Chris Cobb and Andrea Kirwin - Maleny Lane - Friday 24 November

Peace Run Records and Maleny Lane are proud to present Chris Cobb (PNG) and Andrea Kirwin (AUS/FIJI) for a very special concert at Maleny Lane on Friday 24 November! Chris Cobb is a relatively new face on the Sunshine Coast music scene but he has performed in front of thousands and has amassed an impressive social media following. Having performed at a few Maleny Front up Chalkboard open mics and thoroughly entertaining the audience with his songs, Chris' beautiful smooth vocals and stories from performing for over a decade in music mostly in PNG and other overseas destinations have surely won him a new following in his new home away from home. Co-headlining the show will be much loved local Australian/Fijian artist Andrea Kirwin who has been touring across QLD and NSW the past 3 months. She will be performing songs from her catalogue of 5 albums that have an island theme to the Maleny Lane stage and will include stories from her childhood spending time growing up in her mother's island of Maluku. For those that may not have seen Andrea perform before, she has been liked to Norah Jones and Tracy Chapman and she has become renowned for her smooth, soulful, easy listening style with jazz influences which can be heard on her latest album, Bloom. Doors will open 6.30pm for 7pm show start with Chris opening and Andrea will take to the stage at 8.15pm - 9pm. Tickets are $15 and we look forward to sharing and evening of island songs and rhythms with you all!

Chris ‘Sese’ Cobb

Chris Cobb's earliest introduction to music came from listening to his uncles playing local PNG music in a string band back in his hometown of Bulolo in the Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea.

Fresh out of highschool while living in Kokopo in East New Britain, PNG, he connected with Donald Lessy who was the sound engineer for CHM Studios and a member of the popular Barike Band.  With very little previous musical exploration previous to this connection, Cobb credits Lessy for his first foray into the musical world as a singer, introducing him as a band member for the Barike Band and helping to produce his first ever album under the CHM label titled ‘Chris Cobb’ (2010).

Since then, the rising musical talent has enjoyed creating music alongside some of PNG’s greatest artists, including Anslom Nakkikus, Pati Pots Doi, George Telek, Sean Rii and Emmanual Muganaua aka DJ Toxic Mahn.

The self confessed 'bush boy' from Bulolo is now based in Port Moresby and continues to broaden his musical repertoire with his range covering traditional PNG sounds to more contemporary tunes, including rock, RnB and soul.  He is a coveted cover artist as well as a producer of original content. He is a songwriter, singer and guitarist, but you'll find the talented artist dabbling in other instruments and musical productions.

Chris Cobb has largely been behind the scene in the PNG music industry for the past 10 years but is slowly surfacing the market as a solo artist. Chris aspires to connect with people through his music.

Andrea Kirwin

A powerful vocalist and engaging story-teller, Australian/Fijian singer-songwriter Andrea Kirwin began her songwriting journey when she picked up a guitar at age 21 and dropped out of her arts/law degree in Canberra to tour the East Coast of Australia with her first band, the Andi and George band. During 2005 - 2008 she booked independent tours and travelled with the renegade collective of housemates and uni friends to many Folk Festivals in an old retired school bus and performed at The Dreaming Festival, Woodford Folk Festival and Womadelaide. Together Andi and George released 4 DIY albums, which hold a special place in the hearts of the Canberrans who attended some of their legendary gigs at The Front Cafe in Lyneham, including an album launch for their Sun and Moon double album that was shut down by the Riot police back in 2008. In 2009 Andrea went solo and founded Peace Run Records and Agency and went on to release 5 albums under her own label, receiving Queensland Music award nominations for her second album The Story of Us and won the QMA award for Best Children's song for a co-write with Nyssa Ray, 'Love Everybody' and received 2 x QMA nominations in the Folk and World Music categories for her most recent album, Bloom (released in May, 2021).

Andrea's original music has been influenced by her childhood growing up in Townsville as the daughter of a Fijian Preacher and her gospel roots can be felt in her vocal style. A lover of acoustic folk and soul, Andrea's originals use melodies and arrangements that form a lasting impression on the listener and wax and wane between Easy listening tunes and high energy songs. She often performs solo or as a duo with her fiancé Claire Evelynn on the Celtic Harp and currently is performing as her 13 piece Folk/Funk/World Fusion big band The Yama-Nui Social Club at select Festivals as well.