Performer Bios

Jason Enriquez, a born and bred Townsville boy, took up the guitar during high-school, but has been singing all of his life. A music lover, performer and songwriter, his music explores new sounds in inventive ways. With the pop influences of 'Crowded House', the soothing folk of 'Simon and Garfunkel', to the alternative rock edge of 'Anberlin' or the acoustic mastery of 'Andy Mckee', Jason Enriquez is ever broadening his horizons and producing inquisitively catchy tunes. In this project Jason will be performing together with drummer Joel Wilson.

http://www.musiccentrenq.net/Jason_Enriquez. http://www.myspace.com/jasonenriquezmusic

Wassa is a six-piece percussion group performing traditional rhythms from West Africa on authentic instruments. The Townsville based group, with members Alex Salvador, Tony Tsimbas, Ian Brunskill, Matthew Curnock, David Pavlichuk, and Roger Thompson, has been performing throughout North Queensland and as far as Papua New Guinea since 2001. Intricate layers of rhythm are interwoven on Djembes, Dunduns (bass drums) and metal bells accompanied at times by chants in the Malinke language. Wassa delivers a powerful wall of sound to its listeners encouraging them to tap their feet, wriggle their shoulders and get up and dance!

http://www.therhythmconnection.com. http://www.musiccentrenq.net/Wassa

Matthew Obat and Thybsa Ageng. African music duo, husband and wife team of Matthew Obat and Thybsa Ageng, originally from Sudan, performing original compositions and traditional African music. Matthew plays the Shilluk lyre or "Thum", as well as percussion instruments like the glass gong and African drum, while Thybsa is a fine singer. Originally from Malakal, Sudan, Matthew was first introduced to music by his uncle, and learned to play the Shilluk lyre called a "Thum". Being in a Christian missionary environment, Matthew's music genre was most naturally shaped along Christian themes. He began composing his own songs whilst a refugee with his young family in Cairo, Egypt, with sales of his cassette tapes supplementing his refugees allowance. Matthew moved to Townsville in 2007 and is a member of "Hakuna Matata" - The African Association of Townsville. While continuing with his Christian themes, his musical ambition is to diversify into themes to do with the settlement of Sudanese and other African peoples in Australia.

http://musiccentrenq.net/Matthew_Obat/

Patrick Levi. A singer/songwriter from St Paul's on Moa Island, Torres Strait, Patrick has a unique blend of laid back reggae and folk styles, accompanying his mellow voice with inventive guitar playing. His album "It's all about love" released in 2008, has received airplay on 4jjj, and the ABC, and he appeared recently on SBS's program Living Black. Patrick performed in the 2009 Qld Music Festival opening concert on Thursday Island, Torres Strait and also taught in songwriting workshops during the lead up to this event. For this project Patrick will be performing together with drummer Joel Wilson, guitar Steve Sparrow and Michael Whiticker - bass.http://musiccentrenq.net/Patrick_Levi/

This project has received financial assistance from the Queensland Government through Arts Queensland