Live Review: Dashville Skyline

It's only a matter of time before the secret of Dashville leaks into the wider Australian consciousness.

For the converted, who have formed a cult-like allegiance to the property's festivals, the tree-studded retreat is one of NSW's best kept secrets. Regular punters would no doubt like to keep it that way, but its reputation grows with every event.

The October long weekend saw the return of Dashville Skyline, a three-day event focused on Americana culture, with artists spanning alt-country, folk and psychedelia. Branded a "Cosmic Country Weekender", the line-up included mostly modern purveyors of these sub-genres, but also sneaked in a headline appearance by music legend Brian Cadd.

Friday afternoon kicked off with a bang. Newcastle upstart William John Jr injected some ragged blues straight into Skyline's main vein, before the dreamy alt-country stylings of the Andy Golledge Band filled the Skyline arena.

Irish Mythen may be small in stature, but has the voice of a giant. It's a powerful instrument. The Irish-born Canadian troubadour opened with her stirring ballad Gypsy Dancer and had the crowd hanging on every note from there on in. Frank Sultana & The Sinister Kids delivered a furious blend of Delta blues and '60s guitar jangle, but then showed off their country-rock straps with a mighty cover of Neil Young's Cortez The Killer.

Dashville favourite William Crighton returned with the full force of his live band, which included Jason Walker on pedal steel. There's something dark and mesmerising about the songwriter's imposing stage presence and cutting poetry. The Hello Morning showered the audience with shimmering and sublimely melodic country rock anthems. Their Hunter fans were out in force at Skyline to welcome them back, singing along to their key ballad, Don't Let The Green Grass Fool You.

Henry Wagons was invited to Dashville Skyline for the second year in a row and it's not hard to understand why. This time, backed by his band The Only Children, Wagons whipped the crowd into a barnstorming frenzy with pure country-rock showmanship and his velvety baritone. The Only Children are a vehicle for the songwriter to perform solo material alongside tunes released with his titular band Wagons. Skyline were treated to his self-flagellating lament Cold Burger, Cold Fries alongside especially epic jams like the ode Willie Nelson and his full-blooded cover of Three Dog Night's Never Been To Spain.

Dashville was treated to gorgeous weather on Saturday, with punters exploring the festival's boutique market vendors and food trucks, each with an American bent, from Rustic Pizza to Opie Funk's Tex Mex, MEET's succulent slow-cooked brisket and Nighthawk Diner's incredible burgers. For the kids there was a jumping castle, full-sized skate ramp and a petting zoo that featured Hunter celebrity Hamish The Llama.

Saturday's music kicked off at 9am with Jason Walker and his band scheduled shortly afterwards. Walker's new record All-Night Ghost Town has a classic country sound, the kind of supreme penmanship that we've come to expect from the Gram Parsons connoisseur.

Karl S Williams won a new legion of fans with his performance, stepping off the stage to sing in the audience. His powerful voice, perfect for shaping southern gospel folk, didn't require amplification. Then Perth's Davey Craddock, with his Tim Rogers-esque voice, overcame a power outage on the Townes Hall stage by jumping down into the audience with his band The Spectacles. He played unamplified to a crowd that quickly encircled him, turning an unfortunate technical difficulty into a magical Skyline memory.

Acclaimed singer-songwriter Melody Pool performed solo at last year's Skyline, but this year returned with her full band, playing most of her second record, this year's Deep Dark Savage Heart, to a big crowd at the Townes Hall stage. Among her best new material, modern classics like Love, She Loves Me and Old Enough, was a scintillating cover of Chris Isaak's Wicked Game.

The Wilson Pickers, a collective of songwriters that includes the ubiquitous Ben Salter and Andrew Morris, appeared on the Townes Hall stage. Their five-part harmonies congeal perfectly and their bluegrass-inspired musicianship is melodic and kinetic. The Pickers were followed by one of Australia's most unsung country rock bands, the brilliant Raised By Eagles. Among their stellar set was one of the best songs of the entire festival, Jackie.

The Sunset Super Round is one of the highlights of Skyline, an hour in the schedule when artists take turns to play one of their favourite Americana covers. Tracy McNeil, The Brothers Comatose, Jen Mize, James Thomson, The Hello Morning, Raised By Eagles and the Andy Golledge Band were among those that took part.

Dashville Skyline's headliner, Brian Cadd, quickly demonstrated why his popularity endures after five decades. Caddy had the crowd dancing up a storm, and singing along to classics like Ginger Man, Arkansas Grass and A Little Ray Of Sunshine. When he departed the stage, the crowd bayed for more and Cadd delivered, returning for a big cover of The Rolling Stones' Honky Tonk Women.

Skyline continued to ramp up the energy on its second night with San Franciscan bluegrass outfit The Brothers Comatose, who made their maiden voyage to Australia especially for the festival. Then Sydney rock band Spookyland brought their stadium-sized sound to the Porch Stage.

The grand finale for Saturday night was Dashville Progress Society, a group of Hunter musicians that coalesce for events at Dashville. With about 20 people onstage — often six guitars, two drummers and two bassists, plus keys and backing singers — DPS are the ultimate party covers band. For Skyline they played country, rock and folk tunes from Neil Young's Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black) to Simon & Garfunkel's Mrs Robinson, and Leon Russell's Delta Lady. James Thomson joined DPS for a rendition of Wilco & Billy Bragg's California Stars and then Melody Pool took the microphone for Linda Ronstadt's You're No Good.

The party continued, for some, with a silent disco, while young families returned to their tents. Sunday morning was an early chillout, with people enjoying more perfect weather and music over coffee and bacon-and-egg rolls. The Mid North, Tracy McNeil & The GoodLife and, in an encore performance, The Brothers Comatose, kept the speakers firing until midday. It was the perfect coda to a memorable weekend of music.