GREAT AUNT - EPK
Country folk duo based in Wiradjuri country, Australia, actively touring the USA
Artist of the Year (Duo) - Australian Folk Music Awards, Folk Alliance Australia (2024)
BOOKING/PRESS CONTACT: hello@greatauntmusic.com
Photos by Anna Caterina Photography @ Open Folk AVL
NEW MUSIC RELEASES (2024):
FREEBURGH
RELEASED FEB 23 2024
Love where you're at, even if it's not exactly where you thought you'd be.
Country folk duo Great Aunt return with a lush new folk tune, 'Freeburgh' - an ode to their favourite little town in high country, Victoria. Halfway to home.
After some personal and professional setbacks, the duo found solace in the safety and warmth of Nan and Pop's Pad, the family's beloved caravan nestled deep within Freeburgh, to drink all the whisky, sing all the songs, and befriend all the birds.
"Whisky burns to heal my heart
Plovers cry from dawn to dark
The lights go out from time to time
But the campfire's lit
So we're just fine
Just fine... "
WHAT’S A GIRL
TO DO NOW?
RELEASED MAR 2, 2024
Bathurst-based duo Great Aunt return with a bang, with their new song, ‘What’s A Girl To Do Now?’
“This is a song about our frustration. As women, for women. Of all shapes, sizes, identities, races, and cultures. The world says we’re not woman enough: too loud, too ugly, too fat, queer, trans, too butch. And at the other end of the scale, if you’re a man, you must not be too ‘girly’, and not express any femininity.”
There’s room for all of us. To celebrate all of us.
“Personally, I’ve been told I don’t look like a girl, I don’t act like a girl, and have been asked the question, “Don’t I want to be a girl?” The truth is: I am a (queer, fat) girl, just not as you want me to be - my existence makes you uncomfortable.”
“I’ve been dismissed, verbally abused, sexually harassed, and assaulted because I’m a girl. When I was younger, I didn’t understand my value, and was led to believe it was my fault.”
We’re so tired of history repeating itself, with violence against women normalised, and the visible attacks on our trans and drag queen community. As white queer women, we recognise that we have a great deal of privilege and a platform to call out hatred and prejudice against our BIPOC friends.
“In high school, I was bullied and harassed every day. Relentlessly, physically and verbally. Some days, I didn’t want to live. It breaks my heart to see queer kids, trans, non-binary kids, have to walk through the fire of this hatred, whilst politicisation of the subject has amplified it beyond measure.”
We can do better for each other in 2024. So let’s.
PERFORMANCE HISTORY
VENUES OF NOTE (2023-2024):
The 5 Spot (Nashville, TN, USA)
Club Passim (Cambridge, MA, USA)
The Parlor Room (Northampton, MA, USA)
The Royal Room (Seattle, WA, USA)
Kenyon Hall (Seattle, WA, USA)
The Tivoli (Brisbane, QLD, AUS)
Silver Moon Brewing (Bend, OR, USA)
The Saxon Pub (Austin, TX, AUS)
Woody Guthrie Folk Music Center (Pampa, TX, USA)
Open Folk (Asheville, NC, USA)
Rockwood Music (NYC, NY, USA)
Old Quarter Acoustic Cafe (Galveston, TX, USA)
The Folk Project (Morristown, NJ, USA)
Northcote Social Club (Melbourne, VIC, AUS)
FESTIVALS AND CONFERENCES (2023-2024):
Folk Alliance International (2024, 2023) - private showcases
SXSW (Austin, 2024) - private showcases
Queerfest (Nashville, USA)
Woodford Folk Festival (Woodford, AUS)
Blue Mountains Music Festival (Katoomba, AUS)
Cygnet Folk Festival (Cygnet, AUS)
Nanga Music Festival (Dwellingup, AUS)
Dorrigo Folk and Bluegrass Festival (Dorrigo, AUS)
Yackandandah Folk Festival (Yackandandah, AUS)
Fleurieu Folk Festival (Fleurieu, AUS)
SHOWREEL 2024
BIO
“Great Aunt take an eclectic and joyous approach to making music.
The songs are deeply-felt, revealing, relatable - at once a personal and shared revival.”
There’s stomping feet and clapping hands, bombastic bass drum and resonator, and soaring harmonies - and it’s instantly recognisable as the music of Great Aunt. The stories are deeply-felt, revealing and relatable - and in them, the duo offer up a chance to reveal and share part of yourself, too.
Formed in 2016, the project is a collaboration between songwriter/instrumentalists Megan Bird (mandolin, resonator, acoustic guitar, vocals) and Chelsea Allen (double bass, vocals, percussion). The music itself draws inspiration from the traditions of Appalachian folk, bluegrass, and gospel music, with a gleeful nod to the pair’s diverse, individual backgrounds in punk, jazz, soul, and rock.
The duo has delighted audiences at some of Australia’s finest music and arts festivals, including Woodford Folk Festival, Blue Mountains Music Festival, Yackandandah Folk Festival, Deni Ute Muster, The GAS, Wintermoon, Healesville Music Festival, Fleurieu Folk Festival, and Newport Folk Festival, amongst others. They have shared stages with notable acts including Adeem the Artist (US), Joe Crookston (US), Vika & Linda Bull (AUS), The Weeping Willows (AUS), Sue Ray (AUS), Smith and Jones (AUS), Mary Flower (USA), Paisley Fields (USA), Wiley Gaby (USA), The Belle Miners (CAN), and more.
Great Aunt have recently returned from their third tour of the US, and are currently busy in their home studio, producing and recording their debut full-length album, ‘It's All Downhill From Here’ – due for release in 2024. In early 2024, the duo released two singles, ‘Freeburgh’ and ‘What’s A Girl To Do Now?’ - available on all streaming services, Bandcamp, and YouTube.
press
“An Australian duo you need to know” - The Bluegrass Situation, August 2024
THE BLUEGRASS SITUATION (USA)
“[…] Great Aunt is a duo with an impressive log of tours, festival shows, and releases that they’ve independently managed. […] We are eagerly awaiting the release of their debut full-length album, It’s All Downhill From Here, expected later this year. In the meantime, we are honored to highlight this incredible duo from all the way down in Australia, Great Aunt.”
- Sara Gougeon (The Bluegrass Situation: Out Now), June 2024
WAX VINYL RECORDS (UK)
“Australian duo Great Aunt returns with a poignant and empowering track, “What’s A Girl To Do Now?”. With a blend of powerful vocals, percussion, and slide guitar, the song delivers a message of frustration and resilience, addressing societal norms and expectations placed upon women. Through minimal yet effective instrumentation, Great Aunt crafts a compelling narrative that resonates with listeners.”
- Wax Vinyl Records, May 2024
COUNTRY QUEER (USA)
[…] The rhythm of their lyrics and sardonic drawl of their delivery reminds me of the anti-folk scene in New York. There is the quick rhythmic meter […] endowed with all the quirk & lettered poise of eccentric intellectuals like Kimya Dawson or Dufus. Their new single details their experience of bigotry in a seemingly wholesome neighborhood. Lyrically it is charged with electric wit and armed with the musical complexity of their respective broad influences.
- Country Queer - Adeem Maria (the Artist), August 2020
TOUR DATES
MUSIC RELEASES
SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS
RADIO-READY DOWNLOADS
Access via Google Drive (no account required)