Wolfe Gang (VIC)

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The Wolfe Gang is a melting pot for the considerable talents and experience of five Melbourne blues/R&B musicians who have performed at venues and festivals across Australia and internationally. The Gang formed early in 2002 through the popular Sunday afternoon Elwood blues jam. Sharing a love of blues in all its forms, the members joined forces to explore original works and fresh cover versions of rare R&B, soul and blues tunes. The Gang members have an extensive background and training as professional musicians, touring and performing at venues and events.

Blending soul, R&B, blues, jazz, funk and swing with style and humour, the Gang has fresh, original and energetic sound. From tongue-in-cheek covers of R&B, soul and rock classics to smooth re-mixes of dance songs and groovy originals, the Gang howls up a storm of music thats irresistibly appealing to all ages and audiences.

Diana Wolfe Lead - vocalist
Big, bold and howlin, Diana leads the Wolfe Gang with passion and fire. Her performing career started in Canberra during the 1990s with cabaret and blues bands. Returning to Melbourne in 1994, she was a founding member of all-girl pop/rock group, Wine, Women & Song. Later, with guitarist Fiona Wilde, she formed rock outfit, Swerve, which performed in front of thousands at the Festival In The Foothills 1997 & 1998, Apollo Bay New Years Eve 2000 and Loch Sport NYE 1998, as well as pubs, clubs and functions throughout Victoria.

Dianas singing is influenced by the gospel style, having performed in the US with an acapella choir led by Australian gospel singer/ songwriter/ director, Tony Backhouse, in 1997.

Cathy Middleton - saxophones, keyboards and vocals
Cathys extensive musical experience includes playing a variety of instruments from keyboards and saxophone to accordion, bass and tin whistle. She has performed in NSW and Victoria for 12 years playing blues, jazz, rock, folk, country, contemporary and pop music and is an accomplished songwriter and arranger.

Well known in the Melbourne blues and folk scenes, Cathy is also a regular performer at the Great Southern Blues Festival in Narooma NSW, Cobargo Folk Festival NSW, Perisher Resorts during the busy snow season and NSW coastal resorts during summer.

Neil Rote - guitars
Aspiring to truly master the Telecaster, Neils musical past is long and varied. From a childhood with classical training in piano, then violin, Neil later began a lifelong obsession with the guitar. His performing career started in the late 70s in Sydneys University band scene and he taught Jazz Guitar and Theory in a Sydney studio. Neil is a prodigious collector of recorded music, and has absorbed influences from a deep and varied range of sources. Neil has played with Andrea Marrs Blues Train and regularly sits in on bass with the King Size Five at the Elwood Blues Jam.

Broc OConnor - bass and vocals
Broc played guitar and bass in diverse arenas from blues to rock bands (Kevin McLaughlin and the Murrumbidgee Orchestra), cabaret-style outfits (The Breeze, Something Different), avant-garde fusion (Live Evil), theatre shows (The Pyjama Game, Oklahoma!) and everything in between. Moving from Canberra to Sydney, he joined power four-piece Metro. He later joined Radio Red and Dear Enemy before heading south to team up with ex-Mondo Rock drummer Ian McLennan.

Peter (Robbo) Robertson - drums and percussion
Best known as drummer/percussionist for Spectrum, Robbos drumming career reads like a whos who of the Australian music industry. Since the early 1990s he has played with Ron Tabuteaus Chickenhead, Kerri Simpson, Ariel, The Incredible Murtceps, Masters Apprentices and others, appearing at the Myer Music Bowl, Goulburn Blues Festival, Wangaratta Festival of Jazz, Bridgetown Blues, Queenscliff Festival and, most recently, the Its A Long Way To The Top tour, with 18 shows around Australia.

He has recorded extensively, including two blues albums with Spectrum and the award-winning Dale Juner album, Only Burning Me. Robbo was one of the inaugural members and initiators of the popular Elwood Blues Jam, where he still gigs with the house band, The King Size Five.

CDs include:
Rutherglen Road (Diana Wolfe solo 2010)
What's Cooking (2005)
Coming Back for More (2003)

Click Here to view blues CDs & DVDs currently available from the Australian Blues Music Festival from this website or in-store at the Goulburn Visitor Information Centre. More titles arriving all the time.

Wolfe Gang featured at the Australian Blues Music Festival in 2004 and 2008.

Visit the Wolfe Gang's MySpace page at: www.myspace.com/thewolfegang