Todd Bennett: Sixteen Hands High
We chat with Todd Bennett from Sixteen Hands High ahead of their show Outlaw’d. Featuring Matt Ward & the Rising Sons, Courtney & Snooks, Brave Mistakes, Jemma Nicole, Ryan Underhill & the Briar Patch and Bennett & co.
Looking forward to OUTLAW’D coming up next Sunday at Murray Delta Juke Joint, before chatting about the show, tell us more about Sixteen Hands High Music.
Sixteen Hands High is basically a one man operation providing a platform for me to work with artists I dig and curate the type of live music events I'd like to see more of in South Australia. I took the name from a song lyric in Bruce Springsteen's 'Silver Palomino'.
OUTLAW'D is described as a hoedown with six of Adelaide’s ‘most bad-ass hip-slingers’ - tell us what a punter can expect from the show.
If you like your country music a little bit on the sinister and sexy side, then OUTLAW'D is right up your alley. Adelaide has a damn good share of 'bad-ass hip-slingers' and I really wanted to put on a show that brought the cream of the crop together under one big wrought iron roof. I reckon punters will be talking about this shindig for a while to come.
With six artists on the bill, Matt Ward & the Rising Sons, Courtney & Snooks, Brave Mistakes, Jemma Nicole, Ryan Underhill & the Briar Patch, and Bennett & Co it’s an action-packed Sunday. Could you tell us about some of the artists and who we should look out for?
Matt Ward and Courtney & Snooks are ever-popular stalwarts of the country and blues scene in Adelaide. Joining them are some cool acts that have been doing a bunch of eye/ear-catching things in the last year or so, Brave Mistakes being a standout for me.
The venue itself, Murray Delta Juke Joint, is part of the newly formed Independent Live Venues Association. Tell us more about the venue and what MDJJ means to you.
It's pretty tough right now to run a viable independent live music venue with more and more big players encroaching on the space. But it's ultimately about offering value for money, memorable experiences and the Murray Delta Juke Joint does just that. It's a very unique grassroots venue based on the famous bygone-era American-style Juke Joints and run by a couple of passionate music fans who not only put on quality bills, but they pull arguably one of the best live sounds in Adelaide. It's a venue where punters come for the music first and foremost and they know that if David and Greg have booked it, then it's going to be a bloody good show!
I know this is like asking someone to choose a favourite child but pick one song from one of the six artists that best encapsulates the vibe of the show.
Matt Ward has a song called 'Tattoos, Trucks & Country Music' which is a pisstake on the renewed (albeit at times questionable) interest in said things amongst the hipster community. We'll be keeping it as close to the real deal as possible at OUTLAW'D this summer!
OUTLAW’D is at Murray Delta Juke Joint in Goolwa on Sunday, December 10 featuring Matt Ward & the Rising Sons, Courtney & Snooks, Brave Mistakes, Jemma Nicole, Ryan Underhill & the Briar Patch, and Bennett & Co. Tickets are still available here.
