Sally Ford & the Idiomatics

Sally Ford and the Idiomatics with special guest Alice Garner
Saturday 9 November | Doors Open 7pm | Show at 7.30pm

After a sell-out show in May, the Idiomatics return to the Northern Arts Hotel with their uplifting, groove-drenched sound. For this performance the ensemble will be joined by Alice Garner on cello.

Patrick Cronin, Michael Havir and Alice Garner provide a lush electro-acoustic backing to Sally Ford’s wryly observed lyrics. An expansive sonic palette of cello, keyboards, samples and electronica is enhanced by trombone, saxophone, flutes and even a bit of whistling.

The musical provenance of the band's members draws from latin to film music via ska and funk with groups such as the multi-ARIA award winning Melbourne Ska Orchestra to Texicali Rose, Xylourus Ensemble, Yothu Yindi, Dr Hernández, the Spaghetti Western Orchestra, the Pachuco Playboys, Joe Camilleri’s Black Sorrows, the Ska Vendors, Skazz and Sunshine Tip.

"Sally Ford & The Idiomatics bring a strong and enduring – and ultimately eclectic – musicianship to the stage ... these musicians certainly don’t play it safe. Genre-blending and genre-bending, there is both moodiness and familiarity in their songs, a presence of nostalgia complete with Cronin’s forefront whistling like an echo of a memory”. Glam Adelaide, June 2023

SALLY FORD: vocals, flutes, alto sax
PATRICK CRONIN: sequences, samples, synth, valve trombone, whistling. 
MICHAEL HAVIR: keyboards, electronic-fx
ALICE GARNER: cello

"There’s a special kind of intimacy here. [a] superbly focused and talented band ... with the unique combination of traditional and modern instruments (and musical styles) cradling each piece and giving it different shapes and textures.”
Stage Whispers, Adelaide June 2023

Supported by the Victorian Government through the Community Support Fund and Creative Victoria delivered by Music Victoria.