New for 2025, Smith’s Alternative is launching a series of monthly concerts to showcase the best and latest original music in Canberra.

Hosted by lovable local rockstar, Pete Lyon, Local Gold will feature three or four acts across two hours with a mix of established favourites and promising emerging talent. Most acts will be local, but it won’t be exclusively so: after all, there’s nothing more Canberra than welcoming a newcomer!

Local Gold will be intimate, fun and entertaining, with an emphasis on authentic artistic expression of original contemporary songwriting. So, if you love hearing local talent, new and old, raw or polished, make this a recurring appointment in your calendar!

Appearing:

Alison Procter is one half of the established local duo the Cashews, who regularly demonstrate that the whole can also be less than the sum of its parts! Alison is a crafty, creative writer, and a captivating individual performer. Her influences span from indie punk-chick, through folk-pop, and on to baroque and beyond. She’s played big stages and small as a soloist, with the Cashews and her new band Crush-buzz. She has a rare natural and relaxed capacity to sing out life’s painful hilarious truth, connect to audiences, and leave them spell bound and delighted.

Twin Single is an alt-folk band from Canberra serving up lush harmonies, banjo riffs and songs to make you feel things. The band formed in 2023 after Madeleine Parker and Andrew Proctor brought new and old friends together. For Local Gold, they will strip it back to their duo show. They draw inspiration from the likes of boygenius, Pinegrove and Runnner, to weave intricate melodies and heartfelt lyrics into a sound that spans genres. 

Mesa is James Dyer. He exemplifies the high quality talent Smith’s has fostered through Bang Beng Bing Bong Bung. While he’s new (2024) to Canberra stages, his voice, musicality and writing are already rich and well founded. A talented guitarist with a silky voice, sensitivity and knack for melodies as hooky as they are unique. He has proven his performance skills in recent gigs, and clearly has the oomph to play more!