Ben Leece

Outside of singing and songwriting, the greatest strength of Ben Leece has long been his live band, Left of The Dial. After several acclaimed solo releases, Leece decided to capture the volume and power of that band with their release, Big Red Black, a savage smack in the mouth to the inhumanity of Empire, tearing away the bandage to reveal the open wounds left weeping in colonialism’s wake.Joining them on this show is Grand Pricks; the new country boogie band from the prolific mind of Lachlan X. Morris. Opening proceedings for the evening is Newcastle-via-Adelaide singer/songwriter Emily A. Smith.20% of every ticket sold to this show will be donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation. The ILF focuses on ensuring access to quality resources, including books in First Languages, publishing Community stories and supporting Communities and families to lead the entire process to ensure leadership, ownership, and authenticity is held with Community Elders and residents.“Our Communities are vibrant, strong, and highly intelligent. We have this literacy around culture, Land and Community, but how Communities engage with a highly Western concept of literacy is different. I want to engage Communities in those conversations around literacy so they can redefine that space themselves. My vision for the ILF is for the organisation to support remote Communities to engage in literacy in the way they wish.”  - Ben Bowen, ILF Chief Executive OfficerGreat Southern Nights 2024 will take place from 8-24 March 2024 featuring more than 300 gigs across 17 nights throughout Sydney’s inner city and Western Sydney, as well as shows in seven key music communities across NSW, including Tamworth, Wagga, Newcastle, Wollongong and the Northern Rivers.