Dashville Skyline Continues Aussie/Americana Trend

The inaugural Dashville Skyline happens Oct. 3-4 in Dashville, NSW. The lineup, to be announced, will feature international and Australian names. It will also feature American cuisine, cars and culture.

Dashville Skyline is the second major festival downunder devoted to Americana. October saw the inaugural Out On The Weekend staged in Melbourne and Brisbane, The trend does not surprise Mark Moffatt, Nashville-based Aussie expat and past president of the Americana Music Association. For the past four years, he has seen a spike in Australian acts journeying to Nashville for the Americana Music Festival, which now has its own Australian event.

“Outside the U.S., Australia is second to none as a homegrown source for roots/Americana music and it’s great to see this trend continuing,” Moffat told Pollstar. “People are feeling that the music is a good fit for the relaxed Australian lifestyle and emerging festivals like Dashville are a testament to this growing acceptance.” Dashville Skyline performers will be given a list of 20 Americana songs by everyone from Gram Parsons to the Grateful Dead.

They have to choose at least one to perform during their sets. The covers will be recorded, packaged and gifted to attendees at the end of the event as a compilation CD. The organizers, who also run the mid-year alt-country folk festivals Gunball and PigSty festivals, said, “Australians are still learning about Americana, so the festival is an experiment but we hope it becomes an annual event.”