By DARCY HENNESSY
HILLS musician Ben Kelly will live out a lifelong dream when he plays a show with musical hero Nicky Bomba.
Kelly and Bomba will perform at the Sooki Lounge on 1 July.
Kelly’s set starts at 9am, while Nicky’s will start at 10am.
Bomba is best known for his work with the John Butler Trio, Joe Camilleri, Melbourne Ska Orchestra, Bustamento and The Truth.
Kelly is a local hills musician and lifetime resident of the Dandenong Ranges.
He said he was extremely excited at the prospect of the show.
“Nicky is at the top of the industry and one of my favourite, most respected artists in the country,” he said.
The collaboration came about while Kelly lived in the back of his van, touring around the country.
Some sad occurrences took place which made him contact Bomba about 12 months ago.
A friend of Kelly’s, Alex Legg, died of cancer at the end of 2014.
This devastated not only him, but the whole music community because Alex was such a strong and supportive figure of the community.
With mortality in mind, Kelly decided to make an achievement and this was to record a new album.
So he contacted his favourite artist in the country, on a whim, and asked him if he would help produce the album.
After a few back and forth emails to his management, one late Saturday evening Kelly received a phone call.
“Hey Ben, it’s Nicky,“ Kelly recalled.
“I nearly fell off the Earth”.
Bomba said he had listen to the music and read his emails and invited Kelly to his studio to start working on an album together.
Kelly said it was a dream come true.
“I’d really like to show Nicky how supportive our network on the mountain is, and hope to inspire him to become more involved with our artful community,” he said.
The Sooki Lounge is located at 1648 Burwood Highway, Belgrave.
For more information contact (03) 9754 7567.
