indie folk

In the past year 18 year old Newcastle based singer/songwriter Beth Jeans Houghton has garnered a reputation as an antidote to the current crop of acoustic songstresses. With her alternative blend of experimental folk, Beth has been hailed by the NME as "a Joni Mitchell for the anti-folk generation". With influences ranging from Frank Zappa, Vashti Bunyan, Fourtet and Love, Beth has cultivated a sound that is truly her own.

The Tiger and Me create indie-pop music as seen through the looking glass of European folk songs. Three lead vocalists lead a troupe of multi-instrumentalists from gentle folk melodies through to riotous frenzied waltzes, with a wink and a nod to the old cabaret den and speakeasy tradition. The Melbourne sextet ignites the stage with a live show that is an event for any rampant feet out there looking for the ultimate place to whirl and stomp.

(Steve Smyth is also a former guitarist for the metal bands Nevermore, Testament, Dragonlord, Vicious Rumors, and Forbidden ) "Hailing from the rugged heartland of the New South Wales south coast, Steven Smyth's roots in music can be traced back, past adolescent forays into punk, folk and rock, to a childhood of Sunday gospel sessions. Smyth's musical passions range far and wide. At 14, he started a short-lived punk band, by his late teens it was all about Bob Dylan.

Like most inspirational art Timber Timbre comes from a source of isolation, cabin fever specifically. Timber Timbre, primarily the work of Oshawa-born Toronto based Taylor Kirk, walks a precious line between harrowing blues and desperate death country. Recorded in a farm house near Bobcaygeon, Ontario, their debut Cedar Shakes was released in 2006, the moniker Timber Timbre an ode to the surroundings and the warm haunting sound of the album.