying to save a very old place. Of people scrambling to, at least, save some 46,000 year old artefacts and of big business shitting on the oldest continuous culture in the world … again.

The Lore says: From a swamp in the pit of the Illawarra Escarpment rose a magical creature called Dirty. It was awful to the eye but true of heart. Shunned by all the other swamp creatures Dirty led a lonely existence until 2020 when three surfing adventurers stumbled across its den. Frightened at first, Dirty soon realised these three might be worthy.

He gave one a guitar, one a drum, and one a piano.

As they played Dirty began to glow.

It said, ‘I’m sure you three will rise to the level of entertaining casual drinkers and diners at the week’s end and I have something that will help.’ Dirty then presented the travelling trio with three suits and said ‘This will help your quest’. The drummer, the boldest of the three said, ‘Are these magic suits?’

Dirty replied, ‘No.’

After surfing together for over a decade, Matt Ayliffe and Peter Cunnington started jamming in 2020.

The click was immediate. Coming from different musical backgrounds seems to help, not hinder the writing process. From industrial, Avante Garde, Punk and Rock’n’Roll. The songs dictate themselves. Demographics and egos, all checked at the door. Dirty Suits is creativity for its own sake. And as of Feb 2023, Luke Brooks has joined the ‘Dirty Suits’ family on drums and any out there suitable piece of equipment he can whack a sound out of to get this trio rockin’ any venue down.

Stream Below

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Dirty Suits Release Single ‘Blackwater Bay’

August 7, 2025 Marshall Cullen

UPCOMING SHOW DATES

9th August – Ryans Thirroul, NSW – Event Link

29th August – Link and Pin, NSW –

26th September – Dissent Cafe Bar, Canberra –

He gave one a guitar, one a drum, and one a piano.

As they played Dirty began to glow.

Dirty replied, ‘No.’

After surfing together for over a decade, Matt Ayliffe and Peter Cunnington started jamming in 2020.

Set in the dark country, Blackwater Bay is the tale of a man trying to rescue his wife from an insidious cult. Is it a salvage operation or a kidnapping? And exactly who is insidious? Led by a bass in 5’s and a wild guitar. This is an expedition of misplaced trust and entrapment.

Stream Below

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Kaijin Solo Releases Single ‘Elektra’

May 31, 2024 Marshall Cullen

When the Stars, Greek Mythology and Music align….

The name of the Pleiades Star Cluster comes from Ancient Greek. It probably derives from plein (“to sail”) because of the cluster’s importance in delimiting the sailing season in the Mediterranean Sea. In mythology the name was used for the Pleiades, seven divine sisters, the name supposedly deriving from that of their mother Pleione and effectively meaning “daughters of Pleione”.

One of the daughters was named Elektra and here is Kaijin Solo’s single of the same name with him saying-

Kaijin: ‘In a lot of ways I think Elektra is just me hanging on to the thing that good is, despite or even regardless of current global issues. If you have any beliefs at all the sort of stuff that’s been been going down for far too long now is a complete astonishment. I’m not particularly religious but if God is Love, then who is the killing for?’

Kaijin Solo is a contemporary singer/songwriter based on the NSW Central Coast with a blues rock influence. He has been working and honing his craft for many years with various band line-ups and the plentiful bread and butter busking jobs and pub/club gigs around the coast.

In between studio sessions Kaijin formed The Backbeats with Rhys Meyer on Vocals and Keys, Felix Harper on Bass and Ash Feder on Drums. They spent much of 2023 playing local venues such as the infamous Link and Pin, Brackets and Jam on Kincumber Mountain, and Avoca Beach Hotel. Kaijin and Rhys also did a few duo appearances at various venues such as: the Long Jetty Hotel and Bateau Bay Bowling Club.

The band closed out 2023 to a packed crowd as support for The Radiators at Ourimbah RSL. 2024 has kicked off well with a packed house at Mumbo Jumbos at Terrigal and The Hawkesbury Brewing CO. in Lisarow.

Stream ‘Elektra’

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Trysette-Expat Aussie Singer Returns After John Fogerty Tour

October 23, 2020 Marshall Cullen

Expat Aussie Singer Faces Christmas in Quarantine

Trysette Loosemore, Australia’s own back-up singer to the legendary John Fogerty (Creedence Clearwater Revival) returns to Australia after a whirlwind 12-month tour of the US, Canada and Europe in 2019.

Like the rest of the world, faced with an uncertain and challenging year in 2020 due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, Trysette says “I had to make the decision in March this year whether to return home to Australia when the panic was on to repatriate Australians living overseas, but Los Angeles has been my home now for three years and I thought, like everyone else, that this pandemic situation would pass within a few months or sooner than all of us imagined. So I dug in and rode the wave, confident that the touring scene would start up again and everything would be back to normal. I was wrong”

Touring musicians are among the hardest hit of all this year, relying on crowds of people to attend their shows, and in the USA especially, the coast is far from clear for acts to be back out on the road doing what they love to do.

Just as Trysette did with the John Fogerty World Tour in 2019 (pic below)

Photo Credit – Greg Lewis

With all the uncertainty and ever changing rules and regulations, Trysette decided to pack her bags and join the queue of stranded Aussies trying desperately now to get home before Christmas.

Trysette says that “once I decided to return home until work starts up again, I discovered what was really going on with the international travel situation, flight debacles and the two-week mandatory quarantine enforcement on return to Australia. I had no idea how difficult it would be to not only secure a seat on a flight home as the prices are skyrocketing up to $20,000 right now, but to arrive in time to spend Christmas with my family. As it stands, I will arrive in Sydney (Brisbane not possible) mid December just in time to spend Christmas in Quarantine. All this said, I feel very fortunate that I have friends and family in both NSW and QLD who I am extremely excited to see and spend time with, and I have my health. For that I am truly grateful and all the rest of this shall pass”.

2020 has definitely been a defining and transformative year for all, and Trysette has made the most of her time focusing on her songwriting, on-line concerts and a new youtube show she has created called ‘Shoot The Breeze’ where she interviews some of her “Rockstar Friends” so that people who are interested can get to know these stars through her eyes. So far these interviews include Kenny Aronoff (iconic rock drummer to John Fogerty, John Mellencamp and many more), Bob Malone (Singer Songwriter and “Keyboard Wizard” to John Fogerty), Randy Ray Mitchell (guitarist to Donna Summer, Warren Zevon, Keb Mo and more), and while in Australia, Trysette hopes to surprise us with some of our own “Aussie Rockstars” as well. Follow Trysette on her socials below and stay tuned for new music in 2021.

Checkout Trysette’s Releases on Spotify- Just click the image

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Aussie Blues Guitarist James Southwell close to a Grammy Nomination

November 6, 2017 Marshall Cullen

NEWS FLASH! Aussie Blues Guitarist within a whisker of Grammy Nomination

Recorded in Dockside Studios in Maurice, Louisiana with bass player and producer Charlie Wooton of Royal Southern Brotherhood fame, it’s just been announced that Australia’s own premier blues guitarist James Southwell’s latest album, The Dockside Sessions (Where The Wind Blows) is a strong contender for nomination in the forthcoming 60th Grammy Awards in the Best Contemporary Blues Album category!

Featuring some of America’s finest sidemen, among them keyboards player Michael Lemmler from the George Porter Jr Band, harmonica player Jason Ricci, Prince Percussionist Rafael Pereira and Doug Belote from The Eric Clapton and Tedeschi Trucks bands and mastered by six-time Grammy Award-winning engineer David Farrell, the album debuted at #1 on the Australian Blues Airplay Charts and has sat within the top 25 ever since.

Not bad for an album that Southwell, a finalist in both the 2014 and 2015 Memphis Blues Challenge, hadn’t even expected to make. He’d first met Wooton at the Narooma Blues Festival back in 2015 and immediately felt they’d found kindred musical spirits in each other. A few months later Wooton invited Southwell to come on over to record in the US.

“I was shocked and surprised and didn’t expect them to follow it up,” Wooton admits, “but they rang to say they’d booked the flight, Originally just to record a couple of songs that turned into a whole album. From nothing it went to being a full album in Dockside Studios”

“Best album I’ve ever been a part of,” is Wooton’s opinion, while on the subject of Southwell himself,
Riotact reckons “James is not afraid to push his music past all previously existing boundaries and well past what most musicians consider the limits of what is safe.”

The Dockside Sessions(Where The Wind Blows)

OUT NOW(MGM) All Platforms
Itunes
Spotify

Released in June 2017, The Dockside Sessions (Where The Wind Blows) could just become the first album by an Australian blues musician to score a Grammy. The Recording Academy has added the album to the Contemporary Blues Album Category that voting members can vote for Grammy Award Nomination. So let’s all get behind it in whatever way we can and bring in the gold for Australia!

9th December NSW -The Day On The Grass – Wombat

19th-21st January NSW – with special guest Gail Page playing three full band shows, plus two solo acoustic shows at the 2018 Thredbo Blues Festival

26th January NSW – SS & A Club Albury
28th January NSW – Waves – Towradgi Beach Hotel

10th February ACT – A Beer Day Out Rocks The George Canberra