The Teskey Brothers headline 25th anniversary festival

BB King recorded slow blues music How Much Blue Can You Buy? Live as part of a landmark concert for inmates at Chicago’s Cook County Jail in September 1970.

The first three minutes consist of a dueling solo between King on his Gibson guitar and Ron Levy on piano, before the brass section comes in, followed by the lyrics.

“I let you live in my attic; ‘It was just a shack,’ you said.”” King sings ahead of the punchline: “I gave you seven children and now you want to give them back!”

The Teskey Brothers, Josh and Sam. Channeling classic Motown and Stax sounds, they found a willing audience in the US.Ian Laidlaw

It’s both funny and sad; the journey is as fun as the destination; and it was all over so quickly.

This is the song that turned Josh Teskey into the joy of the blues.

“This was one of our earliest influences,” he says.

“It’s the way the group moves around the BB, the fluidity of it all and the feeling behind it. It’s not mathematical at all. It’s really just feeling music and BB being a great singer with his guitar.

“There was always absolute, raw emotion to their vocals, and they never did the same thing twice. I love that about these singers.”

Josh is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of Teskey Brothers, arguably Australia’s greatest blues-rock band.

Known for his Otis Redding-like vocals, he and his younger brother Sam first picked up guitars as children in rural Victoria, learned to street perform and held day jobs as tradesmen for years after forming their band in 2008.

The Blues at Broadbeach celebrates its 25th anniversary this year.Mackenzie Sweetnam

Concert audiences increased exponentially after the release of his debut album in 2017 Half Mile Harvestand Teskey Brothers topped the ARIA charts in 2020. Live in Forum The 2020 album is the first live album for an Australian band to do so since AC/DC.

Despite COVID, they have been touring Europe and the US continuously since 2017; so their performance at the Blues on Broadbeach festival in May will be their first performance there.

“It was a long time coming,” Teskey says. “We are finally making it happen this year for the 25th anniversary of the festival, which is really exciting.”

Blues on Broadbeach artistic director Mark Duckworth estimates he first tried to book the Teskey Brothers at least eight years ago.

“They were an emerging band at the time. Then they had to go abroad and they said, ‘Can we postpone it to next year?’ they said. And they never came back because the path these men followed was too great.”

The Teskeys will take over the streets and parks of Broadbeach from 14-17 May, performing at a ticketed event at an otherwise free festival (Emma Donovan and Ash Grunwald are support acts).

At the other end of the spectrum is legendary New Zealand-born guitarist Kevin Borich, whose band Kevin Borich Express is 50 years old.

Borich, who lives in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, has played with Bo Diddley, Joe Walsh and Carlos Santana. He will be playing what he estimates to be his 20th Blues at Broadbeach.

“This is one of my favorites because it’s free and you don’t have to wear your gumboots,” she says. “It may rain and it doesn’t matter because the rain is coming down the gutters.

Kevin Borich played in his Blues debut at Broadbeach in 2002 and is playing again in 2026.

“It’s pretty cool to play among the skyscrapers, and when you look up you see people hanging out on the balconies. It’s a great atmosphere.”

The Blues at Broadbeach began in 2002 with just two stages and 5000 participants and was designed by Experience Gold Coast as a way to encourage visitation during the shoulder season.

“And now it covers about four blocks, and everyone from small cafes, restaurants and bars to large concert stages are involved,” Duckworth says.

This year, he expects more than 160,000 people to watch more than 60 local, national and international shows.

The event covers four blocks of Broadbeach, comprising 19 different stages.Mackenzie Sweetnam

One person guaranteed to be there is festival superfan “Big” Geoff Verey.

Verey first attended in 2005, driving from Melbourne with his car full of chairs. Now 75, he is flying in 2026 and bringing his new cane with the seat attached.

“I think this is the best five-day party in the world,” says Verey.

The fact that the festival is free means Verey can spend more time in local hotels, restaurants and bars. “Restaurants put seats and tables on the street, so they take advantage of that.

“And he like that A blues festival isn’t like what crashed in Byron Bay [Bluesfest]. “This stopped being a blues festival 20 years ago.”

Verey, a soul and rock enthusiast and avid blues lover, remembers enjoying 1960s UK greats Eric Burdon and the Animals with a group of friends and family outside a restaurant in Surf Parade in 2016.

“One of my friends who was there said, ‘this is one of the best days of my life’.”

She’s looking forward to seeing Polynesian-Australian singer-songwriter Karen Lee Andrews this year; veteran Louisiana soul-blues artist Robert Finley; mind-blowing Hammond organ virtuoso Lachy Doley; and Texas singer-guitarist Ruthie Foster and others.