Author: Scott Landells

Little Quirks may be young but don’t let looks fool you.

Sisters Mia and Abbey and their cousin Jaymi are aged 20, 23 and 26yo but this NSW trio have been at this indie folk caper for some time. Little Quirks combine soaring vocal harmonies, effortless folk pop songwriting, catchy melodies and pounding rhythms,. They are a breath of fresh, unbridled joy. 

Indigo FM, Arts Rutherglen and Destination Rutherglen are thrilled to be bringing the dynamic trio to Rutherglen as the perfect prelude to the 2023 Busking Rutherglen Festival.

Indigo FM’s Scott Landells describes Little Quirks as the ideal band to kick off the weekend’s Busking championships.

“It’s hard to imagine a better fit or story arc. Little Quirks are the real deal. Their Facebook page has cute videos of them busking at Terrigal Beach and local markets in 2014, aged 11, 14 and 17. Last year they did 2 tours of the UK and also the huge South by South West Music Conference in USA. We are so lucky to have them come to Rutherglen.” 

Tickets are $50 or $45 for members of Indigo FM, Arts Rutherglen and Destination Rutherglen. Available here or from the Facebook event.

Doors open 6:00pm, Music from 7:15pm.

Get your tickets now before they sell out.

Seating is in tables of 10, so round up your group of friends now. If it’s just you or a small group, you can join a partially filled table – the layout which you can view via the venue diagram on our ticketing website.   

A bar will operate serving wine and beer – strictly no BYO alcohol. You can however, bring your own food – snacks and nibbles. And enjoy a fabulous night of live music.

Adding even more authenticity to the Busking vibe is support act – up and coming Melbourne singer-songwriter Sadie Mustoe.

Sadie at 19yo has “years” of busking at folk festivals all around Australia, winning a swag of awards along the way, most recently at Queenscliff Music Festival’s Foot-in-the-Door 2022 and Runner-up for Folk Alliance Australia’s ‘Youth Folk Artist of the Year’ 2021.

She is described as a modern-day storyteller who takes audiences on a journey as seen through the eyes of a Melbourne teenager. Featuring a unique and captivating voice, her folk-pop songs are gripping and personal.

Indigo FM’s Scott Landells has been following Sadie’s progress for a while and describes her as a prodigious talent. “I fondly recall a 14yo Sadie taking the stage at Chiltern’s gorgeous, iconic Star Theatre on Australia Day 2018 in support of a Canadian touring group Belle Miners. At 14 Sadie confidently delivered a set of captivating original songs. In those intervening 5 years, Sadie has obviously grown into a young adult and is unsurprisingly pursuing music studies at Melbourne Uni. She is a very exciting talent.”   

As part of our focus on original songwriting and storytelling, Indigo FM in conjunction with Arts Rutherglen and Destination Rutherglen, present Minor Gold live at Wahgunyah School of Arts Hall on Friday 21 April.

Minor Gold are the new Americana duo featuring ARIA nominated artists Tracy McNeil & Dan Parsons. From the opening strums of acoustic guitars, you are drawn into a world, wonderfully reminiscent of such classics like Van Morrison’s ‘Astral Weeks’ & Eric Clapton’s ‘461 Ocean Boulevard’ – transported down the hedonistic highway of early 70’s grooves, 60’s folk, and the romance of 80’s pop. Their stunning vocal blend, deft guitar playing and classic songcraft, make Minor Gold the real deal.

“We’re terrificly excited to have the opportunity to bring such a class act as Minor Gold to the area. We’ve been fans of both Tracy and Dan’s work for around a decade. They’ve released many outstanding albums between them with the band Tracy McNeil and the Good Life and also Dan’s work as a solo artist. Their new duo act is going to be a gorgeous night of Americana sounds and harmonies”, said Indigo FM President Scott Landells.

Kicking off the year with performances at Folk Alliance International in Kansas City USA, and making their Australian debut at Port Fairy Folk Festival in March, Minor Gold have hit the ground running. This show is not to be missed.

Support act will be Molly Jane. Molly is a young local singer-songwriter who has several years of tuition under the watchful eye of Andrew Baker at Victory Lutheran College and also Sal Kimber in her role as Indigo Shire Youth Development Officer from 2016-20.

“We’re always keen to encourage and offer performance opportunities to the region’s young up and coming songwriters and Molly fits that bill. She was in a cohort of young people whose performance opportunities were impacted very much by Covid as they were in their mid-teens at that time. She has written a number of her own songs and will showcase them along with a few covers as the opening act for Minor Gold”, Landells said.

Tickets are starting to sell quickly so grab yours here

Indigo FM Presents is excited to announce two fabulous back to back shows on the weekend of 4 and 5 February featuring the exceptional storytelling and songs of Joel Havea.

The first show is at Kergunyah Memorial Hall on Saturday evening 4 February (6pm start); the second is at Rutherglen Convent on Sunday afternoon 5 February (3:15pm start) and is co-presented with Arts Rutherglen and Destination Rutherglen.

Tickets are on sale now and are strictly limited. You can click the links above to head to the ticketing site for each show.

These shows are a must-see with Havea featuring songs from his 2020 album Ki ‘a Lavaka which explored his Tongan heritage as well as songs from across his career including recent single Feels Like July.

Havea has spent the past 12 years based in Hamburg, Germany with occasional return visits to Australia and his family home in North-East Victoria.

Indigo FM President Scott Landells said that the volunteer-run radio station is excited to have the opportunity to host these shows. “At Indigo FM we have always valued highly original storytelling and songwriting, and Joel is a great exponent of the genre. He is a warm, charismatic performer with an impressive repertoire of songs across several albums as a solo artist and also with his German based band. Joel also has strong ties to north-east Victoria having grown up in Yackandandah, so it’s a great honour to be able to present these shows”, Landells said.

“Supporting Joel is 12yo Staghorn Flat country music sensation Jack Gregory, a very young singer-songwriter and performer who is just beginning what is sure to be a fascinating career.”

“We also love the concept of getting music into funky spaces and venues like Kergunyah Hall and Rutherglen Convent are spaces we just love. There’s so much character and stories these buildings hold and we’re looking forward to adding to that history on 4 & 5 February.”

Further details can be obtained via email addresses below:

• Rutherglen – [email protected] or [email protected]
• Kergunyah – [email protected]

We’d like to say Merry Christmas and thanks for your support throughout 2022. Feel free to tune in any time to our 88.0 FM sites, our internet radio station or a podcast. You can find them here.

2022 was a busy and productive year. Our podcasts were again immensely popular and received thousands of plays and downloads.

We also achieved a long-held goal of setting up live streams for each of our 88.0 FM sites which we offer in conjunction with our Internet Radio Station. Huge thanks to Tony Stockdale and the team at First National Beechworth, Yackandandah Community Centre and Michael Rosenbrock for their invaluable assistance in achieving this goal. In 2023 we aim to tidy up our website for easier access to our streams and current live programs.

Xmas Playlist On Air Now!
This week we have switched across to a Xmas Playlist of around 270 songs that will run for the next few days. It’s on air now at each site as well as on our Internet Radio Station. You can view it here Xmas Playlist 2022

Rather than traditional Christmas Carols, we have selected the many fun and quirky songs that have been written and recorded about Christmas over the years. 

Many presenters will also be re-charging their batteries although a few will opt to continue through the festive season. These next few days we have a special program schedule – see below of by clicking this link. It includes a mix of current and shows from our archives for your enjoyment. These include:

• A Funky Christmas with Chris and Lauren (2015)
• CLAP Christmas Carol Special (2020)
• Eclectic Avenue Christmas Extravaganza (2022, 2020 and 2015)
• Bullfrog’s Roadhouse Stocking Stuffer
• various end of year reviews from Dean (The Blurred Crusade), Bernie (Friday In My Mind), Scott (Everyone Deserves Music) and the team at Aussie Music Weekly

Our volunteer admin team will be taking an official break from 24 Dec – 4 Jan, back on deck on Thursday 5 Jan. We’ll catch you then, all set for a big 2023.

Wishing you and your loved ones an enjoyable, safe and relaxing Festive Season.

Indigo FM’s latest playlist 20.0 has just hit the airwaves in Beechworth, Kiewa-Tangam and Yackandandah (as well as our Internet Radio Station). It’s our 20th Playlist and continues our tradition of championing the cause for independent and Australian artists . Our 900 song playlist has in excess of 650 different artists and boasts a startling 77% Australian content – our highest level yet! Further this latest playlist has 14% Indigenous content, courtesy of more than 70 different artists.

Our Indigenous content policy we put in place back in 2020. We set it then at 10% and it’s a hoot that we have easily hit and now exceeded that benchmark. Many current indigenous artists feature including Dobby, Flewnt, Caiti Baker, Charlie Needs Braces, Emily Wurramara, Ziggy Ramo, Miiesha, Dallas Woods, Alice Skye, Electric Fields, Kobie Dee, Yirrmal, Southeast Desert Metal, Tia Gostelow, King Stingray, Benny Walker, Kerrianne Cox, Pirra, Birdz, Sycco, Baker Boy, Mo’Ju, Thelma Plum, Dan Sultan, Briggs and many more. As well we have sourced rare Indigenous content from Wantok Music compilations. If you know of good compilations or sources for Indigenous content, drop us an email at [email protected].

To take a gander through our latest playlist click here

To tune in click here

Indigo FM’s annual Radiothon begins Monday 1 November and will run through to the end of November. It’s our annual opportunity to unleash the best kept secret of NE Victoria onto the radios, media players, devices and events of the many proud and wonderful towns of Indigo Shire as we seek your support for 2023.

This year’s poster was designed by Lydia Forster who has done an awesome job. Look out for it on social media and around town in shop windows during November.

Our Major Prizes, each valued in excess of $200, are:

1. A framed High Country Photographic Artwork from Kev McGennan
2. Tickets to 2023 Yackandandah Folk Festival
3. Tickets to 2023 Stanley Spring Ditch
4. Tickets to 2023 High Country Hop in Beechworth

There are many other prizes too from The Guard, Backwood’s Distillery, Feather and Drum Custom Hat Co, CC Meats, Gum Tree Pies, Beechworth Conservatory, Tanswells Hotel Beechworth, Sluga Gallery, Star Hotel Yackandandah, Billson’s Brewery, Happy Baker and Yackandandah Foodworks among others.

To join up or renew your Membership, head across to the Membership page on our website.

We’ve been out at a few events and markets in November with a great new range of merch that includes, coffee keep cups, stickers, trucker caps, t-shirts and hoodies. You can next catch us at:

• Yackandandah Christmas Fair – 9am on Sun 4 Dec 

The month of November has seen each site conduct a Radio Marathon. Thus far we have had  

• Kiewa-Tangam from 3pm Fri 11 Nov – 3pm Sat 12 Nov (24 hours)
• Yackandandah from noon Sat 12 Nov – 6pm Sun 13 Nov (30 hours)

Next up it’s

Beechworth from 6pm Fri 25 Nov – 6pm Sat 26 Nov (24 hours)

And we’re totally excited to show off our live streams – yes each of our FM sites is now also live streaming. For all the links and other info on this exciting project head to our Streaming page on our website.

We’ll be in touch as the month unfolds with more updates – in the meantime Happy Radiothon 2022!

Indigo FM’s Annual General Meeting was held last sunny Sunday afternoon in Wooragee at the Community Centre.

Members voted to elect a familiar group to manage the affairs of Indigo FM for 2022-23 with office-bearers being:

• President – Scott Landells
• Vice-President – Greg Clydesdale
• Secretary – Tiffany Ellis
• Treasurer – Bernie Jovaras
• General Committee – Nigel Jones

Two further General Committee positions remain open for the Committee to fill throughout 2022-23.

Members attended both in person as well as via Zoom and heard the exciting news that Indigo FM is now testing a live stream from it’s Yackandandah studio in addition to the Beechworth live stream which has been running since Feb 2022. With Tangam live stream to be set up shortly, Indigo FM will then have completed a key long-term strategic goal.

President Scott Landells extended a huge thank you to Tony Stockdale and Will & Penny Bonnici from First National Real Estate Beechworth / Bonnici and Associates for their generous sponsorship of our live streaming and also to Michael Rosenbrock whose IT talents have been crucial in setting up our live streams.

Members also heard that Indigo FM continued to invest heavily in new equipment and new sites, such as:

• purchase of a Rodecaster – portable Podcast creating unit (with assistance from Indigo Shire Community Grant)
• purchase of a new studio PC at Yackandandah (with assistance from a very generous Yackandandah Community Centre Community Grant)
• relocation to a new site in Sept/Oct 2021 for our Kiewa-Tangambalanga site

Indigo FM has recorded some outstanding results in 2021-22 especially the growth of our Podcasts which continue to experience compund year on year growth for around 6 years straight. In 2021-22 our Podcasts were played or downloaded on average 2866 times each month, compared with 786 for the corresponding stat in 2020-21.

Indigo FM also continues to be very well served by their two Sub-Committees – Marketing as well as Tech-Programming – who allow for crucial delegation of the operational tasks and projects in pursuit of strategic goals.

Indigo FM is excitedly looking forward to 2022-23 and the many opportunities we see to continue to evolve.

Click here to read our 2021-22 Financial Statement and President’s Report

Indigo FM is holding it’s 2022 Annual General Meeting.

Date: Sunday, 16 October 2022

Time: 4 pm – 5 pm

Venue: Wooragee Community Centre (Hall), Wooragee.

We welcome your attendance and strongly encourage anyone with an interest in helping with the running of Indigo FM to nominate for our Committee of Management. Written nominations on the form linked below may be scanned and emailed to [email protected] or mailed to The Secretary, PO Box 64, Chiltern VIC 3683. Nominations may also be lodged at the AGM.

If you can’t make it to the meeting an option to contribute to the Meeting via remote video link will be provided. If you would like another Indigo FM member to represent you by proxy, you may like to use the Proxy Form via link below.

Along with adopting Minutes from 2021 AGM, election of Committee of Management and confirmation of Membership Fees for 2023, these are the only items of business permitted at an AGM as set out in the Model Rules.

The Agenda is below. You can also view our 2021-22 Statement of Income and Expenditure and Balance Sheet, President’s Report and the Minutes from our 2021 Annual General Meeting.

We will hold a brief informal General Meeting following the AGM for those members who wish to participate.

Tiffany Ellis
Secretary

AGM Nomination and Proxy Form 2022

Agenda

2021-22 Financial Statement

2021 AGM Minutes

President’s Report

Our popular Music Trivia Night is back and it’s on Saturday 2 July at George Kerferd Hotel in Beechworth.

Tickets are $20 per person, with great prizes to be won amongst a whole lot of fun. Action gets underway at 7pm. Get your tickets here

Tables take 8 people max. You need to book and pay online – so get your table of 8 together and then email us at [email protected] to pass on your table booking name.

We have a couple of early sponsors for the event whose support we are very grateful for. Long-time supporter and sometimes radio presenter Greta Coghill is very excited to bring on board her new massage therapy business Kneading Change. Also Kerin and the team at the George Kerferd Hotel will once again provide a fantastic host venue up at Mayday Hills.

Food and drink can be ordered on the night from your table or you can choose to dine in their Restaurant before the event from around 6pm. 

Our host is Greg Morrison who has expertly hosted our Music Trivia Nights since 2017. As a former radio presenter here at Indigo FM, it’s always great to have one of the family on board to get it all cranking and Greg is exceptional as host.

For enquiries email us at [email protected].

It’s going to be a big night – looking forward to sharing it with you on 2 July!

Indigo FM’s latest playlist 19.0 hit the airwaves in Beechworth, Tangambalanga and Yackandandah (as well as our Internet Radio Station) a couple of weeks back and continues our tradition of championing the cause for independent and Australian artists. Our 900 song playlist has in excess of 650 different artists.

Australian content has always been a major focus, to the point where we enshrine it in our policy with every playlist topping 50% since Sept 2014. Our latest playlist 19.0 goes way further with a startling 74% Australian content – our highest level yet!

Our mission puts diversity and community at the heart of what we do and with this current playlist we are pleased to say that 10% of our playlist is music from indigenous artists. Many current indigenous artists feature including Emily Wurramara, Ziggy Ramo. Miiesha, Dallas Woods, Alice Skye, Electric Fields, Kobie Dee, Yirrmal, Southeast Desert Metal, Tia Gostelow, King Stingray, Benny Walker, Kerrianne Cox, Rillakill, Birdz, Sycco, Baker Boy, Mo’Ju, Thelma Plum, Dan Sultan, Briggs and many more.

Local artists feature heavily with songwriters such as Nick Keogh, Julian James, Liv Cartledge, Toby Mobbs, Brent Shirley, This Way North, Sal Kimber, Surprise Chef, Ellen James, Gordon Dickson all having songs on 19.0. Whilst there are no songs from The Northern Folk, three of their side projects – Yours Georgina, Well Into Winter and Paul Dyason also make an appearance.

For something completely different / culturally diverse how does Egyptian 80s Disco sound? On this playlist we have around 8-9 songs from a project called “Sharayet El Disco” – a selection of Egyptian 80s Disco and Boogie cassette tracks selected by Egyptian DJ Moataz Rageb (Disco Arabesquo), based in Amsterdam, from his vast cassette collection. 

To take a gander through our latest playlist click here

To tune in click here