For a small town, they sure can put on a big show. A new initiative has seen an award winning indie folk duo take to the stage in Leitchville for their first and only performance in northern Victoria – and there’s more to come.
Saije, an indie folk duo from Bellingen in New South Wales, came to Leitchville off the back of an extensive European tour. The pair was awarded Folk Alliance Australia’s Young Artist of the Year 2019-2021 at the National Folk Festival, and have toured Australia, Canada and Europe. The duo sang original songs that reflected their ‘conscious living and connection to self, the earth and each other’, and impressed the audience with their multitasking skills, playing several instruments during each song and simultaneously providing vocals.
Ashley Scurrah was the person responsible for bringing the duo to the town, and says it is the first in what he hopes is a monthly live event. Ashley established ‘Leitchville LIVE – Presents’, and plans to host a different band or artist on the last Tuesday of each month.
The inaugural event on Tuesday, November 28 attracted an audience of over 70 at the Leitchville Hall.
“It was fantastic to see people get out and support unknown (to them) live musicians in their region; and to see people come and have a night out in a country town on a weeknight is great,” said Ashley.
Ashley moved to Leitchville from Echuca and decided to utilise his event management degree and background in production, risk management and security to benefit the town.
“I wanted to do something for the community once a month. The game plan was to drive some arts and cultural things here, but also utilise that to try and get RVers and caravanners to stop in this area and utilise the free RV stop.”
Ashley hopes those visitors will spend money at the town’s businesses, and in their interactions with locals, discover more about the area and stay longer within the Gannawarra Shire.
This time next year, Ashley is hoping an RV, caravanner and camper folk festival might be on the cards. Similar to Kyabram’s RV Country Music Fest, Ashley envisages a dedicated camp ground, possibly at the football oval, with show tickets also available to locals.
“The aim would be to have some of the same sort of calibre musicians that we will have had through the project performing there. We’ll be looking at quality touring acts to come and jump on the stage.”
Positive feedback after last week’s event has reinforced to Ashley that he now has something to build on, and can only make it better.
“For me, it’s great to be giving something to the community, that we can do this once a month, and have something for them to look forward to. But, also, we’re creating something for those small musicians in Australia that are unknown, they’ve got good talents, and they’ve got somewhere to come and be welcomed.”
Ashley is negotiating with an artist to perform at the next event in January, and says Leitchville may also play host to Sunday Lemonade and Kevin Welch early next year.
This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 7 December 2023.
