Welcome to 2023 my Wandering Journo tribe! Thanks for joining me on the next chapter of podcasts and news from fascinating people who I meet from all around Australia. Those of you on a last road trip before reality sets in and school goes back as it is soon here Down Under—you’ve got this podcast to keep you company and give you a bit of a slice of life direct from the Woodford Folk Festival.
The Moving Stills hit the Woodford Folk Festival
This episode of Streets of Your Town comes to you from the streets of the renowned Woodford Folk Festival, an annual gathering in the week leading up to New Years Day that transforms this peaceful rural idyll into a thriving community of more than 130,000 people, larger than the nearest Sunshine Coast town of Nambour.
As I wandered through the many stages on this land now known as Woodfordia, which was purchased almost 30 years ago to give the festival a secure and ongoing home, there was one band that stood out and beckoned me into the Pineapple Lounge. They are The Moving Stills.
And as Moving Stills vocalist and guitarist Tom Mahler tells us on Streets of Your Town podcast (press play on the link above or through your favourite podcast provider), their dedication to hitting the road to spread the word about the four piece’s debut album on their Volcano tour knows no bounds.
Tom says the band’s Torago had a great workout in the 12-hour drive to the Woodford Folk Festival from their Central Coast base.
“We played (at Woodford) about three or four years ago and I think we’ve all been just itching to get back,” Mahler said.
“There’s nothing quite like it that I’ve experienced at least, just super cool. I think we’re playing on about three or four different stages. I feel like a lot of festivals, you just get into the groove and then it finishes, but Woodford you get to just fully immerse yourself.
“It’s just so nice playing a bunch of times as well. You get people coming back. I don’t know, it’s just a really humble, polite, nice crew of people to play to, and to hang out with.”
He said the laid back summery style of The Moving Stills suits the Woodford Folk Festival atmosphere, and it was great celebrating their first album Sunshine Corner—which came together in the loneliness of the pandemic—with live audiences.
“It’s been really nice having a full album’s worth of material allows you to...when we play a show now, pretty much every song we’re playing, people can go and listen to,” he says.
“I don’t know, I know that sounds a little bit basic but it was a pretty nice point, I think.”
You can hear The Moving Stills playing live on the Streets of Your Town podcast. Keep an eye out for the band which is touring throughout this year, and releasing a new album in August.
Behind the Scenes
Well as you can see Mildred the Cantankerous Kombi proved her worth at the Woodford Folk Festival! It was a joyous but rainy affair, and I was pretty pleased to be heading back to the relative comfort of a nearly 50 year old kombi rather than a soggy canvas tent every night! My son Ronan came for the adventure too. There’s no limit to how far this Wandering Journo will go for a good story!
Special bonus this coming week is another special edition of Streets of Your Town with another interview taking you behind the Scenes at Woodford—with the amazing Parvyn!
And for those of you who loved my last podcast on incredible Brisbane musical theatre star and composer Vidya Makan, I am happy to report her show is an absolute cracker! Here’s a couple of photos from opening night—Vidya rocked the roof off the QPAC Playhouse! If you can make sure you get along to see it. Absolutely incredible show.
Making Waves podcast is making more waves!
And in one of the MOST exciting moments for me of 2022—I was interviewed by the boys from The Betoota Advocate podcast! Their podcast is a rare blend of hilarious, incisive and newsy. Love them! So it was a bit of a white knuckle ride for me but they were brilliant. And this episode is now over 40 thousand downloads—WOW! So have a listen. There’s a link below to the episode on Apple Music but its available through Spotify and all your favourite podcast providers too. They were kind enough to talk a bit about my latest podcast production Making Waves bringing water stories from around Australia. I’ve put the link to those five episodes below as well in case you have a final road trip to complete before school goes back and can have a listen to that too.
Listen: The Betoota Advocate episode interviewing me
Listen: The Making Waves series
Recommended watching: Black Snow
A gripping new six-part murder mystery series, Black Snow, featuring Australian South Sea Islanders set amidst the sizzling surrounds of north Queensland cane fields has dropped on streaming platform Stan for the first time.
I wrote about it in In Queensland and you can read about it now!
Read: Our islands in the sun—Mini-series brings focus to Queensland's far north
I loved meeting and interviewing some of the talented cast of the incredible new series. It’s highly recommended viewing that keeps you gripped to your seat throughout—and also a pivotal step forward for the status of Australian South Sea Islanders in this country. As star Jemmason Power told me at the wonderful opening night in Brisbane, “I think it’s going to be hard to call us the forgotten people after this show”.
Thanks so much for your ongoing support of my audio adventures my wonderful Wandering Journo Tribe! I plan to keep bringing you slices of Australian audio life through 2023—and your support of this newsletter keeps my tank filled in Mildred the Cantankerous Kombi!
See you on the road soon!
And please hit me up with any interesting people or ideas you think would be great for Streets of Your Town podcast—it’s easy as hitting reply to this email!
xx Nance
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