ALISTAIR HULETT   RIP

Alistair Hulett died in Glasgow on 28/1/2010. For his many friends and fans this is a huge loss. For folk and roots music it is also a loss impossible to measure, as he still had plenty of work in him. Alistair was the embodiment of the folk spirit. He was in touch with, and celebrated his history and tradition as he perceptively and courageously documented his own times. He was no dull three chord strummer either: he was a damn good musician who stepped easily across boundaries of style and genre. He was also a powerful and incisive writer.

A good friend gone too soon.

"But, oh ! fell death's untimely frost,
That nipt my flower sae early."
- Burns

What do Loudon Wainwright III, Richard Thompson, Janis Ian, Bruce Cockburn, Eddi Reader, Luka Bloom, Eric Bibb, Paul Kelly, Ralph McTell, Sarah Blasko, The Whitlams, Kate Miller-Heidke, Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter, Jeff Lang, Bert Jansch, Harry Manx and Martin Carthy all have in common? Over the past few years they’ve all travelled to Katoomba to play at the Blue Mountains Music Festival, Folk, Roots and Blues. They and a long roll call of some of Australia’s and the world’s best acoustic performers have helped to establish this upper mountains gig as one of the country’s essential festival experiences.

March 12, 13, 14 2010 will see the Blue Mountains celebrate this internationally respected event for the fifteenth time. The years have been a huge parade of exceptional music. And now there’s a lot more to come.

In 2010 you will see Chris Smither, Uncle Earl, Josh White Jr., John McCutcheon, The Pigram Brothers, Dougie McLean, Truckstop Honeymoon, Gregory Page, The White Top Mountaineers, Eleanor McEvoy, Grace Barbé, Kerrianne Cox, The Kransky Sisters, Jeff Lang and Djan Djan, Bruce Mathiske, Emily Smith and Jamie McClennan, Mikelangelo and the Black Sea Gentlemen, Bob Malone, Kim Richey, Brian Kennedy, Genticorum, The Vince Jones Band, Glenn Cardier, The Little Stevies, Mojo Juju and the Snake Oil Merchants, Chris Wilson, The Blues Preachers, Gail Page Trio, Pat Drummond, Circus Solarus, Tom Richardson, The James Valentine Quartet, The Crooked Fiddle Band, Noriko Tadano, Nikki Madden, Kate Rowe, Sime Nugent, The Snaketown Rattlers, Claude Hay, Andrea Soler, Gregg Borschmann’s Conversations and more to be confirmed.

Just some nice things people have said about the Blue Mountains Music Festival over the years.

  • " ...easily the most substantial festival of its type" John Shand. SMH
  • "exquisite! It really lifted everyone's spirit" Kavisha Mazzella
  • "It is a beautifully crafted creature you have made" Bernard Bolan
  • " ..Thanks for the enormous amount of energy, vision and dedication. Each of us has had an unforgettable weekend..."
    Alison De Jong and Family, Central Coast NSW.
  • "I'm sure everybody there was as musically satisfied as I was, but importantly, the festival set a fine example of togetherness, appreciation and sanity for a crazy world" Julius Timmerman. Cornstalk Gazette