The Courtyard
Leo Gunn
Leo Gunn is a young singer songwriter who taught himself guitar during the covid lockdowns. Already an accomplished guitarist, Leo is writing his own songs, drawing inspiration from the likes of Nick Drake, Radiohead, The Beatles, Josh Pike and Julia Jacklin. At 16 his song writing is beyond his years and he will be one to look out for on the folk music circuit.
Orvokki Britton
Orvokki Ravel Britton is a nineteen year old multi-instrumentalist who lives in Newstead who has a passion for singing and playing a range of instruments of many different genres. She is proud to frequently play fiddle with the Duck Downpickers, as well as sing and play guitar as a solo artist from time to time. Most of all, Orvokki loves singing classical music and one day aspires to be an opera singer.
Lucia Sharples
Lucía started playing piano when she was 7 years old, taking weekly lessons in Castlemaine. She loves the music of Bach, Beethoven, Haydn, Mozart, Vivaldi and Tchaikovsky. She also plays violin and viola and has started composing her own pieces. Lucía is 10y.
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Lila and Lucais
Lila and Lucais are talented young performers who met at their local music school and started performing as a duo in 2024.
Lila picked up ukulele after receiving one for Christmas at age 9 and began performing solo at open mic nights and local festivals 6 months later. Lucais began playing drums when he was only 6 years old, and started performing at open mic nights with Lila after pairing up in early 2024.
The pair perform an eclectic mix of covers, inspired by the likes of Dave Grohl and Billie Eilish. They love nothing more than being on stage and sharing their musical passion with audiences.
Lila and Lucais hope to one day perform their own originals, and are excited to see how far their shared passion can take them!
Rent is Due
Rent is Due is self described as a fusion of the rebellious runk side of grunge music and the beauty of folk with rock influences. Rent is Due plays both original songs and covers from bands like the Beatles, Bob Dlyan, Nirvana and the Vaselines. Rent is Due was started by guitarist Jude Evans and singer Atti Dunn in 2023 with bassist Eli Talbot and drummer Nico Volpato joining a year later.
Tongue n Cheek
We are a four-piece alternative pop rock band based in Castlemaine, united by our passion for music and creativity. Our aim is to play music that’s accessible, blending pop and funk influences with catchy choruses and upbeat energy. Ultimately, our goal is to enjoy making music together and with our audience, creating songs we can be proud of. We hope to share our love of expression with the world, and always foster our love for music and adolescence, while hopefully helping others do the same.
Vox Mundi
Eleven-year-old Vox Mundi started drumming on all surfaces before he could walk. At the age of one, pointing at an iPod he would ask for “mukic”, favouring the songs of Cesária Évora & Bob Dylan. In his third year, holding his trusty green ukulele, he climbed onto the stage in a public music event and annexed himself to a ukulele group for the length of their performance.
Vox Mundi’s repertoire reflects his early musical inclinations, including a mix of folk, country, trad, folk-rock and world music, performed with string and percussion instruments. With an ear for foreign languages, his multi-lingual singing reflects his diverse heritage. His performances include chalkboard gigs at CresFest 2022/23/24 and at Newstead 2024. A big break came in 2024 at Lake Bolac Eel Festival, when he was plucked out of the buskers’ tent by Tim Scanlan, to be his guest performer on the big stage. Later that night, he was invited on stage to sing with Neil Murray and his band.
Milaan considers himself a stage animal, and dreams of exploring many instruments, collaborating with other musicians and performing on the bill in music festivals.