The Last Hurrah: Valley Road in Concert

This will be our last concert.

If you have ever attended any of our 35 past concerts, we implore you to attend this one and be there when the curtain falls.

A special plea to attend this concert and help us celebrate our concerts over 8 years. We plan to invite all of our previous artists along and hopefully a few of them will attend and add to the celebration. There will be prizes and rewards.

As you might know, many of our events sell out in a few days, so please mark this special event in your calendars and buy your tix now. You can cancel 7 days before the concert for a full refund if necessary.

Now, to Valley Road. Di and I believe that Bec Howell and Marty McKenna will go on to become national star material and we would like to help them along the way. They sing like angels, harmonize exquisitely and produce a unique sound that is reminiscent of an Americana groove with a strong hint of contemporary Australian folk music. It will give you and us great pleasure to help these two along their steps to fame as our last musical contribution to the arts community.

First and foremost, Valley Road love to sing together. They use their voices to draw out the emotion in a song, in a way that goes straight to the heart. Longtime friends Rebecca Jane Howell & Marty Mckenna have spent over a decade sharing music around the kitchen table at Marty's sheep farm. Their love of folk in all its forms is reflected in their thoughtful songwriting, sparkling guitar lines and easeful vocal harmonies. Their songs are rich in imagery, containing echoes of the dry bush and rolling basalt hills of Central Victoria.

“Listening to Valley Road is like finding a patch of shade from the relentless burning sun. It has a restful, quiet beauty that invites you to linger. Their gentle harmonies weave stories of people and places that seem from another time. It's a distilled kind of beauty. A gently plucked guitar, a simple fiddle line and sweet melodies showcase the essence of their sound.” - Vikki Thorn (The Waifs)

Rebecca “could sing before she could speak” and honed her instinct for harmony through years spent in the Australian Girls Choir. She switched her city upbringing for an off-grid life in the Central Victorian bush, where she is inspired every day by the natural world around her. Marty grew up singing to the sheep on his family farm, with his Dad, where he still tends the flock to this day.

The duo released their debut self-titled album in 2023, after they won a Troubadour Foundation Award that enabled them to record with producer Rod McCormack. Since the album’s release, Valley Road have been gradually making a name for themselves in the country/folk realm for their distinctive style, which draws on a diverse range of traditional and contemporary influences but presented in a uniquely Australian way. Their releases to date have received widespread radio play, including being profiled as “Feature Album of the Week” on ABC Country in November 2023. 

VALLEY ROAD will be accompanying The Waifs on their upcoming Tour. What a compliment for them.

Achievements

• Finalist for Debut Album of the Year at the Australian Folk Music Awards, October 2024
• Album review, Post to Wire, July 2024
• Top 10 AMRAP Regional Charts 3 weeks running for single ‘The Way the Sun Goes Down’
• Album review, Sunburnt Country Music, December 2023
• ABC Country's Album of the Week, November 2023
• Album launch at Maldon Folk Festival, November 2023
• Release of debut self-titled album, October 2023
• Widespread radio play of singles, including on ABC's ‘Australia All Over’, Grass Roots, and Saturday Night Country, Triple R, Joy FM, and many community radio stations across Australia (July-October 2023)
• Performance at National Folk Festival finale concert (Flute and Fiddle stage), April 2023
• Feature artist at Burke and Wills Folk Festival, March 2023
• Recording of debut album at The Music Cellar with producer Rod McCormack, July-Nov 2022
• Winner of Troubadour Foundation Award at Burke & Wills Folk Festival, March 2022

All proceeds are given to the artists, this, like all house concerts is a totally non-profit event.

There is a bar at the venue for very reasonably priced drinks. Feel welcome to bring your own snacks.