Slim Dusty Band to grace The Vine

AUSTRALIAN country music fans are expected to flock in droves to the Golden Vine Hotel in King Street on Thursday 31 October to bear witness to Slim Dusty’s Travelling Country Band – a group of musicians who played their last full show with the undisputed King of Country in 2002.

The lineup is made up of Slim’s longtime producer and bandleader Rod Coe on bass, his longest serving fiddle player of over 25 years Mike Kerin, Jeff Mercer on lead guitar, Rob Souter on drums plus guitarist and vocalist Pete Denahy.

Rod Coe said he first met Slim when as a “much younger” man he landed a staff job as a producer at EMI Records’ legendary Castlereagh Street studios in Sydney.

“Slim would often be in the studio recording and I played bass on a couple of his tracks before eventually taking over as his producer,” he said.

“When we met we got on really well, we just clicked.”

Mr Coe said it “feels fantastic” for the band to be touring again after a break of more than two decades.

“It feels so good to be back playing those songs again with the team that backed Slim for many years. There’s a connection that’s really strong when you do that and it certainly comes through.

“No one in Australia that I can see these days plays the way that the Slim Dusty Band plays, because we were basically steeped in Slim’s pick-strum guitar style.

“The band follows that same style of playing. It’s just something that you can’t recreate so it’s very authentic and people that love Slim will love the show.”

Travellin’ Still – The Music of Slim Dusty takes place at the Golden Vine Hotel on Thursday 31 October, starting from 7pm.

Tickets can be purchased on the Humanitix website.