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Geoff Achison (born 5 August 1965 in Cowes on Phillip Island in the Gippsland region of Victoria, Australia) is an independent Australian Melbourne-based singer/songwriter guitarist, whose artistic focus is of the blues, blues rock and soul genres. He performs in two modes – as a solo artist performing and singing with acoustic guitar, and bandleader as a singer/electric guitarist.

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Geoff Achison
Birth name	Geoffrey Raymond Achison
Born	(1965-08-05) 5 August 1965 (age 57) Cowes, Phillip Island, Victoria, Australia
Genres	Blues, soul, funk, blues rock, jazz, acoustic blues
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Guitar, vocals, bass guitar, double bass
Years active	1989 present
Labels	Jupiter 2 Records, Zyx, Black Market Music
Website	www.geoffachison.com

Career

Achison performed[1] as lead guitarist for Dutch Tilders between 1989–96, before beginning to feature as a solo artist. He appeared in many festivals in Australia, including:

• Echuca Moama Winter Blues [2]
• Australian Blues Music Festival[3]
• Port Fairy Folk Festival[4]
• Wangaratta Jazz Festival[5]
• Sydney Blues Festival[6] 2010, 2015
• Bendigo Blues & Roots Music Festival[7]
• Bruthen Blues & Arts Festival[8]
• Manly Jazz Festival 1998/99;
• the Thredbo Blues Festivals of[9] 2011, and 2001, 1995–98 performing as the "Classically Blue" Trio with violinist Adrian Keating and bass player Steve Sampson;
• the Sydney Festival's 2001 'Jazz in the Domain' performing as 'Classically Blue'.

After performing with Dutch Tilders, Achison formed his band 'the Souldiggers' and produced his first album, Big Machine in 1994.[10] It is featured in the National Library of Australia.[11] By 2002, membership of 'The Souldiggers' included Gerry Pantazis and two ex-members of Little River Band: bassist Roger McLachlan, and keyboardist Mal Logan.

Achison has been an instructor at Fur Peace Ranch guitar camp run by Jorma Kaukonen each year since 1998, [12] [13] and has featured in a live performance with the Allman Brothers.

He currently plays a Lichty Guitars[14] acoustic instrument when performing in the US. In Australia, Achison plays Cole-Clark acoustic guitars.^{[citation needed]}

Awards

In 1995 the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society sent Achison to the Memphis International Blues Challenge, where he won the Albert King Award [15] for the most promising guitarist of the finals. He received a Gibson Nighthawk guitar and signed an endorsement contract with Gibson Guitar Corporation following the event.

He was awarded London-based Jazz FM's Album of the Month in 1999, for Mystery Train.[16] Achison, along with the Souldiggers, won 'Group of the Year' at the 2007 Australian Blues Music 'Chain' Awards.[17][18]

In 2007, Little Big Men won Kweevak Music Magazine's Readers' Choice awards.,[16] and in 2008, 'Guitar Player' magazine's readers' poll listed Achison as one of the top 10 Hot New Guitarists.[12]

The Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society has awarded Achison 'Male Artist of the Year', 'Album of the Year', 'Song of the Year' and 'Band of the Year' 2012.[19]

Discography

Band	Album	Date	Label	Notes
Dutch Tilders & The Blues Club	Blues Is My Life	1989	Blues Club Records
	Real Australian Blues Vol 1 (compilation)	1992
	Live at the Station	1995	Blues Club Records
	One More Time	2001	Independent
Classically Blue	Classically Blue	1994	Larrikin	with Violinist Adrian Keating, Sydney Souldiggers Tim Sampson Bass, Julia Day Drums and String Quartet
	You Get That	1998	Larrikin
	Classically Blue 'Live at the Basement' DVD/CD	2012	Jupiter 2 Records
Geoff Achison Band	Big Machine	1994	Jupiter 2 Records/Larrikin
	Genevieve	1995	Jupiter 2 Records
	Real Australian Blues Vol 3 (compilation)	1997
Geoff Achison (solo acoustic)	Real Australian Blues Vol 2 (compilation)	1993
	Mystery Train	1996	Jupiter 2 Records/Newmarket
	Acho Solo	2007	Jupiter 2 Records
	Live at Burrinja Cafe	2011	Jupiter 2 Records
Geoff Achison	Sovereign Town	2018	Jupiter 2 Records	Geoff Achison - Vocals, Guitars Andrew Fry - Upright Bass Dave Clark - Drums Liam Kealy - Hammond Organ John McNamara - Backing Vocals
Geoff Achison & The Souldiggers	Gettin' Evil	1999 (US)	Jupiter 2 Records
	Live at St Andrews	2000 (Aus)	Jupiter 2 Records
	Souldiggin' In The UK	2001	Powerhouse Records
	Chasing My Tail	2002 (UK)	Jupiter 2 Records
	Each Long Day	2002 (UK)	Powerhouse Records
	Little Big Men	2005 (Aus)	Jupiter 2 Records
	Souldiggin' DVD/CD	2005 (Aus)	Jupiter 2 Records
	One Ticket One Ride	2009 (US)	Jupiter 2 Records/Black Market Music
	Live at Guitars Across The Bay	2010 (Aus)	Jupiter 2 Records
	20th Anniversary Concert double disc DVD/CD set	2014 (Aus)	Jupiter 2 Records
Randall Bramblett & Geoff Achison	Jammin' In The Attic	2010 (US)	Hittin' The Note Records
Chris Wilson & Geoff Achison	Box of Blues	2012	Jupiter 2 Records	Feat: Chris Wilson – Geoff Achison – Mal Logan – Roger McLachlan – Gerry Pantazis with Shannon Bourne & Kerri Simpson
Other Appearances	Hot Tuna: 2000-11-15 The Birchmere, Alexandria, VA	2000		Features on the encore track 'I Just Want To Make Love To You'

Awards and nominations

Music Victoria Awards

The Music Victoria Awards is an annual awards ceremony celebrating Victorian music.[20]

Year	Nominee / work	Award	Result
Music Victoria Awards of 2013[21][22]	Box of Blues (with Geoff Achison )	Best Blues Albums	Nominated

References

External links

• Official website
• Classically Blue

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