International line-up includes

blues machine Jimi Hocking

WITH 20 bands and five stages, the Docklands Blues Music Festival is set to be one massive free music event.

Held on the first Sunday in October, the all day festival features an incredible line-up of some of Melbourne’s most accomplished blues musicians, as well as national and international favourites.

Blues guitarist Jimi Hocking.

Headlining the 2014 event is the incredibly talented Jimi Hocking, who brings his blues machine reputation, with a bit of rock, to the Sunday afternoon.

An acclaimed guitarist, this versatile musician straddles genres effortlessly, playing his classic blues, mixed with a rock sensibility. He has established himself equally as a blues performer to watch, and as one of the country’s premier rock musicians, thanks to a leading role in beloved rock act The Screaming Jets.

It’s been over two decades since Jimi started playing music professionally and he’s played on every sort of stage imaginable, earning his stripes as a youngster in front of bands such as The Astroboys and The Astros in the mid-1980s. It wasn’t long though before he set out on a solo career path in the late-1980s and early-1990s which saw him release two albums under the guise of ‘Jimi The Human’. He shared the bill with legends such as Joe Satriani, Edgar Winter and George Thorogood, earning their respect as well as that of the Australian public. His style, described as ‘high speed picking and blues blends’, even impressed BB King when the blues icon toured to Australia and saw Jimi play.

It wasn’t just international acts who were paying attention to this incredible guitarist’s skill, but Australian bands as well, who were soon to add Jimi to their line-up. He joined forces with The Angels in 1988 for their Live Line tour, and is reputed to have hit the stage with them after only just one rehearsal, an apt demonstration of his immense talent.

He then went on to join The Screaming Jets as their lead guitarist, a partnership that lasted four years and two Gold albums, the band’s self-titled release and World Gone Crazy, which featured the hit singles October Grey and Sad Song, to name a few. He showed his real strength as a musician, not only playing guitar, but also contributing mandolin and keys to the recordings.

Outside of touring with Australia’s biggest bands, Jimi was also actively carving a solid reputation for himself as a blues performer, hitting the festival circuit and recording albums which were garnering acclaim from all corners. His blues albums have been played in Europe, London and the USA and Jimi has appeared on stages at Port Fairy Folk Festival, Woodford Folk Festival, Queenscliff Festival and even the Himalayan Blues Festival in Kathmandu.

His 2007 album release Blues Mandolin created a new genre of ‘blues mando’ and he won accolades such as Producer of the Year and Best Male Blues Artist at the VIC/TAS Blues Awards. His 2009 album Electric Mojo Machine saw Jimi and his ‘blues machine’ spend months on the road, and he also re-joined forces with The Screaming Jets for their Australian tours.

His latest album release Live in The Moment is his 15th and proves that this guitarist, who has been dubbed as the ‘love child of T-Bone Walker, Bb King and Jimi Hendrix’, will be rocking blues fans for long to come.

Don’t miss Jimi Hocking as he headlines the Docklands Blues Music Festival next month.

The Docklands Blues Music Festival runs from 11am – 9pm on Sunday October 5 at Harbour Town Docklands (Melbourne Star Observation Wheel and Wonderland Spiegeltent Precinct). This is a FREE all day music event and everyone is welcome.

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