The Whitlams Black Stump formed in 2021 and sees Tim Freedman and long-time Whitlams drummer Terepai Richmond joined by an A Team of roots musicians, reconstructing the best of The Whitlams’ repertoire with an assortment of new songs and classic Americana.
The five-piece band features Rod McCormack and Matt Fell, two CMAA Producers of the Year, on banjo and bass, and young gun Ollie Thorpe on electric and pedal steel guitar.
The act debuted at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2022, and then wound its way down the East Coast in a three week tour that bonded their musical chemistry. The next step was selling out the capital cities on the Big City Debut tour, all the while chipping away at a debut album out February 2024.
The themes of the group’s repertoire are proudly parochial. Rarely have Australian stories sounded so good on American instruments as when The Whitlams Black Stump casts forth tales of John Sattler’s jaw, of Ned Kelly’s sister Kate, and of our national impulse to blow up the pokies.
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