BIGSOUND returns for its 12th year in 2013 and tonight, they have revealed the first lot of artists and industry professionals set to perform and speak at the music conference in Brisbane later in the year. The September 11-13 event will be represented by some of the best in the international and local market, with the following artists set to perform, with more still to be announced:

Xavier Rudd
Washington
The John Steel Singers
Bleeding Knees Club
Stonefield

There is nothing better than a hugely ambitious large scale birthday party, and on Thursday night we got just that. Out to celebrate their 7th birthday and raise funds for the charity Beyond Blue, Sydney based booking agency Select Music put on a live music extravaganza across four venues: Upstairs Beresford, The Standard, Oxford Art Factory and Pheonix Bar.

Select Music will host a party on the 21st June to celebrate its 7th birthday. But it's not just about celebrating! The event will also raise money for the beyondblue charity. Tickets are just $20 on sale now via http://www.moshtix.com.au/

While backstage at The Aussie BBQ in Austin, Texas, during SXSW, we catch up with our good friends from Brisbane, The John Steel Singers, who bring us up to date on all their shenanigans.

STONEFIELD TO HEADLINE THE RED BULL BEDROOM JAM IN JULY

When Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips was in town for Harvest last November, he stopped by the 4ZZZ studios in Brisbane to partake in a bit of an experiment... it's hard to explain exactly what happened, so maybe let's leave that to the video - in the first video in our new documentary series.

It may not have been one of my international excursions. It may not have even lasted 24 hours. But my trip to the Brisbane leg of the Harvest "gatherings" turned out to be one of my most memorable musical expeditions to date.

While at The Aussie BBQ in New York as part of CMJ, Larry Heath caught up with Brisbane's The John Steel Singers, who have been undertaking a fair share of travelling over the past year... things kick off talking about their overseas adventures in 2011.

The Corner band room was packed on a Sunday with plenty of revellers ready and waiting for Brisbane’s The John Steel Singers to take to the stage. The band took a few songs to warm up, but the crowd was very receptive as they broke into the opening bars of “Overpass”, and from there on in the band room was a mess of bouncing bodies as the audience happily bobbed along to the joyous tunes.

The Here’s Johnny show kicked off with nary a Jon, Jack, Tom, Dick or Harry in sight. Instead it was young Sydneysider Guineafowl and his band with the same name. They arrived onstage fashionably late and looked dolled to the nines in a mixture of black and white. They started with the rocking ditty, “Guillotine” and judging by the crowd’s immediate reaction - clapping along to the catchy beat - it’s clear that it’ll only be a matter of time before these guys sell out the venue by themselves.

The teaming up of two of Australia’s most promising acts; The John Steel Singers and Jonathan Boulet, who will hit
the road on a joint double headliner in March, bringing a few friends along the way.

It has been a busy and exciting period for the two groups.

The John Steel Singers, having recently released their debut album ‘Tangalooma’, and were very surprised when lead