AUSTRALIA’S foremost bluesman Ash Grunwald is bringing his latest tour to Swan Hill next week.
A career spanning 12 studio albums, six Australian Top-50 albums, five ARIA Award nominations, two APRA Awards, and gong for Best International Act at the LA Music Critic Awards in 2014, Grunwald has cemented his status as one of Australia’s most exciting and entertaining live musicians.
Known for a number of hit collaborations with the who’s who of Australian music throughout his career, including Josh Teskey, Kasey Chambers, Scott & Andy from The Living End, Vika & Linda Bull, as well as American bluesman Joe Bonamassa, and toured sold out theatres including The Forum, Melbourne Recital Centre and Sydney Recital Hall in 2020.
Throughout his career, Grunwald has supported legends James Brown, The Black Keys, Jack Johnson, Xavier Rudd, and Keith Urban, and played sold out festivals across Europe, Japan, and North America as well as 10 invitations to Australia’s most renowned festival Bluesfest.
To coincide with the release of Surf By Day, Jam By Night and explore the sentiment of storytelling even further, Grunwald launched the podcast Soulful Conversations in February 2019.
A collection of colourful conversations with musicians, surfers, and common folk, Grunwald’s special guests have included John Butler, Missy Higgins, Ziggy Alberts and The Cat Empire.
Since the end of the pandemic, Grunwald has made it his mission to hit the road with renewed purpose.
Instead of looking to far-flung cities across the globe, he’s been throwing more Australian country towns into his tour schedule than ever before.
“Ever since COVID, I haven’t really gone overseas,” Grunwald told The Guardian ahead of the April 24 show.
“Why go play a random town in France when you can play a country town in Australia that you haven’t played before, you know?”
That question has become a kind of ethos for the genre-blurring guitarist and singer, whose blend of blues, roots, and soulful storytelling has earned him a devoted following across the country.
His mission is simple: “Leave no stone unturned”.
“And that sort of philosophy … I’ve been doing that in full force. I’ve been doing it hardcore since the end of COVID, “he said.
“So it’s five years now, but this last year even more on the road of discovery.”
Grunwald’s method is charmingly DIY – zooming in on Google Maps, typing in towns, and unearthing venues and gigs through old-fashioned curiosity.
“Just the other day, I needed a connecting gig from one in Orange to another on the south coast of New South Wales. I found a gig in Cootamundra. It was sold out. And it was awesome,” he said.
The Grunwald of 2025 isn’t the same one who first picked up a guitar two decades ago. He’s still energetic, still fiery on stage, but he’s refined his lifestyle to keep pace with the demands of the road.
“I’ve sped up as I’ve got older, and I’m trying to get my habits to be better to make up for that,” he said.
“I used to be an absolutely massive party animal, and so I’ve chilled that right out. I actually quit drinking.”
But don’t expect the gigs to get any less rowdy – at least from the crowd’s perspective.
“My gig is often a bit of a party atmosphere. I’ve been playing a lot of theatres, so they’ll sit down, but then they’ll end up out of their seats by the end of the night.”
For many younger artists in the blues and roots scene, Grunwald is the pioneer who showed them what was possible.
“At the airport yesterday, this guy came and just said, ‘I’m a professional musician, and I was really influenced by you’.”
“And I was trying to find my tickets at the same time, but I was like, ‘No, no dude. I wasn’t flustered. Thank you so much. I’m stoked’.”
Grunwald also cherishes moments of cultural influence, like a couple who told him his song Crossroads inspired them to visit Mississippi and New Orleans to explore the genre more deeply.
At his upcoming show, Grunwald will return to the roots of his performance style – the signature one-man band experience that first defined him.
“I’ve done many incarnations of my music over the years, but this is a variant of maybe my best thing – the thing I’ve always been known for,” he said.
“It could be a storytelling kind of gig, but also it can be quite a big sound, and it could just be dancing all night and a party as well.”
The support act on the night is Kathleen Halloran.
Halloran’s diverse array of skills are fast making her one of the country’s most exciting and in demand upcoming musicians.
As guitarist for Australian icon Kate Ceberano, Halloran tours and performs all around the country.
She’s performed with the likes of Felix Riebl, Iva Davies, William Barton, Jade MaCrae, Jimi Hocking and Darren Middleton.
Grunwald will hit the Swan Hill Town Hall stage at 6.30pm on April 24.
Tickets range from $48.70-$58.70. Purchase through the town hall website.
https://swanhilltownhall.com/events/ash-grunwald/
