Candelo Arts Society Presents

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A special Candelo Village Festival opening concert featuring four songsmiths who had their beginnings in the beautiful Bega Valley: Daniel Champagne, Felicity Dowd, Isabel Rumble and Kim Churchill. Highly regarded in the festival and live music scene, it is a total honour to have them on stage together as they share stories and songs of home and their subsequent individual journeys in a one-off collaborative concert celebrating what has been and what is becoming.

Bar and Food Available

Daniel Champagne

Growing up in the Bega Valley on the Far South Coast of New South Wales, the story goes that the young singer-songwriter and one of a kind guitar virtuoso first picked up his instrument of choice as a 5-year-old following in the footsteps of a musical father. He began writing songs at 12, training classically throughout his teens and performing wherever he could, honing his craft and developing the dynamic live show that he is renowned for today. At 18 he finished school, turned professional and hit the road without looking back.

The following 15 years have seen him independently release 7 studio albums, tour relentlessly around the globe, play some of the biggest festivals under the sun and share stages with the likes of Tommy Emmanuel, INXS, John Butler, Lucinda Williams, Ani DiFranco, Judy Collins and Rodrigo y Gabriela.

He has been described as “the finest guitar player of this generation”, “a leading light in acoustic music” and “a performer that must be seen to be believed” and until June he will be touring back home in Australia where it all began!

Felicity Dowd

Australian Folk Music Award’s Youth Artist of the Year (2023), 2024 Toyota Starmaker Grand finalist, NSW Folk Federation Young Artist of the Year (2020) and Gill Rees Memorial Award winner at the 2023 National Folk Festival, Felicity Dowd is one of Australia’s most promising up-and-coming musicians.

Hailing from the NSW South Coast, Felicity has wowed audiences across the country, from main stages at Australia’s most prestigious events (National Folk Festival, Wanderer Festival and Cobargo Folk Festival) to support slots with music royalty, the Bushwackers, Josh Cunningham (The Waifs), Felicity Urquhart, Ash Grunwald, Fanny Lumsden, Neil Murray (Warumpi Band) and Tex Perkins (The Cruel Sea).

Inspired by an eclectic and ever-changing landscape of genres, her music is diverse, drifting between the boundaries of Folk and Country. She has always believed a song is only as good as its story, sharing tales of depth, heart and humour that intertwine the experiences of the world around her.

‘Blue Skies’, her first single released in March 2021, debuted at number one on the Country Itunes chart and AMRAP chart in its first week. Her third single 'Handle It' achieved similar success being named the most downloaded track on Play MPE on release day as well as the number 2 position on the AMRAP chart and 3rd on the Country Itunes Chart. Since these initial industry steps, she has continued to release various successful singles and in May of 2024 shared her debut EP Built Like Us with the world. Built Like Us was named a finalist in the 2024 Australian Folk Music Awards.

Isabel Rumble

Indie-folk songstress, Isabel Rumble, hails from a walnut farm in the southern valleys of NSW, Australia.

Raised by the riverside in a rich folk music community, Isabel’s music speaks to the heart of womanhood, love and change. With a voice that captures the dynamism of Joni Mitchell and writing reminiscent of the tenderness of Laura Marling, her music holds an intimacy that invites listeners into a cocoon of silent wonder.

Still in the early stage of her career, in just three years Isabel has been captivating audiences around the world. Her 2023 Folk Alliance Australia Award nominated debut album, Bird Be Brave, has taken her on tour across Australia, Europe and India, and to significant festivals including Port Fairy Folk Festival as well as opening for the likes of Lior & Domini, Daniel Champagne, Emily Barker, Holly Arrowsmith (NZ) and Ireland’s David Keenan.

In 2024 Isabel released an EP Water Wings and completed her first European tour. She will tour the UK in January and is currently recording her sophomore album to be released in 2025.

Kim Churchill

For the past 15 years Kim’s been living in the back of a camper van playing gigs and chasing a crazy dream. He grew up in Merimbula and started busking at local farmers markets when he was 15 and had a fake ID so he could play some pubs around the area. He set off in a van straight after high school to chase his dreams and surf his way across the country.

In that first year he won the Byron Bluesfest Busking comp and became Folk Artist of the Year at the National Folk Festival. This led to adventures in Japan, North America and Europe. He was lucky enough to become good friends with Billy Bragg from England early on, which taught him a lot about living as an artist for the long haul. Billy took him across America, Canada, Europe and England and they played Glastonbury Music Festival together. After that time, Kim wrote a song called ‘Window to the Sky’. It was on the album Silence/Win and helped him secure major record deals with Warner, Atlantic Records (UK) and Universal (Europe). ‘Window to the Sky’ was the most played song on triple j at the time and it went on to be 42 in the Hottest 100 and is Platinum in Australia, Gold in Canada and Germany, and has over 50 million streams.

His most recent album Dawn Sounds came out in January 2023. He toured it around the world as an independent self-managed artist and sold over 12 thousand tickets and played 149 concerts. Now back in Australia in his camper van in a small town on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, he’s just finished his new album and is excited to share the first single, ‘Hobbies’ with the world.