Saskwatch's Nkechi Anele Selects Her Favourite Picks For The Newstead Roots Festival

Brisbane's Newstead Roots Festival returns to The Triffid this weekend for another laid-back day-long celebration featuring Caravaña Sun, Fat Picnic, The Steele Syndicate, Little Georgia, Luke Yeoward, Aine Tyrrell, Jordan Merrick and Angharad Drake.

To mark the occasion, this year's festival programmer, Roots N All presenter and lauded musician in her own right Nkechi Anele — best-known on that front for her work with Saskwatch — has compiled a quick list of some key song picks from a handful of the festival's artists. Have a read and a listen below to get yourself nice and primed for the occasion.

The third annual Newstead Roots Festival kicks off from 1pm this Saturday, 30 September.

See the Facebook event page for more information.

Caravaña Sun — Dancing with the Devil

I think the name of this song speaks for itself. It’s a short track but, it captures so much of what makes Caravaña Sun so good. Dancing With The Devil brings the party encompassing Caravaña Sun’s devilishly great and amazing live atmosphere.

Fat Picnic — Best of You

I think this Fat Picnic song epitomises what people love about roots music. You can never go wrong with skanking guitars and horns. This song is my favourite, in particular, because it captures the warm weather beach vibes that I associate with dancing and partying to the late hours. It’s also a little reminiscent of early Cat Empire.

The Steele Syndicate — Scissors Paper Rock & Roll

Really cool dub-ish track with super fat horns and rad bass lines! I love the way Steele (lead vocals) goes from spitting really fast lyrics at the start of the track to a really chilled-out vibe towards the end. There is also a bit of a disco feel in there which you can’t get mad at!

Karl S. Williams — Blood To Give

This song has so much swagger — I can’t get enough of it! I don’t know what else to say but — YES! Karl S. Williams just knows how to pull on your heart strings.

Little Georgia — Forget Me

I think sad tracks always have the most interesting tales to them, when it comes to folk music. Ashleigh’s vocals are scarily beautiful; they draw you in to the point where you almost forget everything else around you.