Global Beats this week at AWME 2010

From hard-hitting roots to driving Afrobeat rhythms, conscious hip-hop to Indigenous folk melodies, layered electronica to stripped back dub - the Australasian World Music Expo (AWME) is set to serve up a lavish musical fare at venues around Melbourne this week.

A selection of the world’s finest local and international artists will be playing back to back over four days starting tomorrow at some of Melbourne’s premier music venues. Soulshine’s picks of the festival are:

Thursday the ARIA award winning Dan Sultan will open the festival at the Hi Fi Bar. On Friday That 1 Guy & the Graveyard Train will play BMW Edge at Federation Square. Saturday the Hi Fi Bar will host roots-reggae powerhouse Groundation and Jamaica’s oldest, foundation-shaking sound system Stone Love. The festival closes on Sunday with Afrobeat luminary Femi Kuti and his 15 piece band The Positive Force at the Hi Fi Bar.

Coinciding with the start of the festival season, AWME will bring together musicians, industry representatives and festival audiences from across Australia and around the globe. Featuring more than 50 performance groups and attracting national and international delegates, AWME aims to raise the profile and commercial opportunities for contemporary and traditional Indigenous, roots, folk and world music artists from the region, whilst also offering audiences a vibrant program of live music.

“AWME is a world class event profiling some of region’s finest roots music artists to international delegates, with the vision of marketing diverse cultural based art forms from our shores internationally. It simultaneously introduces audiences to new music groups they might not otherwise have access to,” says Simon Raynor, Director of AWME.

For more information check out the AWME website www.awme.com.au.

AWME 2010 will take place from 18th – 21st November at the Arts Centre, The HiFi, The Toff and the BMW Edge at Federation Square. Tickets for all shows are on sale from the venues.