Live street sounds fill the air

HAVE you noticed the outdoor concerts popping up across the city?

Local musician and industry supporter Mick Trembath is the passionate organiser behind the City’s outdoor live music featuring a range of live acts between Friday to Sunday in the CBD.

“It’s an initiative by the City of Ballarat, they came to me and said they would like to have live music in the city from January through to the first week of April, including the Begonia Festival,” Trembath said.

“They gave me a budget and I immediately started booking musicians, 95 per cent of the artists are from Ballarat and the other five per cent have worked here, so it’s very Ballarat based.

“Music is a presence and adds that festive atmosphere so last weekend, we saw thousands of people that got out of their cars and were drawn to the music, it’s already been extraordinarily received by the public.”

From solo songwriters to extensive band set ups, Trembath said the mini concerts offer something for pretty much everyone around town.

“It’s been a really diverse line up all throughout the weeks, although we’ve had a couple of artists that have come back to do repeat gigs but it’s been really diverse,” he said.

“Ballarat’s got extraordinary musical diversity, I’ve been able to put on some emerging artists, classical artists, artists that are working in roots and Americana music, ska bands and jazz bands, big show bands right down to singer songwriters.”

“It’s just shown the breadth of Ballarat music, that’s what I really wanted to show that it didn’t matter who you were in the Ballarat community but you would find one thing that you like.”

After a tough year for the music industry, Trembath said putting on these gigs has allowed artists and audiences to view live music in new ways.

“If last year showed us anything is that music after 9pm in a black box that serves alcohol is a fragile environment to put music in,” he said.

“Things like this let you reclaim a bit of public space and realise you can come to the median and sit down, you can have music outside, it’s really changed the way that music is presented in Ballarat, it’s a really innovative and good thing.”

“There seems to be a really positive attitude to make this an ongoing event, which will be wonderful.”

Find the City of Ballarat’s outdoor music program updates at facebook.com/ArtsCultureBallarat.