Setting the tone in Nambour

The music scene has always been prevalent and there is a new movement of gifted musicians and lovers of fine music rising together to put Nambour on the map as a “must do” place for entertainment.

Grounded Cafe
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Grounded Cafe

Whether you have a few hours, or a full weekend, you can immerse yourself in music culture all over Nambour and its surroundings.  From Friday evenings listening to live acoustic music at Grounded Cafe in Woombye, to Sunday afternoons at Guru Life, Diddillibah and everything in between, there is something for everyone.

Garden at Guru Life
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Garden at Guru Life

We love to spend time sifting through all the amazing vinyl at BackBeat Records.  

With over 25 years in the business and over 11 of that in Nambour, Lee has an extensive collection of records for all kinds of music lovers.  With the rise of digital music & streaming platforms, the reality is nothing will ever compare to the vinyl music experience, and in Lee’s words  “Vinyl is so much warmer and has more depth. I will always prefer the analogue sounds over the modern compressed media”.  Don’t miss a stop at this iconic destination to listen and pick up both new and old music on your next visit to Nambour.

Backbeat Records
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Backbeat Records

We recently had a chat with local musician Andrea Kirwin of Peace Run Records & Agency to get the inside word on the music scene, and learn what she loves about calling Nambour home.  A studio for musicians to record, stream, collaborate, and learn from Andrea’s industry experience and guidance, Peace Run is a stunning space full of opportunities for artists to grow and create.  Andrea’s passion for supporting upcoming artists and amplifying the greatness of Nambour through live music and entertainment is truly inspiring.

What inspires you most about this area ?

The great people and the street art, cafe and music culture. Many musicians and creatives live in Nambour. Also, there's 2 new venues about to open up in town. I've been rallying the local music community to get together and support the launch of the Special Entertainment precinct. We're having regular meetings with the local council and state council to try to get more support for Nambour. It's a great place and we want to showcase that!

Andrea at Peace Run
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Andrea at Peace Run

How does that influence your work at Peace Run, and as a musician ?

I am a local business owner, and being in a town like Nambour on Queen st, has been great for Peace Run Records. It's great to catch up with locals and have a shopfront. Also I get to help inspire the next generation of musicians and songwriters through teaching. I started a Patreon page last year during the covid shutdown of the music and entertainment industry and I invite my patrons to be an active part of the content I create. I had 12 people sing on my album (I'm grateful they could actually sing!) and recently filmed a music video featuring my patreon members!

How do you like to tap into the local music scene in the area ?

I am quite active on social media. I love seeing how people create content that is both beautiful and engaging. Some bands I think do this really well are Band of Frequencies, Bearfoot, Muules, Anna and Jordan, Hillbilly goats, Taylor Moss, Dubarray...gosh, so many! The visuals are what I love, seeing beautiful videos and hearing well recorded music. I wish I had more time to get out and see live music but I'm so busy teaching and gigging that I probably only see a live gig about once every 3 months.    

Anything else worth a good mention ?

Keep an eye on Nambour. It's about to explode with live music, once these two new music venues open up. There are alot of creatives working overtime trying to recover from the Covid shut down of 2020. Our communities are the one's getting us through by buying tickets to our events. I recently had a successful livestream event for Survivald day that was co-produced by Deline Briscoe of Gaba Musik. We featured First Nations artists including Deline, Lydia Fairhall, Georgia Corowa, myself, Troy Brady and Airileke. The event was broadcast in a theatre in Cairns to an audience of about 200. It felt so special to be creating high quality content and reaching an audience who were enjoying the concert! I would love to see more grants to help create content like this promoting all Australian talent. I'm passionate about helping artists reach their audience and look forward to applying for a few grants to do some special shows!

We are so excited to see what unfolds with all of the creatives in the community, gaining momentum and bringing new life into this iconic town.  Come and discover the real Nambour and immerse yourself in music culture.  

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