Photos by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
featuring Morgan Wallen – Ashley McBryde – Hardy – Corey Kent – Ernest – Warren Zeiders – Hailey Whitters – Abby Christo
https://www.facebook.com/cmcrocks
Morgan Wallen
Photos by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
Hailey Whitters is country through and through, as a writer for greats like Alan Jackson and Little Big Town, and released her own third album in 2022, and we got some old and news songs including her most recent Everything She Ain’t, and her perky voice and upbeat attitude was the perfect opener to Day 2 on the main stages.
Continue reading Live Review: CMC Rocks 2023 Willowbank Raceway, Ipswich – Day 2Photos by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
featuring Bailey Zimmerman – Corey Kent – Hailey Whitters – Kip Moore – Mitchell Tenpenny – Randy Houser – The Wolfe Brothers – Cam
https://www.facebook.com/cmcrocks
Bailey Zimmerman
Cam
Corey Kent
Hailey Whitters
Kip Moore
Mitchell Tenpenny
Randy Houser
The Wolfe Brothers
Photos by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
Gallery featuring: Zac Brown Band – Travis Collins – Ashley McBryde – Madeline Edwards – Jordan Davis – Caroline Jones – Cam – Brittney Spencer – Bailey Zimmerman
Ashley McBryde
https://www.facebook.com/cmcrocks
Bailey Zimmerman
Brittney Spencer
Cam
Caroline Jones
Jordan Davis
Madeline Edwards
Travis Collins
Zac Brown Band
Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
A scorching hot and humid day welcomed the crowds to CMC Rocks on Day 1 proper of the festival, with all the usual sights and sounds of this iconic feature of the Australian and global Country Music calendar, curated by Michael Chugg and his incredible team at Frontier. The sad news was the death this week of Foxtel boss Brian Walsh, who along with the late Rob Potts and Michael Chugg were the three key founders of the CM Rocks phenomenon, and a toast and cheer from the crowd was warm and genuine.
https://www.facebook.com/cmcrocks
Continue reading Live Review: CMC Rocks 2023 Willowbank Raceway, Ipswich – Day 1Review and photos by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
KIP MOORE / RANDY HOUSER
Hordern Pavilion, Sydney
16th March 2023
This was the second show of this CMC Rocks week of sideshows and festival, after Melbourne the night before, and a sold out crowd at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney had streamed in from the country and was ready to get down and party.
Randy Houser may be one of the undercard for CMC Rocks , but he has perhaps the best voice in country music, and from the first line of the Whistlin’ Dixie he is right on song, with a voice like honey smoked JD that hits the spot immediately. After Boots On we get the monster hit of How Country Feels, with some great guitar interplay and a massive crowd reaction. Randy lets the super tight band let rip with a hoe-down middle eight that absolutely rocked, and there was lots of crowd singing in an extended back half of the song.
Continue reading Live Review and Photos: Kip Moore + Randy Houser at Hordern Pavilion, Sydney – 16th March 2023Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
STARCRAZY
ANOTHER DAY ANOTHER SQUALOR EP
Released – March 10th 2023
Seldom does a new band appear on the Sydney scene with such a polished set of songs, and a live performance that goes perfectly with the music. When I saw them live at Glamfest last month I was taken aback at just how good Starcrazy turned out to be!
Continue reading EP Review: Starcrazy – Another Day, Another SqualorReview and photos by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
SAMANTHA FISH
Support – BLAKE O’CONNOR
Manning Bar, Sydney 18th Feb 2023
This tour is an example of what can be achieved with a desire to bring the best musicians to Australia, and put them on a real tour that covers every major centre, including Canberra, Newcastle and Perth, and picks the right size venues, has excellent sound and lighting all round, and uses local support acts in the different areas. Massive congratulations to Gerard Allmann and Annie Johnsson for pulling this one off!
Continue reading Live Review + Photos: SAMANTHA FISH at Manning Bar, Sydney – 18th February 2023 (with Blake O’Connor)Photos by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
Arch Enemy
https://www.facebook.com/archenemyofficial
Bulletbelt
https://www.facebook.com/Bulletbelt/
Review and photos by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
EVERCLEAR / TRIP FANDINO / STUPID BABY
Drifter’s Wharf, Gosford
8th Feb 2023
Everclear are on their 30th Anniversary Tour taking in a whole load of Australian cities and regional towns, and delivering a set that rolls back the years and sees a rough, raucous and loud grunge-punk band delivering classic after classic as if they were all still in their 20’s. Art Alexakis is unchanged, and has had Davey French on guitar for nearly 20 years now, with Freddy Herrera on bass since 2009, and new boy Brian Nolan on the drums for the past five years.
Continue reading Live Review + Photos: Everclear at Drifter’s Wharf, Gosford – 08 February 2023 (with Trip Fandino & Stupid Baby)Review and photos by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
Good Vibes Tribe at Drifter’s Wharf, Gosford. 27th Jan 2023
The extraordinarily talented Steph Strings from San Remo, VIC opened the show on a steamy summer evening on the water in Gosford, and was the surprise package of the night. A really fresh guitar, harmonica and percussion soloist, showing off some flamenco style and really delicate playing that was mostly instrumental because of “my terrible voice”! That turned out wrong too as Steph showed a clear and pure tone with some ethereal vocals that combined really well with the guitar.
Continue reading Live Review: Ash Grunwald, Kim Churchill, Felipe Baldomir, and Steph Strings at Drifter’s Wharf, Gosford – 27 Jan 2023Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
HARDY
The Mockingbird & The Crow
Released – Jan 20th 2023
Universal Music – Big Loud Records
Philadelphia Singer-songwriter (Michael) HARDY made a name for himself in 2020 with his debut album A ROCK, which showcased his genre-blending ability. In this new era of HARDY music, HARDY continues to prove why he is one of the best songwriters in the country music genre and one of the most entertaining performers. While Sold Out set the stage, Wait In The Truck (feat. Lainey Wilson) further proved that the singer-songwriter has what it takes to go the distance.
Continue reading Album Review: HARDY – The Mockingbird & The CrowReview by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
CODY PARKS & THE DIRTY SOUTH
Thunder Cash 69
Released – 20th Jan 2023
This is a raucous mash-up of White Zombie’s Thunder Kiss 65 and Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues, which on any regular analysis of current musical trends, should not work at all.
Cody Parks & The Dirty South style themselves as a “country metal” band from Nashville, that literally blends both genres in their music. Sometimes they like to do unique versions of cover songs for their live set, and Cody told me that he’s always played Folsom, but one day when they were rehearsing it, they figured we needed to make it more unique, because everyone plays the same ol’ version of that song. One of the guys started playing the Zombie riff and the rest was history. It started poppin’ at shows and on the socials, so they figured what the hell…let’s record it!
Continue reading Music Review: Cody Parks & The Dirty South – Thunder Cash 69Review by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
JARED JAMES NICHOLS – JJN
Released – 13th Jan 2022
Black Hill Records
Singer, guitarist, songwriter and Gibson Guitars brand ambassador Jared James Nichols has announced his self-titled new album will be released on January 13th via Black Hill Records. Jared James Nichols, his third full-length offering, features the new single Down The Drain as well as the previously released Hard Wired. The collection showcases every side of the Nashville-based multi-talent and the various genres he grew up listening to, whether it was grunge or blues, that have influenced his authentic sound.
Continue reading Album Review: Jared James Nichols- JJNReview by Peter Coates – www.facebook.com/InsideEdgePhotography
HEROES & MONSTERS
Heroes & Monsters
Released – 20th Jan 2023
Frontiers Music
There is a significant volume of hard and melodic rock released under the Frontiers label, and a fair share of it leaves me unmoved, lacking any real spark of originality, and often seeing inter-changeable players and producers involved.
However, I am in no position to criticise the intent and dedication to releasing music, so can only comment on what resonates with me.
Every so often, something pops up that appears outside the normal Frontiers genre and the Heroes and Monsters project, formed by three rock n’ roll lifers and friends, bassist/vocalist Todd Kerns, guitarist Stef Burns, and drummer Will Hunt, seems to be one of these gems.
Continue reading Album Review: HEROES & MONSTERS
