Ballina RSL builds a home for blues with weekly Sunday sessions

BY STAFF WRITER

BALLINA RSL has become a regular home for live blues music on the Far North Coast, with its Sunday Blues Sessions drawing locals and visitors to the riverfront venue each week.

On any given Sunday afternoon in Ballina, the club hosts free live performances overlooking the Richmond River, where audiences can settle in for an afternoon of blues in a relaxed setting with space to dance, food, drinks and easy company.

Since becoming the home of the Blues Club in late 2021, Ballina RSL has developed a consistent program that supports both local musicians and touring acts, creating a space where the genre can build and connect with a regular audience.

At the centre of the sessions is musician and organiser Soren Carlbergg.

Carlbergg has helped shape not just the weekly lineup but the broader culture of the Blues Club, performing with the Soren Carlbergg Quartet while also supporting FBI, the house band, and welcoming a steady stream of guest artists to the stage.

The program balances local talent with respected names from the national blues scene.

Artists including Mojo Webb, Bondi Cigars, The Darren Jack Band and Lez Karski have performed at the venue, alongside Northern Rivers acts such as Greg Lyon’s Hip Operation, Harry Nichols Blues Band, Hubcap Stan, Taylormade and Federal Blues Inc.

The result is a lineup grounded in the local music community while maintaining a standard that attracts audiences from across the region.

Ballina RSL executive manager marketing and community engagement Claire Tyson said the sessions had created a regular meeting place for both audiences and musicians.

“The Blues Club is about more than music, it’s about creating a space where our community and our artists can come together regularly,” she said.

“What Soren has helped build here is something really special, it’s local, it’s authentic, and it gives both emerging and established musicians a place to belong.”

In a region rich with musical talent, the venue provides something many scenes struggle to maintain: a consistent stage, a supportive audience and a reason for artists to keep returning, developing and connecting.

Performances run each Sunday from 2.30pm to 5.30pm, with the April program featuring FBI on April 5 as part of the Easter weekend, Billy K Blues Band on April 12, Nathan Beretta on April 19, and Hubcap Stan & the Sidewalk Stompers on April 26.

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