November is Australian Music Month and 1000 live gigs are being held around NSW to help stimulate the revival of the entertainment sector in the recovery phase of COVID-19.
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Thirty-four gigs are billed for the south east region as part of the Great Southern Nights program across the month, with many local venues getting on board.
Jigamy Farm will be hosting three live performances in November and Kyle Wilson, communications officer at Twofold Aborginal Corporation, said the organisation was excited to be able to spend time back at the farm again.
"The last event we had was our 40th anniversary, that was a year ago," he said.
"We are thrilled to be able to bring people back together again after such a long time in isolation, sharing live music from and for our own community.
"It's about celebrating community, and music is such a strong part of what we do."
Newly formed acoustic duo Kyarna Rose and Matty Walker weren't expecting to attract tens of thousands of followers online while in lockdown.
However, their first single hit the Australian country charts and reached number four in its very first week.
Ms Rose said the duo's Facebook followers leapt from 3000 to 16,000 in about a month while the pair livestreamed their music during lockdown earlier in the year, and has steadily increased since.
"We were blown away by that," she said.
"For us it's been a bit of a blessing in disguise, we had never done a Facebook live performance before and started just as COVID hit when everyone was in lockdown.
"Every week our audience base kept building up... our genre is probably more country, but we do a mixture of everything," she said.
Both proud Yuin singer songwriters are based in Wollongong and have strong family ties to the Far South Coast.
"We are very excited about playing down there this month, it's coming home for us, it's always nice to get that kind of refreshment and connection back and visit family," Ms Rose said.
The pair are currently releasing one single at the end of each month until January when they plan to release their first EP.
"We're hoping within the next three to four months we get enough songs together to write an album," Ms Rose said.
Kyarna Rose and Matty Walker will perform at Jigamy Farm on Friday, November 20 at 4pm.
There is no charge to attend and the public are encouraged to pre-register at www.twofoldjigamy.org.au/events. COVIDsafe procedures will be in place.
A sausage sizzle will be provided. Please note this is a drug and alcohol free event.
Gabadu will play at Jigamy on November 20 and Manamaa, an Eden High band, will play on November 27.
Other local venues hosting gigs as part of the Great Southern Nights program in the southern part of the shire include Longstocking Brewery and Wheelers. Check the Great Southern Nights gig guide for more information.
Great Southern Nights is a NSW government initiative delivered by its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW in partnership with the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA).
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Leah Szanto
Regional journalist covering the Far South Coast of NSW.
Regional journalist covering the Far South Coast of NSW.
