After their awesome captivating performance at last year’s festival, and teaser at the curtain raiser this year, Mason Rack Band are back by popular demand on the line-up for the 3rd annual Cairns Blues Festival.

This blues-rock trio took the festival by storm last year, launching off of the stage to take their vibrant performance into the audience. Dubbed as one of the highlights of the 2010 event, it was a natural progression for the organisers of Cairns Blues Festival to put Mason Rack Band on the 2011 line-up… and the February curtain raiser to kick-start the festival proceedings.

Mason Rack was born with music streaming through his blood and to no surprise considering the strong influence and tuition of his father, an extremely talented jazz musician. Rack began performing at the age of six and his years of experience are evident when watching him play – he has an ease in front of an audience and appears very comfortable in his own skin on stage.

Rack is accompanied by Joel “Thunderfoot” Purkess on percussion who joins the group all the way from Edmonton, Alberta Canada. Purkess also found music at a very young age and has been an addict of the art ever since, accompanying various bands and going on to study various styles at Grant MacEwan University of Music. Nathan "Colossus" Lee-Archer joins on bass and made the move from the beautiful island of Tasmania to the Gold Coast in 2005.

Nathan brings extensive experience to the group after having been a part of various musical collaborations. The trio’s shows are totally captivating. The group is all too familiar with the festival circuit, having played at the likes of Woodford Folk Festival, Byron Bay Bluesfest, and Blues on Broadbeach.

Mason Rack Band is due to perform at 1.30pm on the Sound Shell Stage. Pre-sold tickets are available through Ticketlink for $50 and any remaining will be available on the gate on the day for $60 for adults, $30 for those aged under 17 and free of charge for those under the age of 13.

Cairns Blues Festival will be held on Saturday 7th May at Fogarty Park, The Esplanade, Cairns. Tickets are available from www.ticketlink.com.au from March 1.

Gates open at 10am, for an 11am start, with the festival wrapping up at 10pm.
For more information, please visit www.cairnsbluesfestival.com.au