Ska Vendors

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The Ska Vendors is a ska band based in Melbourne, Australia^[1] playing early Jamaican rhythm and blues, ska, rocksteady and reggae. Many of the musicians have won ARIA awards or Music Victoria Awards. The Ska Vendors have released five studio recordings.

International artists touring Australia Stranger Cole and Eugene Grey^[2] used The Ska Vendors for their backing band,^[3] as did The Majestics^[4], a trio consisting of vocalists Kerri Simpson, Nichaud Fitzgibbon and Kylie Auldist.

The band has opened for The Beat, the Special Beat, Neville Staple, The Selecter, ^[5] Rhoda Dakar, Keith & Tex,^[6] Chris Wilson and Big Jay McNeely.

Dennis Sindrey, of the Caribs, contributed guitar on The Ska Vendors' 2014 album, "Feeling Fine". Eugene Grey recorded harmonica on a forthcoming album. Stranger Cole used The Ska Vendors to record his single, "More Ska" in November 2022, which was released in 2023.^[7]

Formation[edit]

Lead singer Steven Montgomery, drummer Steve Phillips, and keyboardist Gus Kenny formed the band in 2003 after meeting at the Ska Bar. The Ska Bar was held on the first Thursday of every month from 1999 to 2004 at the Royal Artillery Hotel, Elizabeth Street Melbourne, later known as The Arthouse.

The original line-up was ex Adelaide 2 Tone ska band drummer, Steve Phillips, ex Melbourne ska band Trojan Horns keyboardist, Gus Kenny, ex Yeah Yeah trumpeter, Stuart Ferguson, (who was at the time lead singer of ska band Red Sand Shuffle), bassist Luke Walsh, guitarists James Majernik and Greg Middleton, and trombonist Eoin (pronounced Owen) Pehm, who says he was fourteen when he joined the band

Montgomery approached Lowell Morris (d. May 2023), formerly of the Caribs, to join without expecting him to be interested, but Morris agreed. The recording label Island Records located in Jamaica and owned by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall and Ken Khoury, recruited the Caribs in 1959 to be their first studio band.^[8]

The Ska Venders played their first gig at the Dan O'Connell Hotel, 225 Canning St, Carlton in September 2004 playing a mix of covers and original material.

In 2006 the band played at the Queenscliff Music Festival, after which, according to Montgomery, radio station 3PBS named The Ska Vendors the "band of the weekend".

Development[edit]

Despite playing early Jamaican ska, Lowell Morris thought the band was playing too fast, more in the 2Tone style, causing him to lose interest and quit the band. The band went through line-up changes with James Thompson from the ska band the Moonhops joining. Steven Montgomery was already playing in the Melbourne Ska Orchestra, ^[9]which had a rotating roster of about thirty musicians, which provided hime with a pool of ska musicians to fill in when any member of The Ska Vendors was unavailable. Many players from the Melbourne Ska Orchestra played one-off gigs and some became permanent members.

Several members have come from associations, gigging and recording with early Australian ska bands such as Just Kidding, No Nonsense, Strange Tenants, Loonee Tunes, Yeah Yeah, Redsand Shuffle and Loin Groin.

Members Individual Awards[edit]

The bulk of individual awards has been through association with the Melbourne Ska Orchestra. Kerri Simpson's award nominations are for her solo work.^[10]

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.

The Music Victoria Awards commenced in 2006 and celebrate Victorian music.

Contents[edit]

• 1Discography
  • 1.1Albums
• 2Awards and nominations
  • 2.1ARIA Music Awards
  • 2.2Music Victoria Award

Discography[edit | edit source][edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

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