Darcy Ramage is a local boy performing on home soil during the 2024 Winter Blues Festival.
Photo by
Steve Huntley
At the 2023 Winter Blues, Darcy Ramage was a late scratching after breaking his arm the weekend before in the Murray Football League round 16 Tocumwal versus Echuca United match.
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That will not happen this year, as Darcy’s ‘mumanager’, Mim Ramage, has suggested that Darcy sit out the 2024 season due to his injury-prone nature.
Darcy has been involved in Winter Blues since he was 14, skipping school to attend the previously held Blues Boot Camp.
He started busking when he was a Year 7 student at St Joseph’s College at the Port of Echuca.
This led to forming a duo with his brother Nash called the Ramage Boys and playing gigs around town.
“We would go out in front of where Oscar W’s was in the Port and busk,” Darcy said.
“But as Nash got older, he didn’t really enjoy doing it as much, so he stopped.
“I took over from there.
“The summer when I turned 18, I got pretty popular playing gigs almost everywhere because I was allowed in the pubs after a certain time.
“That summer, I played every weekend, and I think I had six or seven weekends in a row where I had three gigs.”
Currently studying biomedical engineering at Melbourne University, Darcy still loves playing music and performing as much as he can.
Now that his uni exams are over for the winter break, Darcy is busy practicing new songs, with a greater focus on the blues for this year’s festival.
“With Winter Blues, I will probably bring my guitar and my electric guitar and switch between the two, depending on the songs that are played,” he said.
“I will play songs by a band called Kaleo, they are an Icelandic blues rock band, which are very, very good.
“I will also play Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers and do a bluesy version of Johnny B Goode.
“I still have to write a few more blues-style songs.
“I will be playing one of my songs, which is a bit more on the blues side of things, maybe a bit of Eric Clapton, Muddy Waters as well.”
You will find Darcy Ramage playing the Star Murray River Providore on Saturday, and the Echuca Wharf on Sunday at this year’s Winter Blues.
Photo by
Steve Huntley
Darcy’s recommendations to catch at this year's Winter Blues are Grim Fawkner, Rory Phillips and the crowd favourite 19 Twenty.
“Grim has been playing around the traps and absolutely killing it,” he said.
“I played the ‘Man from Snowy River Festival’, and Rory was on the bill too.
“He is someone everyone should be catching at Winter Blues and watching out for, as he is very talented.”
Darcy Ramage plays Winter Blues:
Saturday, July 27 at the Star Murray River Providore at 1pm.
18°C