The re-shaped Smoke Stack Rhino make a welcome return to Bendigo tonight, Friday, April 8 at the Golden Vine.
With Dave Sirianni joining the band on lead vocals and guitar in early 2015, the Smoke Stack Rhino Mark 2 sound now embraces wider influences including Delta blues, Chicago blues, 1960s psychedelia, and even disco and funk elements. It’s an altogether broader proposition than the heavier Soundgarden-influenced Mark I era.
The Melbourne-based four-piece formed in 2013, releasing their debut EP Riverside later that year. After getting nationwide airplay on Triple J, Smoke Stack Rhino went on to headline the Icy Creek Music Festival. Singles Taste and All My Love followed in quick succession.
With their five-string slap bass, blues harp, Rhodes keyboards and twangy guitars Smoke Stack Rhino are an exciting addition to the Australian blues rock scene.
Triple J’s Sarah Howells gave them a big thumbs-up, “love the stompin’ blues sound…!”
Smoke Stack Rhino last played in Bendigo at the 2015 Bendigo Blues & Roots Musical, sharing the stage with Jackson Firebird.
They have recently been putting the final touches on their debut album, due for release after they complete their current east coast tour.
Supporting Smoke Stack Rhino are Black Aces, and Highway 79 – the newly formed Rattlin’ Bones Blackwood and Colin Thompson band who only played their first gig recently to an enthused Golden Vine crowd on Good Friday.
