Bio
Are you really a family?
Long Story Short
Multi-award-winning Haystack Mountain Hermits, based in SE Qld, is a band like no other. Fast growing and much loved on the Australian festival circuit, they delight audiences with their trademark blood harmonies, astonishing instrumental skills, captivating arrangements of traditional and original music and hilarious stage banter. Their music attracts young and not-so-young audiences who say the band’s onstage joy is contagious.
“Every song mesmerising”
“They are brilliant”
“The best show I’ve seen … and I’ve seen many!”
The family started busking in 2011 as they travelled around Australia for seven months. The kids learnt to play instruments in the back of the van as they travelled. The band soon collected busking trophies and national titles, including Australian Busking Champions and Tamworth Busking Champions, all going straight to the pool room.
They’ve been invited to play major Australian festivals including Woodford, Tamworth, Groundwater, Gympie Muster, Dorrigo, Illawarra, and National Folk Festival and they were honoured with the “Festival Find” title at Illawarra after their inaugural festival.
Currently working on an original album, the Hermits look forward to sharing their new music with you somewhere down the track.
Our first ever live-to-air ... a day after our first-ever performance! ABC Darwin
Are you really a family?
Long Story Longer
Around about 1996, Davo decided that he would like to start a family band. This was quite difficult to achieve, as he had no children. Fast forward 15 years, and he and Kerrie decided to throw off the shackles of full-time employment to travel Australia with their young family. The decision-making process went something like this:
Dave: “I reckon we should busk around Australia.”
Kerrie: “Orright, let’s go.”
Dave: “OK.”
Kerrie: “OK then.”
And so, in 2011, the Haystack Mountain Hermits loaded their Toyota van with every unusual instrument they could find (and not much else apart from some scones and jam made by Super Gran) and set off on their “Are We There Yet?” busking tour of Australia. The kids were 7, 9, 11 and 13 as they fought over instruments, seat positions in the van and the colour of the sky; learning instrument names and developing their musicianship while travelling the long, straight sections of Highway One. Contrary to popular belief they were not assigned their instruments at birth – hospital records just state name, time, length and weight as usual. Family photos from the Busking Tour show cute young’uns holding instruments almost bigger than them, whose gap-toothed smiles and hungry expressions helped pay for the groceries and top up the fuel. And buy the occasional coldie. Don’t judge. Those two did 8 hour stretches of driving with 4 kids.
After travelling more than 26 000 kms and with performances in every state, the Hermits returned home to SE Qld, where they kept busking and performing together at private functions and small festivals. They made enough to buy a few packets of mandolin strings and replace a spark plug or two, but they were hooked. In 2017 the band entered the Australian National Busking Championships competition on a whim and came away Regional Champions, albeit feeling like the proverbial stunned mullets. They won the Best Band section in the Nationals in the same year. They were astonished (so astonished, in fact, that they did not respond to the announcement, thinking there had been a mistake) and absolutely delighted to be crowned Tamworth Busking Champions in 2018, following this with more ANBC Regional success and being crowned Australian National Busking Champions in November, 2018.
2019 saw the band release their debut EP Going Home in a soggy fashion during an epic, drought-breaking thunderstorm (they cried “Send ‘er down Huey” … and he did!) and step up to major festival performances at Tamworth, Groundwater and Ballina. Along with Gran and Pap, Haystack Mountain Hermits were featured in the popular ABC series The Recording Studio, with the soundtrack featuring various artists winning an ARIA. The Hermits continued to donate their talents to causes close to their hearts, with Ewingar Rising Bushfire Benefit supporting communities close to Haystack Mountain, NSW. Yes, Haystack Mountain really exists. Kerrie’s family have lived and farmed there for more than 120 years.
2020 started with great promise at Tamworth, with many more festival bookings locked in. The title track from the EP Going Home was shortlisted in the Australian Song Association songwriting competition. The year then took a shortcut down the S bend and finished up conked out like a second-hand lawnmower in long, dry blady grass. But you know that already.
Hermits were thrilled to usher in 2021 at Woodford Folk Festival’s Bushtime and despite all the COVID cancellations, recorded and released their ANZAC single The Horses Stay Behind (One Last Ride). They re-recorded the song with the addition of Russell Smith on yidaki (didgeridoo) in 2022 and used this version to accompany their art piece film clip, honouring the Australian Light Horse. They were truly honoured to have the support of the Australian Light Horse Association, the Australian War Animal Memorial Organisation and the General Sir Harry Chauvel Memorial Foundation for the film clip and performed it live at Currumbin RSL’s iconic dawn service, which was televised to over 19 million people. The song has gone on to be shortlisted in the prestigious International Songwriting Competition (ISC).
2023 was packed with festivals and shows, despite mum Kerrie’s breast cancer diagnosis in late 2022. She has played many gigs through her treatment, co-produced a film clip and national launch and has written well over 100 songs for the Hermits upcoming album (don't worry, they'll only choose 12!). She credits the family and music making as incredibly important in her healing journey. They were finalists in two categories in the Australian Folk Music Awards and the ICMA Awards.
In 2024, Haystack Mountain Hermits played their first ticketed shows in Tamworth along with many festivals and shows. Hermits were finalists in the Australian Folk Music Awards, placing third in People's Choice. Close to capacity shows at the Tamworth Country Music Festival started 2025 with a hoot n holler, which continued as they toured SE Qld with Red Chair on their COMPASS Tour.
Haystack Mountain Hermits look forward to meeting you down the track somewhere at a Festival, live music venue or supermarket.