Singer-songwriter/guitarist Alison Ferrier appears with Alics Gate-Eastley on bass, Shane Reilly on pedal steel and Dave Folley on drums. You can expect to hear influences of country, rock, folk and blues, but Ferrier and her band produce a sound that is distinctly their own. Two sets at this American-style dive bar with an extensive choice of craft beer and lots more. Free entry!
London-born, Melbourne-based musician Alison Ferrier is a prolific songwriter, talented guitarist and an active player in Melbourne’s vibrant music scene. Ferrier’s voice is unadorned and inviting, singing songs of nostalgia and the human condition, with observations on the universal emotions of everyday life. She has performed for audiences at Port Fairy and Woodford Folk Festivals as well as numerous venues along the east coast. Her third studio album ‘What She Knows’ is an evocative and emotive slice of folk, country, blues and rock ’n’ roll and has established Ferrier as a force to be reckoned with.
“London-born and Australia based country/folk singer Alison Ferrier has done it again with her latest effort. She provides outstanding lyrical content and amazing guitar work on this effort, which should establish her as a force to be reckoned with on the Americana music scene. The bluesy sound of The Boxer leads to the rocking country sound of Rest Easy which leads to the sweet waltz Do you Remember the Day, getting better with each song, all the way through the album. The Americana community needs to embrace this artist, who captures the essence of the genre with the multiple facets of her music. Keep an eye on this one – she’s headed to the top of her craft. She provides outstanding lyrical content and amazing guitar work…which should establish her as a force to be reckoned with." LA Music Critic blog
“I guess you would call this alt country. You might have to, if only because it would take too long to say country punk (Why Did buzzes more than just rollicks along, in a way that says drink more beer), rock (check out Not So Clever as it steamrolls through near the end of the album) and country blues (Damned If I Do’s guitars can take chunks out) meets folkish melancholy (Made For Each Other) and gingham country (I Can’t Count On You) with a dash of double denim ’70s sweetness (Be Here Now, Photo Of You). Ferrier has the help of classy folk from the border country between these genres, the Stillsons trio of Justin Bernasconi, Cat Canteri and Ben Franz, and the songwriting is better than merely solid, so the foundations are good. But what sealed the deal for me was just how inviting Ferrier’s voice is and how it rises above each stylistic station on this train line.” BERNARD ZUEL
Ferrier’s project which was formed during lockdown is experimental band High Ace with husband Jeff Lang. As a wife and husband team, the project is imbibed with a rare synergy and they quickly stumbled upon a unique and almost magical song-writing method: deciphering strange incantations played in reverse, and what the unusual, twisting cadences of those vocalisations were telling them. They imparted strange tales of rattling drums and poisoned hemlocks.
Opelousas is Ferrier’s trio with the legendary Kerri Simpson and Anthony Shortte. A distillation of Melbourne’s finest, Opelousas draw inspiration from their friends and contemporaries. The legendary Simpson’s New Orleans pedigree and Shorty as the back beat and bedrock of the original Collards Greens and Gravy, this powerhouse plays pulsating rhythms from the belly of the blues.