Report: Greg Phillips. Photos: Jason Rosewarne
We had such a blast last week at the first of the Blues Guitar Roadshows featuring Ana Popovic at Memo Music Hall in St.Kilda that we had to return for seconds, this time at the Frankston Arts Centre, the final gig of the Popovic-featured tour. In between, the Roadshow had been to Castlemaine, Canberra, Sydney and Adelaide, where audiences lapped up the incredible music coming off the stage.
I’m not sure who had more fun, the crowd or acclaimed American-based singer, songwriter guitarist Ana Popovic, who told us she was amazed at not only the standard and the variety of musicianship on stage with her but the professionalism of the crew backstage as well. Ana had only met her backing band consisting of Richard Tankard (keys), Angus Burchall (drums) and Andrew Fry (bass), the night before the first show and was impressed with their preparation, comparing the whole cast to the great Joe Bonammassa ensembles that she has been involved with. Her wish is that one day John McNamara’s Blues Guitar Roadshow could tour America and show audiences the best of Australian musicianship. Ana was also able to holiday in Melbourne for a week with her family and was impressed with the culture our southern city has to offer and promised to return soon.
As always the travelling Blues Guitar Roadshow offered various lineups on this tour, depending on which city they landed in but at Frankston it was back to the first gig band featuring; Ana Popovic, Geoff Achison, Jimi Hocking, Brett Garsed, The McNaMarr Project (Andrea Marr, John McNamara), Bill Barber, Angus Burchall, Andrew Fry, Shane Gilbert, Richard Tankard, and Ana’s fabulous bass player Buthel Burns.
Bill Barber once again kicked off proceedings with a scintillating set, opting for a Tele rather than a 335 this time around as he dug deep into the blues, performing tunes by Chris Cain, Freddie King and material from his own band Bill Barber and The Holding Cell.
Blues Guitar Roadshow guru John McNamara hit the stage next with Andrea Marr and Shane Gilbert as The McNaMarr Project and laid down some authentic soul and gospel, prompting the seated theatre audience to make some noise.
The legendary Brett Garsed once again tapped into his Rory Gallagher fandom and gave us 3 blistering Irish rock covers.
Geoff Achison and Jimi Hocking celebrated Acho’s 61st birthday with their usual fabulous guitar hijinx, launching into Albert King’s Born Under a Bad Sign.
Then for one last time on her 2026 Australian tour Ana Popovic graced the stage with her bass playing offsider Buthel Burns, ripping into Power Over Me. As we pointed out in our St.Kilda gig review, Ana injects so much soul into her playing, a result she told us from spending time in heritage music cities like Detroit, Memphis and Chicago. In fact, travel is very influential to her music she added.
Ana utilised two guitars on the tour, the signature Foggy Strat and a naturally road worn ’64 Burst Strat. She told us that if playing in the USA, she’d usually go on tour with a third guitar but of course, baggage-weight is an issue when travelling overseas. After another stunning set, the whole cast returned, firstly to witness the audience singing happy birthday to Geoff Achison and secondly to jam out one more time together (See video below).
Full of inspiration from this tour, Ana returns to America to fulfill some gig commitments as well as beginning work on her next recording project. She was giving no surprises away in regard to the musical direction but did tell us that everything she does needs to be different and a development from the previous project.
John McNamara’s Blues Guitar Roadshow now turns attention to the Ballarat Blues Festival next weekend.
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