Nine years later Will Mitchell (guitar, vocals), his sister Madeleine (bass, vocals) and Zac Graham (drums) have paid tribute to the suburban street they all once lived with the hardcore-punk band's new EP, Turea.

"Turea Street is where we first got the band together because there's a place called The Rock Cave and Maddy was getting bass lessons and she needed someone to help her at the end-of-year concert," Will Mitchell said.

"She wanted to do a NOFX song and Zac and I jumped in to help her and we've been a band since then."

Since their inception in the eastern Lake Macquarie suburb, Rort Menace have gone on to become one of Newcastle's most respected hardcore bands, supporting the likes of Melbourne punks Amyl & The Sniffers and international acts Propagandhi, Me First and The Gimme Gimmes and Lagwagon, which was their final gig before the pandemic.

In 2017 they released their debut album Reid's Mistake, but due to work, Madeleine's commitments with her other Newcastle punk band Boudicca and Graham's stint living in China, the follow up has been a laboured effort.

Turea was recorded in January at Woodriver Studios by Joe Anderson and is a heavier collection of songs, carrying a clear political message.

The opener Royal Permission is an angry rebuke of Australia's Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody, while Cursed Womb advocates women's rights.

"Maddy's songs are probably more politically-charged than mine personally, but we all feel pretty strongly about the political stuff so we hope people get behind that," Will said.

NEWCASTLE musician Gia Henry is hoping next year's Tamworth Country Music Festival proceeds so her junior academy can perform.

Due to restrictions in regional NSW, this year's week-long Junior Academy of Country Music program was forced into a COVID bubble and their live performance was restricted to a livestream. The academy plan to reunite and perform in January.

"It was a lot of fun and I made a lot of new friends and learnt some theory and songwriting," Gia said.

Gia, 12, was one of the youngest academy members and is the oldest daughter of Newcastle alt-country musicians Brock and Natalie Henry. The Newcastle High year seven student regularly busks around Stockton and at the Newcastle City Farmers Market.

JOHN Waters has performed his acclaimed Glass Onion show, about the life of Beatles legend John Lennon, countless times in Hunter venues.

While Glass Onion is typically a theatre performance, for his next act Waters is focusing on the live band aspect of Lennon's remarkable music.

On August 7 at Belmont 16s Waters will celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Lennon's second solo album Imagine, by performing the record in full with a live band. Imagine was the late Beatle's most commercially-successful solo album, featuring the iconic title track and peace anthem, plus Jealous Guy, Crippled Inside and Gimme Some Truth.

ANOTHER artist celebrating a half century milestone is Australian rocker Ross Wilson. It was 50 years ago that his band Daddy Rock released their trademark tune Eagle Rock.

Sadly, Daddy Cool is no longer around to celebrate the anniversary as lead guitarist Ross Hannaford and bass player Wayne Duncan have both died and drummer Gary Young is in semi-retirement.

However, Ross is heading out on tour to perform Daddy Cool's greatest hits and commemorate their place as one of Australia's iconic rock bands.

You can catch Wilson perform at Belmont 16s on September 3.

RISING Yamba duo Alivan Blu will complete the east coast tour for their forthcoming single Let Me Go at Newcastle's Cambridge Hotel on October 7.

Couple Anna Stanton and Jed Billington have established themselves as one of Australia's most promising indie-folk acts through their tracks All The Gold and Wild Eyes.