What: Smoke Stack Rhino @ Scotties Garage cafe on Miles Grove
When:
Smoke Stack Rhino are bringing the mojo back to Scotties Garage once more! Hailing from the swamps of the Yarra Valley in Victoria, the blues-rock quartet has been wowing audiences with their powerhouse performances and authentic musicianship.
With a name that’s just one heavy animal away from the blues (think Howlin’ Wolf), the band is becoming a festival favourite across Australia, with recent appearances at Echuca Winter Blues, Grampians Grape
Escape, Healesville Festival and Warrandyte Festival.
After closing the main stage at the 2024 Blues at Bridgetown Festival in WA, the festival director commented, “If there had been a roof, they would have lifted it off.”
Featuring originals like Clearwater River (honouring the regional music scene), Woolamai (inspired by Phillip Island’s surf beaches), and Old Silver Bullet (referencing the Wedge-Tailed Eagle), their setlist celebrates Australiana, leading Beat to brand the group as the country’s “most exciting blues and roots rockers”.
Hard-hitting and hard-working, Smoke Stack Rhino embody the Aussie DIY spirit like a Bunnings BBQ. They’ve run their own festival, brewed their own beer, and their self-released albums, The Mojo Funk (2023) and The Mojo Dojo (2024), have charted on the ARIA Australian Albums and Blues & Jazz Album charts. Their song Woolamai earned a spot on the Spotify Modern Blues Rock playlist alongside legends and band heroes The Black Keys, Gary Clark Jr., and Marcus King.
The band recently expanded its sound through the addition of Lachlan Bruce (keys/vocals) and Lyle Jenkins (drums), joining Ash King (vocals/guitar) and Shane Andison (bass).
With a band name that’s just one heavy animal away from the blues (think Howlin’ Wolf), Smoke Stack Rhino have been captivating audiences with their electrifying live performances and authentic brand of blues and roots rock. The trio from the swamps of the Yarra Valley have taken their high-energy show to festivals across Australia like Blues at Bridgetown, Echuca Winter Blues, Grampians Grape Escape, St Kilda Blues, Mitchell Creek Rock ‘N Blues and more. They’ve found airplay on Triple M and Triple J, ran Rock The Valley Music Festival, placed on several high-profile Spotify playlists and featured on Australia’s most popular podcast The Hamish and Andy Podcast.
In 2023 they released The Mojo Funk, a heavy psychedelic blues album that reached #2 on the ARIA Blues & Jazz Albums chart. New album The Mojo Dojo expands the band’s sound with upbeat boogie rock sitting alongside acoustic and psychedelic influences and is set for release on Friday 26 July. Lead single Til’ The Day has been described as ‘a blues-rock banger with more dirt in it than a 1940s Ford Pickup sitting at the bottom of a Louisiana swamp’.
Smoke Stack Rhino are best experienced live. Singer-guitarist Ash King is a whirlwind with resonator guitar in hand, his earthy vocals reaching from deep baritone low notes to high screams, drummer Matt Berg pushes the band forward from behind the kit and bassist Shane Andison stays rock solid, holding the whole thing together with an infectious, catchy groove.
Come and get ya mojo back.
‘Three-piece band, we like it’ - Hamish & Andy
‘Australia’s most exciting blues and roots rockers’ - Beat
‘Love the stompin’ blues sound’ - Triple J
‘Catchy, rootsy rock’ - Triple M
