At home: Watty Thompson and his Total Fire Band will perform in Rochester this weekend as part of the Sound Tracks event. Photo: Supplied
Watty Thompson is eager to perform for Rochester this weekend — a coming home for him as he has been raised in Lockington.
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“I like bringing original music into regional areas where they might get as many opportunities to have these sorts of events in town,” he said.
“This time, of course, I’m really looking forward to playing for friends and family and everyone else who might not have heard the music before.”
Local boy: Watty Thompson grew up in Lockington and is looking forward to returning to play in the region. Photo: Supplied
It is special to the musician to play for not just locals but also to help attract visitors to Rochy as part of Sound Tracks.
“Hopefully, as much as there’ll be a lot of locals getting among it, there will also be a lot of people travelling into town,” Watty said.
“The train of city slickers coming from Melbourne sold out pretty quickly, so I think the town will be bustling for the weekend. It would be great to fill all the pubs and shops in town.
Watty will play early on Saturday night. His one-hour set will kick off at 6.30pm at Rochester Shire Hall.
He’s certain that despite popular belief, there is no such thing as a bad audience.
“The shows that I put on with my large group of friends in the band have very much become a shared experience with the audience, and it very much runs off audience reaction and connection,” he said.
“We really thrive off the challenge of getting that connection with the audience. It’s not always easy, but it is always worth it.”
Watty has always known he would play music for people. It’s a dream come true that he’s now being asked to play in his home region.
“It’s a really cool, unique event to be a part of. The same crew that put this on put another one on in Charlton, which we played earlier in the year. After being involved in that, they asked me to be a part of this one in Rochy, and I jumped at the chance.
“It’s become an annual event in Charlton. The whole town looks forward to it each year because it’s probably become the town’s biggest influx of visitors for the year each year, which is really cool. I hope that Rochester gets that same benefit this weekend, and I hope they like it.”
Tickets for Saturday are still available at https://www.sound-tracks.au/
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