Bad news first, unfortunately my knee finally failed and needed emergency ACL reconstruction surgery which went well but left me on crutches and needing rest, however that was going to have to wait as we had received an invitation to do some busking sets as part of the Echuca-Moama Winter Blues Fest. We borrowed Uncle Steve's station wagon and loaded it up.

Onto the good news. We left Canberra Friday afternoon, stayed in Albury overnight and arrived in Echuca for the Festival on Saturday morning. None of us had been to Echuca before and we were all in awe of what a great little tourist town it is and the awesome organisation that goes into their blues festival. Our first set was outside the Echuca Chocolate Company where we had an amazing crowd who danced, sang along and gave the kids lots of positive support. It was a wonderful experience for us to play with the kids in such a positive environment where people genuinely appreciated what we were doing and where through our little family band we could noticeably add joy to peoples lives. It was one of our best gigs but we actually had lots of new things going on. It was Charlie's first gig on a cut down cajon kit, he played cajon with a kick pedal, snare and hats and did an amazing job, especially for a thirteen year old. I had a new small mixer that I had picked up the day before we left when I realised the regular mixer wouldn't fit in the car! We also played several songs for the first time with a focus on harmonies. Songs like CCR ‘Down on the Corner’ and the Eagles ‘Take it Easy’ as well as some 70's rock tunes the boys had learnt like Supertramp ‘Logical Song’ and ELO ‘Mr Blue Sky’ which were all really well received. We didn't think we'd be able to top Saturday but on Sunday we played outside Vintage Vinyl Records we initially thought that the area was too small and we would have to be really quiet but it turned out to not be an issue. We had an even bigger crowd who were even more supportive and incredibly generous with their tips. The whole family was buzzing after the show from the sheer number of people that came up to talk to us and offer us encouragement - thank you, it really means a lot to us. As they had done all weekend the kids saved their poor old dad's knee and packed the car up. After which we could listen to the end of 19-twenty's set which was great. Other awesome bands that we got to hear through the weekend included, Owen Campbell, Doc Halibut, Smokestack Rhino, Lloyd Spiegel,  Rory Phillips, Hat Fitz and Cara, Matt Katsis, The Sunbears and more it was a fantastic lineup. Also we will be forever thankful to Dwayne Jenkins who shared a video of us plying on Saturday and tagged the awesome Lachy Doley who shared it to his many amazing fans who managed to rack up over 16,000 views! Wow! Overall an amazing weekend and we can't wait to come back next year.