The Teskey Brothers

And so it goes, the ten-year overnight success story…

It’s one of those fabled stories. Two brothers (Josh and Sam Teskey) make friends with two other music-minded kids (Liam Gough and Brendon Love) from the local neighborhood and the four teenagers begin making music together. It’s all very low-key in the beginning: busking at the local farmers’ market, backyard party jams, and eventually taking on the inner-city venues of Melbourne. Fast-forward ten years to 2017 and that band, The Teskey Brothers, are still are still toiling away, virtually unknown, when they release an incredible debut album entitled Half Mile Harvest. Everything changes. And so it goes, the ten-year overnight success story…

With its raw combination of blues and soul, Half Mile Harvest has become essential listening for lovers of old-school music. Word-of-mouth quickly hit fever pitch following its release in Australia as the band sold out night after night including four huge shows at Melbourne’s infamous venue The Corner Hotel, Zoo Twilights in front of 3,000 saturated but enamored punters, and much talked about sets at Meredith Music Festival, Byron Bay Bluesfest, Falls Festival and Queenscliff Music Festival.

Half Mile Harvest features songs penned by all four band members. The record was put to tape in their home studio in Warrandyte on Melbourne’s leafy fringes, self-produced and released independently on their own label Half Mile Harvest Records. Throughout the album Josh Teskey sings of love, longing and heartbreak; his flawless smoked whiskey vocal rises and cracks with undeniable authenticity. Around him the band conjures a groove and tone akin to those emanating from Stax Records sessions circa ’67. It quickly becomes apparent that these four friends are capable of much more than imitation of the greats but a dynamic and soulful sound that is completely their own. One of those rare chemistries that translates both on record and onstage, reminding listeners that old-school music can still feel pure and spontaneous in the twenty-first century.

At the 2017 Music Victoria Awards the band won awards for best Soul, Funk, RnB & Gospel Album and Best Emerging Act. Soon after they were over in USA playing to packed houses at SXSW in Austin Texas followed by even more air-less sellouts at The Great Escape in Brighton UK.

Onstage the band is as tight as any in the game, bringing horns and keys into the fray to deliver a show that soars and dives with masterful control. It’s anyone’s guess how far The Teskey Brothers are going to take their music but all indications so far suggest the love will go deep and wide around the world for this special combo.