The Southern Fork Americana Fest Announces Second Justin Townes Earle Show & Additional Acts

Due to popular demand, The Southern Fork Americana Fest is excited to announce that a second Justin Townes Earle show has been added on Thursday the 12th of October.

The award-winning Nashville songwriter has a rich reputation as a singular leading light in the Americana music community, and is lauded for his personally charged lyrics and infectious melodic craftsmanship. He’ll be supported for both shows by Ontario-based country-rock quartet The Sadies, who’ll also take the stage as his backing band for a set of new and well loved material.

We are sad to announce that due to a recurring injury, The Warratahs are no longer able to perform in the festival. However, we are excited to let you know that Lyttelton’s hardest working band, The Eastern have joined the bill alongside The Bads and opening act Napier-based singer-songwriter Stretch & band on Sunday 8th October. With over 10 years and 1000 shows under their belt, The Eastern have earned a reputation for thrilling live performances and we are delighted to finally have them heading our way to rock our stage.

Opening acts have also been added to the festival lineup featuring Lisa Crawley & Ben Mastwyk, Dead Little Penny, and Lubin Rains (solo).

Celebrating the festival launch alongside The Miltones and Eb & Sparrow on October 7th will be goth-tinged alt-country four-piece Dead Little Penny. Fronted by Hayley Smith and Rodney Fisher (Goodshirt), their sound ranges from dreamy melancholic country to upbeat tongue-in-cheek rockabilly skiffle.

Alt-country Melbournite Ben Mastwyk and pop darling Lisa Crawley join forces as they open for Grammy-nominated Robbie Fulks on October 10th. With an extensive back catalogue coupled with countless collaborations, tours and television appearances, Lisa Crawley is regarded as one of Australasia’s most beloved musicians. She’ll be joined by Ben Mastwyk, whose prolific country sound saw his debut album, Mornin Evenin, receive a nomination for Best Country Album at The Age Music Victoria Awards. Both charismatic performers in their own right, Mastwyk’s country-folk storytelling combined with Crawley’s retro-soul pop sensibility results in a dynamic duo performance not to be missed.

Lubin Rains also joins the bill as he opens for cult-favourites Son Volt with a solo performance of weary tales woven with country-folk tones reminiscent of Neil Young. Best known as the singer of esteemed Auckland alt-folk act The Vietnam War, Lubin’s fragile and timeless songwriting style has seen him captivate audiences in his rare solo performances infused with a wayward and intoxicating country flavour.

Festival passes for the Southern Fork Americana Fest have now sold out, but individual tickets and multi-show discounts are still available from Ticketmaster.co.nz

See all show dates below.

  • Saturday October 7th // Eb & Sparrow + The Miltones and Dead Little Penny
  • Sunday October 8th // The Eastern + The Bads and Stretch
  • Tuesday October 10th // Robbie Fulks with Lisa Crawley and Ben Mastwyk
  • Wednesday October 11th // Justin Townes Earle with The Sadies
  • Thursday October 12th // Justin Townes Earle with The Sadies
  • Friday October 13th // Son Volt with Lubin Rains (solo)
  • Saturday October 14th // The Shape I’m In: Hootenanny & BBQ featuring Reb Fountain, Tom Cunliffe, Hopetoun Brown and Dave Khan
  • Sunday 15th October // Traveller (Cory Chisel, Robert Ellis, Jonny Fritz) with Joshua Hedley

TICKET PRICING

To once again offer enthusiasts the chance to see more acts and to encourage music fans to discover new artists, the festival has a special ticket pricing scheme, enabling them to receive discounts on multiple ticket purchases. Each show is colour coded. Buy a ticket to a RED show (Justin Townes Earle, Son Volt), and you can buy tickets to WHITE shows (Robbie Fulks, Traveller) at 25% off and BLUE shows (Eb & Sparrow + The Miltones, The Eastern + The Bads) at 50% off. WHITE show ticket buyers can get BLUE show tickets at 25% off.

Also, buy a ticket to any other shows in the festival and add on a $10 ticket to ‘The Shape I’m In’ Hootenanny and BBQ.

Tickets are on sale now from Ticketmaster.co.nz 0800 111 999