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Feb 28, 2025 By Celine Teo-Blockey Photography by Michelle Grace Hunder Web Exclusive

After a year of many a milestone in her ascendant career, Australian artist, Miss Kaninna adds Byron Bay Bluesfest 2025 to her list of achievements. She joins a stacked bill of rock, roots and blues-inspired acts from the legendary Chaka Khan to Tom Morello, Crowded House, Gary Clark Jr, Rag ‘N’ Bone Man, Neal Francis, Casey Chambers, Missy Higgins, Tones And I, Vance Joy, and more—for its latest installment, to be held over the Easter weekend (17 to 20 April).

A proud Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Kalkadoon and Yirendali sovereign woman, Miss Kaninna hails from Lutruwita/Tasmania. Last September, she released the much-anticipated EP, KANINNA on Soul Has No Tempo, a boutique independent record label.

Currently living in Narrm/Melbourne, she has the distinction of being the first Independent Aboriginal women to be nominated for a debut single: her anti-establishment hit, “Blak Britney.” On land where Aboriginals have lived for more than 60,000 years and that white colonialist arrived and claimed as theirs in the late 18th century, this irony is not lost on her. “Blak Britney” calls out some of these inequities with an enticing combination of her sharp lyricism, fierce confidence and an addictive baseline.

On the strength of that and her second single, the equally explosive “Pinnacle Bitch,” she was invited to SXSW Austin last year where she was touted as one of the acts to watch. More recently, Aussie favorites Amyl & The Sniffers, took her on their national Australian tour. And outspoken frontperson Amy Taylor has said that Miss Kaninna inspires her “to be even more political in [her] music.”

“Blak Britney” arrived to critical acclaim in May 2023. Within two weeks of its release, it shot to number one on national youth radio Triple J’s Most Played list. Concomitant with the praise came the swift backlash. Rather than back down, the 26-year-old penned “Pinnacle Bitch” a club-ready pop and rap anthem calling out to anyone who’s ever been on the receiving end of a takedown to be their “baddest’ self.

Her tenacity and hard work was rewarded when she was named Triple J Unearthed Artist that year. “I do have quite intense imposter syndrome” she says of her success thus far, “where I’m like, maybe it’s just luck or maybe it’s tokenism, maybe it’s this or that. But after being on the Sniffers tour and talking to Amy and the band…I was like, actually, you know, I deserve to be here.”

True to its moniker Bluesfest has always commandeered the best of the Blues legends from Buddy Guy to BB King, James Brown to Mavis Staples. Its definition of blues has always been broad, allowing for a diverse blend of acts from country to rock, hip hop, punk and indie. This year, thanks to the yacht rock revival, Toto and Christopher Cross (yes, “Arthur’s Theme”) are on the bill and it’s not far fetched to argue that all modern music - pop or otherwise - is derivative of the blues.

Miss Kaninna will find kindred spirits at Bluesfest. A late entry to the bill was Morello of Rage Against the Machine-fame, who in the wake of Trump’s first term formed the supergroup Prophets of Rage with Public Enemy’s Chuck D and Cypress Hill’s B-Real. Canadian songwriter Allison Russell whose Rainbow Coalition Band is a diverse ensemble of historically marginalized musicians returns to Bluesfest after performing at the festival in 2023, where she called out racism and spoke out for indigenous and trans rights.

“I love Bluesfest and I’m really excited to be on a bill with people like Chaka Khan,” she says wide-eyed, “you know, she was part of the Black Panthers, man.” She continues singing the praises of the soul icon with activist roots who is a 10 time Grammy winner (“I’m Every Woman” and “Ain’t Nobody”) and recently inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, “like she has really pioneered that type of music, an incredible singer and artist.”

She also feels fortunate to be performing as an artist having attended the festival with her own activist-singer-songwriter mother previously. “I’ve been to Blues Fest a bunch of times with my mom, growing up, so I know what the festival is like… as Australians and so called Australians, as Aboriginal artists, and as artists in general, we’re not really spoilt for choice, ” she says referring to the number of tent-pole Australian festivals that have ceased to exist in recent years. “There aren’t that many festivals that have such a big international market and such a big fan base where we can go and showcase our music.”

After more than 35 years, Bluesfest 2025 was meant to be the last. The festival’s longtime owner and organizer, Peter Noble—in the aftermath of the pandemic and a slew of Australian music festivals going under—announced that it was not financially viable to hold these large-scale, international music festivals without the state government stepping up to help.

The festival’s demographics however, reaches beyond just the youth market. More of a family affair, news of its imminent demise was meant with an outpouring from the community and an uptick in sales for the 2025 festival passes. This has convinced Noble to keep the festival going. Well, at least for one more year.

While excited for the big international acts, Miss Kaninna will be front and centre for Australian singer-songwriter Missy Higgins who in 2007 used her Bluesfest performance as a platform for an environmental cause. Raising awareness to protect The Kimberley Wilderness, Higgins had invited local Aboriginal poet Albert Wiggan to join her onstage.

In 2004, Higgins was barely out of high school when she won Triple J Unearthed. At the ARIA awards last year, Higgins was inducted into the ARIA Hall of Fame. “When we watched her perform at the ARIAS, I was like crying my eyes out” remembers Miss Kaninna, who last saw Higgins live when she was knee high to a grasshopper.

“She only played two songs [at the ARIA’s],” she adds, “I can’t wait to be able to watch the whole set of hers. And going with my mom, my brother and my partner … is going to be really incredible.”

Byron Bay Bluesfest takes place from Thursday 17th to Sunday 20th April 2025

Tickets can be purchased HERE