Bold folk songs of convict resistance and survival.
Bush Gothic isn't your typical folk band. This striking trio, led by singer and composer Jenny M. Thomas, takes traditional songs and flips them on their head—offering something fierce, intelligent, and unexpected. Their sound is raw and immediate, their storytelling razor-sharp. It's no surprise they've earned accolades, including the 2022 Australian Folk Music Award for Best Band and multiple Best Music awards at Adelaide Fringe.
For Songs of Resistance, Bush Gothic turns its focus to the convict women and children who endured, resisted, and survived one of the harshest colonial systems. Created especially for the Cascade Female Factory, this powerful concert draws on Jenny M. Thomas' deep connection to the site to shape an intimate, place-based performance.
The songs, drawn from folk tradition, are anything but dusty museum pieces. They tell stories of resilience: a clever woman transported for theft (Black Velvet Band), a servant punished for a crime she may not have committed (A Convict Maid), a sly grog shop runner (Polly). These tales of heartbreak and survival echo hauntingly in the very place many lived.
The concert also weaves in iconic Australian songs—from Great Southern Land to Waltzing Matilda—placing convict voices within our broader national story.
Songs of Resistance fills this historic space with music full of life, strength, and voice.