Jack Johnson & Tom Jones Top First Artist Announcement For Bluesfest 2024

The hype has begun for next year’s Byron Bay Bluesfest, with the first 23 acts announced this morning (August 16).

Leading the bill is Jack Johnson, who first performed at Bluesfest in 2001 (when he was still very much an up-and-coming artist) and returns in 2024 for an exclusive headline set. Following closely on the roster are Tom Jones, The Teskey Brothers, Matt Corby, L.A.B, Elvis Costello & The Imposters, and Peter Garrett & The Alter Egos.

Other artists appearing exclusively at Bluesfest 2024 include Tommy Emmanuel, Erja Lyytinen and Here Come The Mummies. Meanwhile, some of the other highlights in this announcement – the first of several set to be made – are The Dead South, The Paper Kites, Drive-By Truckers and Newton Faulkner. See below for the full list.

In a press statement shared with the news, Bluesfest director Peter Noble said: “It’s Bluesfest Byron Bay’s 35th Birthday next Easter, and as usual, we’ll be rolling out multiple artist announcements over the coming months, and our first one is today!

“Surfer, artist, filmmaker, humanitarian, environmentalist and artist Jack Johnson, who first played Bluesfest in 2001 as a virtually unknown artist, will return for one exclusive performance, the only one he is scheduled to play in Australia in 2024. Jack is one of the most loved artists to play Bluesfest, and with over 24,000,000 album sales since we first toured him, we can’t wait to welcome him back. Jack last played Bluesfest in 2019 on our 30th Birthday.

“Welsh national treasure Tom Jones has had over 100 million album sales, and 36 top 40 hits, including It’s Not Unusual, Delilah, Sex Bomb, Green, Green Grass Of Home, and so many more. The last time Tom Jones played Bluesfest was in 2016, and he had his manager personally contact Bluesfest to ask to return in 2024. We can’t wait!

“There are so many other great Australian and International artists coming to perform, including the most requested artist to return to Bluesfest after their show-stopping 2022 performance: The Teskey Brothers. We also have favourites L.A.B, Elvis Costello, Peter Garrett, Tommy Emmanuel, first-timers and internet sensations The Dead South. Drive-By Truckers are returning after a 15-year absence from our stages. Returning by popular demand is 19-Twenty and so many more.

“Special mention to wunderkind blues guitarist and singer Taj Farrant, who, at the age of 14 years, has almost one million Facebook followers and just secured the number one single on the iTunes Blues chart worldwide; he is going to be a superstar.

“This is only our first announcement, with so many more to come. We have [three] and [five]-day tickets that are now on sale; one-day tickets will be announced soon. Please come and join us on our 35th Birthday for another memorable edition of Bluesfest Byron Bay.”

Bluesfest 2024 will be held over five days at its usual home of the Byron Events Farm in Tygarah, kicking off on Thursday March 28 and wrapping up on Monday April 1. As Noble mentioned, tickets are already on sale – head here for all the info.

BYRON BAY BLUESFEST 2024

FIRST ARTIST ANNOUNCEMENT

Jack Johnson
Tom Jones
The Teskey Brothers
Matt Corby
L.A.B
Elvis Costello & The Imposters
Peter Garrett & The Alter Egos
Tommy Emmanuel
The Dead South
The Paper Kites
Drive-By Truckers
Newton Faulkner
Steve Poltz
19-Twenty
Taj Farrant
Erja Lyytinen
Harry Manx
Here Come The Mummies
Clayton Doley’s Bayou Billabong
Little Quirks
Hussy Hicks
Blues Arcadia
RocKwiz Live