The Viper Creek Band

The Viper Creek Band are playing a country music cruise on Saturday 14 November, aboard the MV Calmer at the Queens Wharf Ferry Terminal on Newcastle Harbour. It's a full-day trip: the boat departs at 12:00pm and returns by 4:00pm, with check-in open from 11:30am. On board, there's a dance floor and licensed bars, so it's as much about the party as the music.

The band has been playing high-energy country across Australia since 2011. Their debut album, Kickin Up Dust, came out in 2014 and hit number two on the ARIA country albums chart. That record took them onto the major festival circuit — Gympie Muster, CMC Rocks, Groundwater Country Music Festival and Deni Ute Muster — and led to sold-out shows in Tamworth. They were nominated for Group or Duo of the Year in 2015/2016 and won Oz Artist of the Year in 2016 at the CMC Awards, and they've toured the USA and Canada alongside some of the world's biggest country stars.

Their second album, Just Press Play, arrived in 2016, debuted in the ARIA Top 5 and produced four Top 10 singles. Since then, vocalist Damien Baguley has also worked outside the band: in 2018 he was invited by Adam Brand to join his Milestones Tour, and he later won a CMC award with the side project Tailgate Drive, which he did with Troy Kemp.

For this cruise, the full line-up is on deck: Damien Baguley on vocals, Adam Osmanovic on guitar, Reuben Andrew on bass and James Dennett on drums. It's a four-hour round trip on the harbour, with the MV Calmer departing from Queens Wharf Ferry Terminal on Wharf Road, Newcastle. Check-in starts at 11:30am, the boat leaves at 12:00pm and returns at 4:00pm.