Queenscliff Music Festival announces emerging artist grant recipients

Queenscliff Music Festival in Victoria has announced the recipients of this year’s Emerging Artist Grant (EAG).

The EAG was set up in 2011 to acknowledge that Bellarine Peninsula is a hotbed of young music talent – including King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, Yirrmal and The Murlocs and that their mutual challenge is to find enough finances to keep their projects going forward.

As a result, the EAG supplies up to $10,000 per year for recipients to develop and complete projects.

About $4,000 of come from contributions of Friends of the Festival.

This year’s beneficiaries are Geelong five-piece MDRN Love and Clifton Springs-based singer-songwriter Fenn Wilson, each getting $5,000 each. Both are appearing on this year’s bill.

MDRN Love dropped a self-titled EP late last year, recorded at Furstock Studios in Melbourne by producing duo Cross O’ Shea of Abandon Records and Adam Ayan.

Singer and guitarist Jack Harman says, “The Emerging Artists Grant will give us the much needed financial support to give our music the best possible opportunity to succeed and reach new audiences by supporting and promoting our tour, which will follow the release of our next EP.

“It will allow us to promote the Geelong region’s emerging music scene”.

Fenn Wilson released his debut album Tales Of The Black Dog in 2015.

He also plays drummer in a trio with his father, bluesman Chris Wilson and is a member of Pollyman, a new band led by brother George.

Wilson will use the EAG to complete his second full length album as well as to fund promotion, pressing and touring of the album.

Previous recipients have been:

2017 – The Refuge & Andrea Robertson

2016 – Hollie Joyce & Rach Brennan

2015 – The Tiny Giants & Rough River

2014 – Aine Tyrrell & Sagamore

2013 – The Murlocs, Sweethearts & Yirrmal

2012 – Alister Turrill & Tom Milek

2011 – Catherine Sanzaro & Izzy Losi

The Queenscliff Music Festival also announced 18-year-old singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Heath Robertson as the inaugural recipient of the Alison McKenzie Mentor Program.

Robertson will have the opportunity to hang out with and be mentored by an artist appearing at QMF 2018.

The Alison McKenzie Mentor Program was created by the QMF board to honour McKenzie who passed away from breast cancer in 2016.

She was a long-serving QMF board member and was instrumental in establishing and running the EAG.

The festival noted, “She was devoted to the development of local young musicians and QMF is committed to continuing her work in this area.

The Queenscliff Music Festival 2018 will be held from November 23-25.