Popular Gulgong band Free Fried Chicken found themselves on stage at one of Australia’s premier music festivals, the Gympie Music Muster, after an unplanned performance caught the attention of an event’s executive director.
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Jesse Grover, Jake Fahy and Joel Cummins went to the Gympie Muster last month in the hopes of playing a few gigs outside the main venue, having lined up a performance at the Kandanga Bowling Club.
As a result of that gig, they were invited to perform at makeshift venue at a “Swill Hill” in the Muster campground, which led to an invitation to take part in a fundraising concert for veterans’ charity Mates4Mates.
That led to further performances, at one of which the band caught the eye of Muster executive director David Gibson.
Gibson initially invited to the band to call him about the possibility of performing at the 2017 festival.
But after seeing the Free Fried Chicken audience ‘breaking the floor’ at the XXXX Tavern, he organised for them to play two performances at the Blues and Roots stage in the main venue.
“We drew about 400 people without even being on the program, through word of mouth,” Jesse said. “People who heard the music were just flooding in.”
Free Fried Chicken formed around around two years ago, after the three musicians met during jam sessions at Gulgong’s Centennial Hotel.
They are well-known around the region, building a following by playing at events such as the Gulgong Rodeo and Mudgee Small Farm Field Days.
But the band said the Gympie Muster audience was the biggest that was there to specifically to listen to them perform, rather than being background music for another event.
“You don’t realise how many people there are [in the audience] until you are up there on stage,” Jesse said.
As a result of the Gympie Muster performances, Free Fried Chicken made a video of Redgum’s Vietnam war ballad I Was Only 19 for Mates4Mates..
The band also passed the hat at their gig and donated the proceeds – around $300 – to Mates4Mates.
Free Fried Chicken hope to be invited back to play at the 2017 Gympie Music Muster.
In the meantime, they will be playing at the Flavours of Mudgee on September 24, the Illawarra Folk Festival in January, the Irish Festival at Tullamore and of course, the Gulgong Folk Festival from December 31 to January 3.
They thanked Gulgong, Mudgee and the surrounding communities for supporting the band, especially those who gave the band a shot in its earliest days.
Free Fried Chicken’s video for Mates4Mates can be seen on the Mates4Mates Facebook page.