Byron Bay Bluesfest organisers have revealed the sixth artist announcement for the festival’s upcoming 2023 event, with Sampa the Great and a tribute to the late Uncle Archie Roach leading the new additions.
The festival is set to run this year from April 6 to 10 at Byron Events Farm, with a line-up led by the likes of The Doobie Brothers, Elvis Costello, Counting Crows, Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Jason Isbell, Beck, Mavis Staples, Lucinda Williams, Gang of Youths, King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard and Tash Sultana.
Sampa will make her Bluesfest debut at this year’s festival, having been “truly discovered on a worldwide basis”, festival director Peter Noble said in a statement. “She plays all the major festivals these days, including Glastonbury, Coachella, Primavera, Lollapalooza and Newport Jazz Festival.
“Now for the first time, she’ll be appearing at Bluesfest on Easter Saturday. A Sampa the Great show is full of surprises, incredible dancing, and she isn’t afraid to walk the walk.”
The tribute to Archie Roach – who passed away at the age of 66 last year – planned for the festival has been organised in association with the Archie Roach Foundation, and previously took place as part of Woodford Folk Festival.
“There was a standing ovation for this incredible outpouring of love,” Noble said of the experience. “The whole room was crying, it was incredibly emotional, and I am so proud to have this tribute at Bluesfest.”
Other new additions to Bluesfest’s 2023 line-up include Sticky Fingers, Melbourne 13-piece Fools and Gold Coast singer-songwriter Jerome Williams. Tickets for next year’s Byron Bay Bluesfest are on sale now – find them here. This year will also see Bluesfest hold its first-ever editions in Melbourne and Perth.
“For the first time since 2019, Bluesfest is presenting a fully international festival experience like the legendary ones we did before the COVID-era,” Noble in a statement when revealing Bluesfest 2023’s first line-up announcement last year.
After its 2020 and 2021 editions were cancelled due to COVID-19, Bluesfest returned in April last year, with a predominantly Australian line-up that included Midnight Oil, Paul Kelly, Jimmy Barnes, The Teskey Brothers, Crowded House, Amy Shark and more.
The sixth line-up announcement for Byron Bay Bluesfest 2023 is:
Sticky Fingers
Sampa The Great
A Heartfelt Tribute to Uncle Archie (In association with the Archie Roach Foundation)
Fools
Jerome Williams