Mitch King, Julian James and Tullara are the three celebrated Australian musicians who will be performing at Chilly’s in Port Douglas on October 15.

The event is being organised by Chopperdog Productions, a new booking and production agency in Far North Queensland.

Founder of the agency and member of local band Lady Valiant, Marty Brown, said that his business focuses on providing live music venues and events in Far North Queensland for interstate - and eventually international - touring musicians and bands.

“I want to put Port Douglas on the touring map so to speak”, he said. He added that the concept for Chopperdog Productions had been sitting in the back of his head for some time.

“Being a huge live music fan and musician myself I've always thought that Port Douglas isn't being fully utilised to its full potential as an amazing destination for touring musicians. A lot of musicians get as far as Townsville or Cairns and we usually get overlooked.

“I think the final push for me was seeing what the guys down at the Yacht Club pulled off with the Paul Kelly gig.

“Hosting an artist of that calibre has really opened some doors for Port Douglas. No one is off limits now.”

Great line-up

“The event at Chilly’s is incorporated into part of Mitch King's regional Queensland tour that he is doing for his new ep 'Open Doors',” Mr Brown said.

“Mitch is renowned for his live dynamic performances, blending vocals with electric and acoustic guitars, harmonica, kick drum and tambourine to create his unique Australian folky blues and roots sound.

“I was also able to add on Julian James, an award-winning folk and blues artist from Melbourne who has been on an extended tour, escaping Victoria before all the lockdowns took hold. Coincidentally he's also just released his new album Julian James & The Moonshine State.

“We also have folk/roots rocker Tullara, a new local to Cairns and another excellent well-seasoned solo artist who's kicking some big goals around the region and has been on the festival circuit for some time now.

She won ‘Best EP’ at the 2017 Australian Roots Music Awards and won the attention and praise of ARIA Award Winner John Butler who said that she’s a gifted artist just at the beginning of what looks to be a promising adventure ahead.

Big dreams

Starting off as a monthly event, Mr Brown hopes it will eventually grow into a festival.

“Over the years playing with Lady Valiant we've been able to make some great contacts and friends with a lot of different artists over Australia so I have a great list of people I plan to invite up to some events in the near future.

“My goal is to eventually host an event once every four to six weeks which would then lead into growing it into an annual day long Winter Festival with multiple genres of interstate musicians so there's a little bit of something for everyone.”

The event will be held at Chilly’s Pizza in Port Douglas. Doors open 6pm and music is from 7pm - 10pm, 3 solo acts over 3 hours. The usual food and drinks will be available. For more info about the event head over to the Facebook event.

Tickets are $30 p/p available online.