Benz World Blog » Crossroads

Marcus King

Jason Benz — Sat, 29 Nov 2025 22:24:41 +0000

This is Marcus King, a Grammy-nominated artist, in a captivating performance under his own name on the Crossroads stage at the 2023 Bluesfest. Since then, Marcus has reformed with his original band, who describe their music as soul-influenced psychedelic Southern rock. The Marcus King Band was booked for Bluesfest in 2026 before it was cancelled. Bluesfest had a long history of supporting bands in a music industry which increasingly focuses on solo artists.

Note: After a boot SSD failure, I took the opportunity to ditch Windows and Photoshop in favour of Ubuntu and Photopea. This is the first image created on the open-source platform. Thanks to Alex and Paul for facilitating the switch.

John Butler

Jason Benz — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 08:20:29 +0000

John Butler on the Crossroads stage at Bluesfest 2022. It was my favourite Bluesfest of the past decade. After a 3 year gap, the crowd was up for it, the artists were up for it, and everyone just wanted to get wild after so much time inside.

John Butler is the Swiss army knife of musicians. He has a multitude of instruments, styles and music projects. His latest album “Running River” is designed for meditation. Each chill-out tune is a 10-minute epic where John unleashes his inner Vangelis. It’s as if he has been left alone in a music shop with the record label’s credit card. The world has yet to see a guitar player who does not want to buy all the effects pedals.

John Butler has appeared at Bluesfest every few years since 2007. Regulars will have seen him evolve as an artist. Since his 2024 album, I’m eager to see what he does live now. Will it be the high-energy prog-folk-rock he is known for, or will the audience end up in a fugue state?

John Butler will return one last time for the final Byron Bay Bluesfest in Easter 2025, tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

UPDATE: In 2026 Bluesfest will be the last in a line of major festivals closed from increasing headwinds. This began before covid, with the previous state government’s legislative “war on festivals“. The new government risks letting this trend continue through inaction. However, you can change this. If 20,000 signatures are received, the NSW Parliament must debate Bluesfest’s future. #savebluesfest if you live in the state Sign up here. For everyone else, there is an international petition on change.org Sign up here.

Ash Grunwald

Jason Benz — Fri, 13 Sep 2024 14:26:58 +0000

Aussie blues legend Ash Grunwald on the Crossroads stage at Bluesfest 2022. No blues festival would be complete without a performance from this prince of the pentatonic. He is from the southern hemisphere’s biggest music cauldron, Melbourne, although he saw the light in 2010 when he relocated to Byron Bay.

Ash has an amazing body of work, with a dozen studio albums over two decades. My favourite is his 2019 album “Mojo” for its raw blues energy, and a guitar tone so fat it is at risk of diabetes. The album also has a powerfully dark duet with Kasey Chambers which reminded me of the haunting duet between Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue, if you replaced the orchestra with a blues guitar.

I love it when musicians collaborate to create something new and unexpected. Bluesfest is designed to make this happen. Along with the latest acts and the international headliners, there is a core of Australian bands, like Ash and Kasey, who Bluesfest supports year after year. This makes Bluesfest its own music scene.

Ash Grunwald and Kasey Chambers will return one last time for the final Byron Bay Bluesfest in Easter 2025, tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

UPDATE: Due to the success of Bluesfest 2025, its future has been confirmed. Discounted early bird tickets for the 2026 festival are available here.

John Gwilliam

Jason Benz — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 22:28:30 +0000

This is John Gwilliam from power trio 19-Twenty letting the animal out, on the Crossroads stage at Bluesfest 2024.

Imagine Wolverine learnt double bass, then drank all the crazy juice. To call his performance dynamic would not do it justice. You never know what will happen next. One minute he has lifted the whole double bass in the air while playing it behind his head like Buddy Guy, the next moment one of the Little Quirks has climbed on top of the bass and is singing up high, while he donks out the rhythm below. The show is a spectacle of physics defying controlled chaos created by a tight rock and roll groove machine set to overdrive.

19-Twenty is Australia’s answer to Jools Holland. They are both known to bring musicians together. This is encouraged at Bluesfest, the range of music lends itself to jamming. Peter Nobel (the guy who picks the artists at Bluesfest) once told me he chooses bands that make music with people, not computers. You will not find lip-syncing and backing tracks at Bluesfest. You will find a whole lotta people celebrating the raw energy of live music. 19-Twenty will return one last time for the final Byron Bay Bluesfest in Easter 2025, tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

UPDATE: Due to the success of Bluesfest 2025, its future has been confirmed. 19-Twenty will return to the festival in 2026. Tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

Byron Bay Bluesfest 2026
1st artist reveal

Leesa Gentz

Jason Benz — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 11:59:31 +0000

This is Leesa Gentz, who, along with Julz Parker, makes up the core of the folk/country/rock band Hussy Hicks. Here they are opening the Crossroads stage on the final day of Bluesfest 2024 in Byron Bay, Australia. These local ladies are from Lismore, making the festival their home ground. 2 years ago, during the all too regular “once in a lifetime floods”, the girls had their home and studio completely submerged by water. Despite this major setback, they showed remarkable ingenuity by getting an old mobile broadcast van and building a studio inside it. Next time the water arrives, they can drive all their equipment up to the nearest dry hill outside Lismore. I know it will work because that is how I escaped those floods. That hill became an island for about a week. Then it all happened again a few weeks later.

UPDATE: Due to the success of Bluesfest 2025 and #savebluesfest, the festival’s future has been confirmed. Hussy Hicks will return to the festival in 2026. Tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

Bluesfest 2026

Jack Johnson

Jason Benz — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 12:59:25 +0000

This is Jack Johnson headlining the Crossroads stage on the second night of Bluesfest 2024 in Byron Bay, Australia. Jack had played here before without being billed, He just came to Bluesfest to watch and was invited onstage by the other acts. This night was very different. The crowd was packed and there was a buzz in the air. Once they heard “Sitting, Waiting, Wishing” the crowd needed no encouragement to sing along. Jack’s big break was writing and singing vocals for the song “Rodeo Clowns” on the G.Love album Philadelphonic—one of my favourite albums. 3 more days of music, tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

New Year

Jason Benz — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 13:01:58 +0000

Happy New Year 2024. What I am looking forward to most this year is the return of one of my favourite bands to Australia. This is Tedeschi Trucks Band putting on an awesome performance on the Crossroads stage at the 2016 Byron Bay Bluesfest. Husband and wife team of Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks here with saxophone player Kebbi Williams.

Imagine two smooth blues guitars jamming together, while they evoke the kind of atmospheric sounds Knopfler would be proud of, wrap these harmonies in the soulful depth you can only get from gospel backing singers, fill the backstage with duelling drummers, mix in a Hammond Organ and some New Orleans Horns and the sweet blues sound they make is world-class.

(image download here)

UPDATE: After 8 long years the band will return to the festival in Easter 2024, tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

Julz Parker

Jason Benz — Sun, 09 Apr 2023 13:59:39 +0000

This is local guitarist Julz Parker from Hussy Hicks making a guest appearance with Michael Franti & Spearhead on the Crossroads stage at Bluesfest 2023 in Byron Bay, Australia. Meanwhile, on the Mojo stage, Mavis Staples, Bonnie Raitt and Jackson Browne were jamming together. As the night went on, the party atmosphere built until the line between artist and audience disappeared. I saw a whole brass section vanish into the crowd, and members of the crowd got up on stage to sing and dance.

UPDATE: Hussy Hicks will be back after a successful world tour to perform back home at Byron Bay Bluesfest in Easter 2024.

UPDATE: Hussy Hicks will return to the festival in 2025, tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

Bluesfest 2026

David Le’aupepe

Jason Benz — Fri, 07 Apr 2023 13:59:12 +0000

This is Gang of Youths stealing the show on the Crossroads stage at Bluesfest 2023, in Byron Bay, Australia. The energy from frontman and songwriter David Le’aupepe was unmatched. His command of the stage was balanced by a self-deprecating nature and wit which connected him to the audience. He was sporting a big beard, so try to imagine a mix of Jason Momoa and Costa Georgiadis with the moves of Jarvis Cocker. The latter may be no accident as their Brit-pop influences can be heard in the synth sounds and driving rhythms which work so well in a music festival atmosphere. If you ever wondered what Indie Brit-pop evolved into, Gang of Youths has the best answer to that question.

3 more days of music, The sun is out and tickets are available via the Bluesfest Website.

Spinifex Gum

Jason Benz — Thu, 06 Apr 2023 13:59:41 +0000

This is Spinifex Gum charming the audience on the Crossroads stage at Bluesfest 2023 in Byron Bay. This teenage indigenous female choir draws on musicians and stories from every corner of Australia. Melbourne-based Felix Riebl and Ollie McGill from The Cat Empire produce the music to tell stories of the Yindjibarndi people from the Pilbara in WA. They are brought to life by the Marliya Choir based in Cairns in far North QLD. The band are fearless in shining a light on issues facing Australia’s First Nations people. The choir singers are individually mic’d which gives them freedom of movement which traditional choir setups do not have. This song, called Sisters, comes from their second album of the same name released in 2019.

Spinifex Gum has one more show on the Mojo stage on Friday. Tickets still available via the Bluesfest Website.