Katoomba Street's GalleryONE88 Fine Arts is known for its ever-changing exhibitions, its three floors of diverse art and its ever evolving fit-out.
Now, this Easter, it's officially launching its new cafe-cum-restaurant-cum-entertainment space in the lower ground floor, Pigeon Lane, with international blues musician Eugene 'Hideaway' Bridges and support act, local singer songwriter and 11-year-old super talent, Allegra Dunning.
Bridges has been touring Australia for 20 years and has been a man on a mission since 1966 when his dad, Otheneil Bridges Sr, gave him his first guitar.
Bridges sees himself as an important link between the past, present and future of the blues. This has been part of his message and the music that he both writes and recalls from the greats - the elder musicians he has looked up to for 50 years.
At each show, Bridges brings into view the "yesterday" that he feels has been overlooked along the way but needs to be heard.
Allegra Dunning is no stranger to the songs of yesterday. She is renowned for her love of rockabilly and performs a mix of originals and rearranged covers.
Allegra writes songs about experiences, emotions and the things we fear, with a distinctive Americana/folk feel. She performs with her trusty guitar and plays drums, piano and ukulele. When Allegra is not on stage, she can be found busking to raise money to record her first album.
GalleryONE88's directors, Victor and Sharon Peralta are excited to bring these two brilliant musicians together.
"Eugene has an incredible sound, something we really wanted to bring into the space and Allegra, well, she really is an amazing talent," they said.
"Our ethos at the gallery has always been to support artists at various stages in their careers and we really believe in supporting local emerging artists looking for a platform. We also thought it would be wonderful to have the combination of these two musicians at very different points of their professional careers - one just starting out and the other very well established."
Bridges and Allegra perform on Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20, doors open at 6pm. Dinner and show tickets at stickytickets.com.au or at the gallery.
