The Garden Sessions Featuring Rob Edwards

The Garden of Unearthly Delights is presenting The Garden Sessions, a curated free music program featuring the best, emerging, Indigenous musicians performing every Saturday afternoon as part of their spectacular 2025 program. Hi FI Way has asked each artist performing a few questions so you can get to know them and what you can look forward to for a free afternoon with great music, great vibes and all the fun of Fringe!

Rob Edwards | Sat 22 Feb 2.30pm

You will be performing in The Garden of Unearthly Delights on Saturday February 22. How does it feel to be a part of the Adelaide Fringe?
It’s always great fun to be a part of the Fringe! To see our city bursting with creativity and artists is so much fun, it really is a special time for Adelaide. I have been involved in some way in the Fringe for as long as I can remember now, it’s that time of year when you are either running from show to show with a guitar or building up to that one big one, but it is always a blast.

How would you describe your music?
I would describe my music as a big pot on the stove, cooking up a delicious recipe sourced with the finest ingredients from around the world. Taking influences from growing up with the finest soul music like Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind and Fire, and combining them with my love of guitarists and songwriters that have changed the way I see and hear music throughout the years, like John Mayer, Jordan Rakei and City and Colour. It has cultivated into the blend of neo-soul/Jazz/ singer-songwriter that still falls short of the spectrum in the pot. But it never stays the same for too long.

What can audiences expect when they hear you perform at the Garden?
My Garden Sessions will be a beautiful blend of storytelling and melodies, as I strip back my songs to acoustic guitar and really set the vibe to relax, connect, and enjoy for anybody that can hear in the garden. It is gonna be a fun time for sure.

Which song is your favourite to sing in your show?
My favourite song to play in my set is definitely, Emerald Skies, as well as being my latest single release, it is such a special song that I wrote after an incredible experience I had connecting with my great-grandmother’s Country in Central Australia. Acoustically I get really into the song, which is normally super groovy and neo-soul with the band, but with just me and the guitar, it becomes this intimate space that takes me back to the vast richness of the red dirt and open blue skies.

How important is it to showcase Indigenous musicians?
Giving the space to share the stories and experiences of Indigenous musicians is invaluable. Culturally we have been storytellers for as long as there has been stories to tell, and what better way to share than with songs? I have been a part of The Garden Sessions for a few years and have loved seeing it grow, and even meeting new Indigenous artists I didn’t know about. A safe space to share their songs, practice their craft, and be supported by the South Australian community in such a way is going to have so many positive impacts that stretch so much further than just the artist, to the community. To see someone they know, their view of the world, that’s what it’s about, and together we are part of an incredible tapestry of songs and tales.

Getting into the Fringe spirit which show in The Garden is your Pick for the Fringe?
I am pretty excited to see some local legends put on a wild time, so my pick would probably be CHICKENSTOCK! – A Country Music Hoedown.

Fringe Interview By Anastasia Lambis