Geoff Achison has a reputation as a guitarist’s guitarist.

Having taught himself to play in the isolation of rural Australia, he has developed a blues/funk style all his own that can be delicate one moment and explosive the next. Unaware of how the sounds he was hearing on his limited record collection were produced, he invented some of his own techniques – without the aid of pedals or gadgets. As a result, watching this guy wrench sounds from his simple set-up can be something of a spectacle.  Geoff also possesses a soulful voice that has evoked favorable comparisons to Joe Cocker or Warren Haynes. An award winning songwriter to boot, Geoff’s live set features an infectious mix of catchy original tunes, improvised jamming and inspired versions of blues & soul classics.

He has toured regularly around the globe and won honours on 3 continents. Years of touring, recording and performing has seen him share stages and open shows with such high calibre artists as Jorma Kaukonen & Hot Tuna, John Mayall, Clarence ‘Gatemouth’ Brown, Hubert Sumlin, Levon Helm and John Mayer as well as top Aussies ‘Dutch’ Tilders, Phil Manning, Jeff Lang and Tommy Emmanuel.

Growing up in the small town of Malmsbury, Geoff somehow developed a passion for American blues music and taught himself to play on a beat up instrument he discovered ‘under the stairs’ of the family home.  In his early 20’s he found employment as lead guitarist with Melbourne’s top blues band ‘Dutch Tilders & The Blues Club’. After 5 years relentless touring around Australia Geoff departed to pursue his own musical ideas and formed the first incarnation of his own band  ‘The Souldiggers’.

“The idea was to have a name that described the music and I greatly admired the blues philosophy – tapping into one’s soul for honesty and truth. That’s what ‘Souldiggers’ is meant to convey.”

Unimpressed with local recording lables, he formed his own Jupiter 2 Records with fellow music enthusiast Nic Quittner and released the first of many recordings of his original blues/funk/soul flavoured materiel in 1994.

Geoff started his worldwide explorations in 1995 with his first trip to the USA.
He represented the Melbourne Blues Society at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis and won the coveted Albert King Award for his guitar skills. He went on to accept an endorsement deal with the Gibson guitar company’s acoustic division. He formed a US based Souldiggers group in 1998 and recorded his 3rd album ‘Gettin’ Evil’ in Portland, Oregon. He returns regularly to America playing a vvariety of clubs and music festivals. Jorma Kaukonen (of Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna fame) has invited Geoff each year since ‘98 as a guest instructor at his Fur Peace Ranch guitar camp in Ohio.

Moving to London in 1997 Geoff established a UK following and recorded a live album with a British version of The Souldiggers.
Whilst working the US and Australian circuits Geoff also kept up a presence in England and formed yet another competent group of musicians. His popularity amongst fans in the know has grown with each visit and Geoff has garnered something of a cult following in each of these regions. His list of awards is formidable. Most recently he was honoured as an official patron of the Frankston International Guitar Festival (hosted in his new home town) and also won the Melbourne Blues Society’s awards for ‘Best Blues Band’ and ‘Best Male Performer’.

Geoff is actively touring and producing new music.
With a seemingly never ending schedule of gigs and tours Geoff has managed to find time to release the live Souldiggin’ DVD featuring the Aussie Souldiggers in an energetic performance at one of their regular venues. A new batch of original songs Little Big Men hit the shelves in 2006 and Geoff’s 10th album Acho Solo , a collection of solo acoustic songs was released in February 2007.
In October of 2007 Jupiter 2 Records released a CD version of the ‘Live’ DVD session simply titled Souldiggin’ CD.

Geoff has recently returned to Australia after touring in the USA throughout 2007/2008.
In an exciting career move, Geoff re-located his family to Atlanta, Georgia where he worked with management/booking agency Brilliant Productions.
He has now resumed his residency in Melbourne, Australia and enjoying re-connecting with teh vibrant Oz Blues/Roots scene. A new album, recorded in Atlanta, is due for release March 2009.

Anne McCue’s career has covered punk, Lilith Fair, Australian awards and Vietnam. She has released her fourth solo album, Koala Motel to critical acclaim and has recently co-produced two albums by other artists – Stephen Rowe and Leila Florentino. She has appeared as guest guitarist/vocalist on albums by Michelle Shocked and Gina Villalobos. Her two most recent albums, including Roll‚ (Messenger Records) was recorded at Dusty Wakeman’s Mad Dog Studios in Burbank, California. McCue and Wakeman co-produced the album. Going in with the philosophy of some of Anne’s favourite three piece bands she played the guitars, Dusty played bass with Dave Raven on the drums. The three jammed on the material, some of which McCue was still writing at the time. Guests on the album are Carl Byron (keyboards and accordion), Eric Gardner (drums on “Machine Gun” and “Tiny Little Song”and Mike Stinson (drums on “I Want You Back”). The album has received critical acclaim from such publications as Billboard, Entertainment Weekly and XM Satellite Radio (Top 5 Album of the Year) and was picked by Bob Harris of the BBC as his favourite album of 2004.
After Anne graduated from Sydney’s University of Technology with a degree in Film Production and Film Studies she moved to Melbourne with little more than a $60 guitar she “borrowed” from her brother, a large blue suitcase, and a plan to write a novel. Finding the writer’s life a little isolating, she answered an ad in the paper which read “Wanted: Wild Women For Rock’n'Roll Band” and joined a pop rock band as lead guitarist, touring the country and topping the independent charts for weeks at a time. On the side, she studied music theory and began honing her own song writing style. After four years and an ARIA nomination (the Australian Grammys) for the band, Anne pursued her solo career which took her, rather surprisingly to Vietnam.

Offered the chance to play music in Ho Chi Minh City Anne found it, “an unbelievable experience and it really changed my life. It also gave me the chance to hone my lead guitar playing.” Anne rode a 1965 Vesper and toted her guitar around on the bike ‘just like the locals’. After playing in all kinds of bands almost every night it was time to return to Melbourne where she frequented the blues jams.

She continued recording her original songs but took the opportunity to become a member of a group which was soon signed to the biggest record label in the world giving Anne the opportunity to tour the U.S. and Canada as part of the “Lilith Fair.” This experience brought her on stage with many of the greats such as The Pretenders, Emmylou Harris and Sarah McLachlan and took her to Los Angeles. The band proved to be creatively frustrating for Anne, so she left the group to pursue her interrupted solo career. Eventually she completed her debut album “Amazing Ordinary Things”. Anne co-produced all the tracks except “Angel Inside” which was produced by Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell). The CD is named after a painting by Jules C. McCue, Anne’s sister, whose artwork is found throughout the packaging and Anne has co-written several songs with her brother Mark. He’s the one she “borrowed” the guitar from.

McCue also released a live recording from her tour in 2002 with Lucinda Williams entitled “Ballad Of An Outlaw Woman”‚ and is currently editing the DVD which chronicles her time on that tour.