images by Kerrie Pacholli © pationpics.com

The Retreat Hotel in Sydney Road, Brunswick Melbourne, hosted a very special event with performances by long time friends, Western Australian blues artists’ Ivan Zar and Olive Knight.

Singer / songwriter, deadly guitar and harp musician Ivan, first encountered Olive when he was touring the Kimberly through the Aboriginal communities during the 1990s.

Back in the 1990’s Olive Knight whose tribal name is Kankawa Nagarra was already a Gospel singer and leader in her community.  She was so inspired by Ivan’s high voltage energy, abundant raw talent and knowledge of the Blues, particularly Delta Blues, that she tracked him down in 2010 to be her mentor and produce her first album.

In 2011 Olive Knight was discovered by Hugh Jackman, who helped propel Olive to achieve worldwide fame performing in Hugh Jackman Back to Broadway along side her son, artist / singer Clifton Bieundurry and Nathan Mundraby playing didgeridoo.

In November this year Olive Knight will again be part of a national tour in his latest stage production Hugh Jackman from Broadway to Oz again accompanied by her son Clifton and Nathan.

Ivan and Olive are both powerful blues artists, both with extraordinary and rich histories. They are the real deal when it comes to Blues and they both continue to touched and inspired people from all walks of life.