NAS added to Bluesfest line-up.

Today Bluesfest Byron Bay brings you another mighty fine round of artists to perform at its 28th annual Festival at the Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, just outside of Byron Bay over the Easter long weekend from Thursday 13th to Monday 17th of April and it just keeps getting better.

Next week Bluesfest will bring its final announcement that will include the much loved Boomerang Festival, once again to be held within the precinct of Bluesfest.

On the forefront of this announcement is one of Americas top Hip Hop artist Nas, teaming up with New Orleans renowned Brass band The Soul Rebels for an exclusive Australian performance. You can only catch Nas and guests The Soul Rebels at Bluesfest this Easter and nowhere else in Australia!

The collaboration between Nas and The Soul Rebels is actually so rare that it is hardly seen anywhere in the world, only playing very few Festivals this year, including New Orleans Jazzfest and the 12th Annual Brooklyn Hip Hop Festival.

Before Nas’s 13 Grammy nominations, seven platinum albums and Top 5 rankings on MTV's 10 Greatest MCs of All Time and The Source’s Top 50 Lyricists of All Time, 17-year-old Nas would take daily trips to Manhattan hoping to secure a major label deal, only to be shot down by nearly every label. This amazing artist has come a long way and his debut album Illmatic is still rated one of the finest EVER.

The Soul Rebels are an eight-piece New Orleans based brass ensemble who incorporates elements of Soul, Jazz, Funk, Hip-Hop, Rock and Pop music within a contemporary brass framework. The Soul Rebels started with an idea - to expand upon the pop music they loved on the radio and the New Orleans brass tradition they grew up on. They took that tradition and blended funk and soul with elements of Hip Hop, Jazz and Rock.

Joining Nas together with guests The Soul Rebels, this outstanding team of talent will bring one striking extravaganza to Bluesfest’s opening night on Thursday.

Kasey Chamber’s recent number one ARIA chart debut of her 11th Studio album Dragonfly proves that one of Australia’s most loved and accomplished performers is unquestionably at the top of her game. This will be Kasey’s 10th performance at Bluesfest, including her first ever solo show in 1999.Kasey has previously topped the ARIA Albums Chart with Barricades & Brickwalls in 2002, Wayward Angel in 2004, Carnival in 2006 and Rattlin’ Bones, her collaboration with Shane Nicholson, in 2008. Don’t miss the chance to see live, what Rolling Stone has described as ‘’Australia’s foremost progenitor of and innovator in, the country-roots fold. Dragonfly is the masterwork of a heart laid bare in the song”. Come on home to Bluesfest Kasey!

Busby Marou – Fresh from having the number one album on the ARIA charts, Bluesfest is excited to welcome Busby Marou back in 2017! There’s a potent chemistry that drives Busby Marou, a bond struck between two mates years ago in the corner of Rockhampton’s Oxford Hotel, when they happily knocked out tunes for hours on end to anyone who would listen. From humble beginnings, on the banks of the Fitzroy River in Rockhampton, folk inspired pop outfit, Busby Marou has made a serious impact on the Australian stage!

It’s been a long time coming, but Bluesfest is welcoming South African Globe-trotting flautist and composer Wouter Kellerman to the stage in 2017 with his all African band! Wouter Kellerman is an Australian based artist who has won a Grammy award in 2015 for best New Age Album Winds of Samasara and was nominated for a Grammy in 2016 for Best Pop Instrumental Album Love Language.

Little Georgia are a Folk-Grunge duo from Australia. Amongst a sea of rhythmic and raw guitar tones collaborators Ashleigh Mannix and Justin Carter deliver both beautiful harmonies and compelling lyrics which reveal the honesty in their music.

Lucy Gallant will play her third Glastonbury this year. This Byron local has written over 1,000 songs and is currently on tour in the US. Festival Director Peter Noble says: “Gallant is a star, the Glastonbury festival knows it.... that's why they continue to book her, and I am also convinced. It is only a matter of time before she is a household name in Australia on a major record label and headlining festivals here and around the world.

THE 2017 ARTIST DAILY PLAYING SCHEDULE IS AVAILABLE ON BLUESFEST.COM.AU

All 5, 3 & 1 day festival and camping tickets are now on sale through bluesfest.com.au or by phoning the Bluesfest office on 02 6685 8310.