Bluesfest have just announced the second group of artists set to play the Byron Bay festival next year, with Irish crooner Hozier and Aussie legend Paul Kelly leading the pack.

Other big names added include Julia Stone, guitar maverick Gary Clark Jr., and Mavis Staples. They’ll be joining a massive line up which includes Jack Johnson, Ray LaMontagne, and George Clinton, with plenty more artists in the pipeline.

It hasn’t all been smooth sailing for Bluesfest this year: the festival recently came under fire after director Peter Noble viciously responded to complaints of his male-heavy line up.

Under the festival’s Facebook account, Noble responded to a post outlining the original lineup’s gender inequality, writing: “Attacking events without doing any research on them and starting a media campaign based on your own isms and schisms is the sort of thing that worked well in Nazi Germany.”

This announce features significantly more female acts: 10 of the 19 artists added are female, and a further two contain mixed male/female musicians.

Bluesfest runs from Thursday 18th April – Monday 22nd April at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, Byron Bay, NSW. You can get tickets here, and check out the full lineup below.

Bluesfest 2019 Second Artist Announcement

Paul Kelly
Hozier
David Gray
Julia Stone
Gary Clark Jr.
Mavis Staples (exclusive)
Flogging Molly
Meshell Ndegeocello
Ruthie Foster (exclusive)
Shakey Graves
Anderson East (exclusive)
Lukas Nelson & Promise of the Real
Samantha Fish (exclusive)
The War And Treaty (exclusive)
Mojo Juju
Caiti Baker
Deva Mahal (exclusive)
Melody Angel
Hussy Hicks

joining…

Jack Johnson (Exclusive)
Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals (Exclusive)
Ray LaMontagne
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic (Final Shows)
Snarky Puppy
Kasey Chambers
St Paul & The Broken Bones (Exclusive)
Nahko And Medicine For The People
Tommy Emmanuel
Colin Hay
Arlo Guthrie
Keb’ Mo’
Tex Perkins
Allen Stone
Richard Clapton
Russell Morris
Kurt Vile & The Violators
Vintage Trouble
The Black Sorrows
The California Honeydrops
Trevor Hall
I’m With Her
Larkin Poe
Irish Mythen
Elephant Sessions
Greensky Bluegrass
Rockwiz Live

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Lead photo credit: Evan Malcolm Photography/Bluesfest