Live music
and events

Live music is at the heart of what we do. Our taproom hosts gigs every single weekend—plus a weekly open mic on Thursdays. View our gig listings here.

SHIVERS
DOWN YOUR
BACKBONE

Featuring everything from local legends to international touring acts there’s something for everyone at the Taproom.

And our regular Sunday arvo gigs are relaxed, up-close, and always good fun.

Interested in playing at the Taproom? Fill in this enquiry form.

OPEN MIC THURSDAYS

Every Thursday night, the Taproom comes alive with Open Mic—welcoming musicians, poets, and performers of all kinds. Whether you’re stepping up for the first time or a seasoned regular, it’s a relaxed and supportive space to share your voice.

Great beer, warm vibes and unexpected talent—come play or just enjoy the show from 7.30pm.

Apply to play at Open Mic Castlemaine.

Gig Calendar

UPCOMING GIGS & EVENTS

Coming up at the Taproom.
Check our socials for additional information.

Open Mic Every Thursday

Every Thursday night, the Taproom comes alive with Open Mic – welcoming musicians, poets and performers of all kinds. Come play or just enjoy the show from 7.30pm.

Put your name down to play at the Open Mic Castlemaine Facebook page.

Every Thursday 7.30pm – 10.30pm, free admission.

Psych-out! Dandy Jonestown Massacre live at the Taproom

Saturday October 24 at 8pm, ticketed.

Since 2016, the Dandy Jonestown Massacre have been recreating the psychedelic ear candy of The Dandy Warhols and The Brian Jonestown Massacre for local audiences across Melbourne and regional Victoria.

…

Psych-out! Dandy Jonestown Massacre live at the TaproomRead More »

Girl Friday and the Sepia Tones live at the Taproom

Sunday 30 August, 5pm, free entry.

Girl Friday and the Sepia Tones are delighted to be gracing the stage of The Tappy for the first time in awhile. Girl Friday (Tracey Hogue) along with George Borthwick on double bass and Ash Jones on violin will bring 2 sets of folky, bluesy, jazzy goodness to the fine people of Castlemaine and beyond on the last Sunday in August.

“Girl Friday collects and reshapes the most enduring sounds of the 20th century, turning the familiar into something wholly her own. In a world consumed by the bombast of ambition and insincerity, the subtle surety of Girl Friday and the warm intimacy of her songs is one of the most welcome discoveries a listener can make.” Andy Hazel, Arts Journalist, The Saturday Paper

Plaster of Paris live at the Taproom

Saturday September 5 at 8pm, ticketed.

Naarm’s fiercest femme force Plaster of Paris take over Castlemaine’s Shedshaker Taproom for a night of glow-up chaos and dancefloor destruction. The post-punk party starters are bringing goth doo-wop crooner Long Hours along for the ride, fresh from recording his forthcoming new album in France. Expect disco beats, razor-sharp guitars, sweaty singalongs and unhinged energy from start to finish. Trashy, theatrical and euphoric in all the right ways.

Tickets $10 on the door or presale: https://events.humanitix.com/plaster-of-paris

PubSing #48 – Radiohead “Karma Police” at the Taproom

Friday 4th September, 7.30pm
PubSing #48 – Radiohead ‘Karma Police’

Hitler Hairdo?
Talking in maths?
Buzzing like a fridge?

Join us as we dive into Radiohead’s minimalist paradoxical OK Computer soundscape. ‘Karma Police’ is at once dreamy and cynical, melodic and dissonate, humorous and devestating, understated and raucous.
And we’re here for it all.

PubSing Castlemaine is an inclusive community music project. Over 90 minutes you’ll learn an iconic song in the three part harmony with a big friendly group, then belt it out together over a bevvy and laugh. No experience necessary. Everyone welcome.

Tickets: https://www.trybooking.com/DOPFT
(bookings advised as our events regularly sell out)

Joeys Coop live at the Taproom

Friday 18 September, 8pm, free

Joeys Coop, featuring Died Pretty songwriter/guitarist, Brett Myers, return with a new album. The all-star Sydney group, has flown under the radar for too long thanks to a reticence to let people know who they are, is a must-hear for fans of the band members’ previous bands, which include not only Died Pretty but ’90s indie faves Glide and ’80s indie faves Decline of the Reptiles.

Purveyors of a sound that’s been (self-) described as something like “mix a touch of the Velvets, a reasonable dose of melodic pop, add a good shot of alternative country and follow it with a blues chaser (with a nod to the Stones) and your halfway there.” Or even “alt country and roots sounds, sure. Splashes of adult pop, Stones, Velvets, yep. Died Pretty, Wilco, Big Star, Decline of the Reptiles; well naturally.” Joeys Coop’s music is everything anyone could hope from a combination of their two founding members and songwriters.

With Died Pretty, Brett Myers was responsible for the rich, melodic and incandescent sound guitar that bedded Ron S. Peno’s otherworldly vocals; with Joeys Coop, he does much the same for Mark Roxburgh, who came out the same Sydney inner-city scene that nurtured Died Pretty in the mid-’80s with the likeminded Decline of the Reptiles. Decline of the Reptiles were mid-’80s Triple J faves, Waterfront Records recording artistes, and a band that, like Brett’s mob, took influences from the late ’60s through to the late ’70s and created something startlingly original and contemporary. Before DOTR, starting in ’79, Mark had fronted the heavily Detroit influenced ME 262, and around the same time, in Brisbane, Brett fronted the heavily Velvets/Television influenced The End. Both had shaken off their teenage proto-punk roots by the mid-’80s and 40 years later they’re making some beautiful noise together.

Maison Lapalus Wine Tasting and DJ Craig Schuftan

Friday 28 August at 6pm, free

Gilles Lapalus is bringing his lovely new wines into the Taproom for free tastings! These wines were born out of the destruction of the Harcourt Coolstore in January this year, where Gilles lost a lot of stock, including a lot of his award-winning Maidenii Vermouth.

His new wines “le win de mes amis” (meaning “the wines of my friends”) were born from the incredible generosity of winemaking friends. Gilles received around 20 samples of finished wines, and then decided on four cuvees, based on the profile of each wines . These wines don’t reflect a site, a vintage nor a particular winemaking technique – they simply demonstrates humanity at its best.

DJ Craig Schaftan returns to the Taproom with his incredible collection of lounge, 60s exotica and other delightful treats. The perfect backdrop for wine tasting!

Paper Jane live at the Taproom

Sunday 27 September, 5pm, free

Paper Jane return to Castlemaine’s favourite music venue The Taproom Shedshaker Brewing Sunday September 27. Two sets of high energy alt country bangers from with delicious pizza, pasta and great beers on tap.

With heartache grooves & vocals that are by turns vulnerable and anthemic, Paper Jane are the “Succulent Chinese meal” of Melbourne Americana. Theirs are songs of Australian stories & life beyond the happy ending. Lead singer, Buck Edwards has a twin turbo vocal range that leaves his audience wanting for nothing. Dom Redfern, the band’s Dalai Llama of bass, holds it all together with our pocket rocket Michaela Burke, known for her crisp and muscular drumming. Scotty ‘Cryin’ in the Streets’ Jansen, a gypsy fiddle genius, completes the line up. Unearthed in 2013 following their debut. Shortlisted for best regional act in the 2022 Music Vic Awards after the release of their second LP, ‘Across the Reservoir’. Paper Jane leaves the sounds exposed for the listener, joyous & evocative. Musical highs and lows that command attention and move you to your core.

Romanie + Clover Blue live at the Taproom

Sunday 25 October, 5pm, free

Multi-award-winning Naarm/Melbourne-via-Belgium indie artist Romanie is hitting the road in celebration of her acclaimed sophomore album It’s Not That Funny, which landed #14 in the AUS album ARIA charts and was nominated for the Australian Music Prize. It’s Not That Funny asks what it means to keep going when life feels overwhelming.

This tour is Romanie’s answer: an invitation to make something together.

At the heart of each show is a creative experiment in collaboration. Prior to the show, Romanie and her support Clover Blue will write a brand new song together in the space during the day. On the night they’ll perform it for the very first time at the end of the support set: raw, unfinished, or perhaps something unexpectedly beautiful. It’s a celebration of vulnerability, community and the joy of creating without perfection, so come early to watch the support act and afterwards witness the cowritten song in its very first form.

Joined by her band, Romanie will then perform songs from It’s Not That Funny, her most emotionally direct and sonically ambitious record to date. Every show is built around connection: between artists, between songs and, most importantly, between the people in the room. Because while It’s Not That Funny was born from navigating life’s darkest moments, this tour is about discovering we don’t have to navigate them alone.

Kier Stevens live at the Taproom

Sunday 6 September, 5pm. Free.

Kier Stevens returns to the Taproom for two sets of one-man-banding on the blues and boogie and ballads.

Kier is an Australian songwriter and multi-instrumentalist with a relentless writing and performance schedule – a thousand gigs down and thousands more still to go!

Originally hailing from Hobart, Kier is now a regular fixture in the Melbourne music scene performing his solo blues/folk/roots originals and also as a member of various bands playing an assortment of styles (country, cumbia, exotica, rock, and experimental improvised music just to name a few!). Apparently allergic to gaps in the calendar, the hardest-working workshy in the land has performed nearly five hundred bar, pub, and festival shows in the last four years alone, visiting every state and territory in Australia except WA (let’s fix that!). Singing and performing on several instruments including guitar, dobro, pedal steel, and banjo, Kier has recently performed at East Gippsland Winter Fest, Tanglewood Festival, Matsumura Blues Fest, Renaissance Festival, MONA, and MordiFest and was selected this year as one of two 2026 MBAS Blues Challenge Solo Finalists.

Kier Stevens’ solo shows, while based primarily in balladry and blues, offer unmatched variety of music ranging from old-timey acoustic sounds, heavy rock riffage, and screaming steel guitar solos all the way through to haunting ambient improvisations and even nods to Carnatic rhythmic traditions. A songwriter at heart, Kier’s piercing compositional vision is built on his tremendously diverse musical experience of the last twenty years and extends beyond mere words and melody, into innovative harmonic, rhythmic, and structural arrangements with a focus on exploration, symmetry and brutal honesty.

In recent years, Kier’s musical journey has pushed him into a punishing performance schedule that was pursued specifically to counteract the isolation of the pandemic. Whilst there are no shortages of new ways to connect and pass time these days, nothing beats the experience of a passionate performance with people in the room – whether you’re the punter or the performer. Get out of the house because it can’t happen without you!

Search “kierstevensmusic” anywhere online to discover more

White Summer live at the Taproom

Friday 11 September, 8pm, free.

White Summer are back from a quick 7 year spell to remind us how rock should be done. They emerged from the Melbourne rock scene with a sound built on raw emotion, melodic weight, and lo-fi intensity.

Their debut album Soul Breaker (produced by Burke Reid) led to national touring, sold-out shows, supports with Kingswood, Ash Grunwald and British India, and placements on Shameless (Netflix).

Now they return with their yowling, howling, swamp-blues to rock the Taproom.

Don’t miss this one!

Taproom Tribute to Prince

Friday 25 September, 8pm

The famous Taproom tribute returns, and in the spotlight is the Purple One, the Lovesexy, the Symbol for a Name, the man whose Superbowl halftime performance will never be topped – Prince.

From his funky early tracks to the pop megahits, the smooth and sexy sounds to the, well, loved-up bangers, our collection of talented musicians will bring his works to life.

Stay tuned for the full line up in good time.

This is the way to spend the Friday night before the Grand Final – on the dance floor, gyrating to the one and only Prince.

Katy Steel THIS IS ME, UNDRESSED live at the Taproom

Thursday 8 October, 8pm.

Following a successful national run of UNDRESSED shows earlier this year and the release of her limited-edition Undressed album, Katy Steele is taking her intimate live experience to regional Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.

Expect a raw, unfiltered performance with Katy stripped bare on stage. In an intimate duo setting, the songs are returned to their purest form- voice, piano, guitar and nothing to hide behind. Known for the soaring anthems of Little Birdy and the richly layered production of her solo work, Katy returns to where every song begins, revealing the heart of the music in its purest form.

The UNDRESSED album is a conscious unravelling of everything Katy has released before, featuring stripped-back interpretations of songs from her solo catalogue, beloved Little Birdy favourites, and timeless covers including Patti Smith’s Because The Night, Lou Reed’s Perfect Day, and Michael Jackson’s Ben.

Honest, immersive and moving, THIS IS ME, UNDRESSED invites audiences into a rare live experience where every lyric, every story and every note takes centre stage.

Raw. Honest. Unfiltered.

Tickets now available at https://events.humanitix.com/katy-steele-this-is-me-undressed-live-at-the-taproom

Rhiz & The Sugarplums LIVE at the Taproom

Sunday 13 September, 5pm, free

Rhiz & The Sugarplums are hittin’ the road to launch their new album All Over Again and are stopping by the Taproom for a hootenanny!

Reviving a retro sound that’s as timeless as it is irresistible, Rhiz & The Sugarplums breathe new life into vintage vibes. They blend cleverly written songs, powerhouse vocals, a funky rhythm section, and a whole lotta twangy guitar into one big, bold sound.

‘All Over Again’ is a love letter to classic country, filtered through a contemporary Australian lens. Rooted in traditional styles yet unequivocally fresh and original, the album pairs timeless melodies with Rhiz’s own unique voice and perspective.

Bring your dancing shoes!

Lucy Wise + Valley Road Double Album Launch + Luke Watt

Saturday 10 October, 8pm, ticketed

Join Central Vic songwriters Lucy Wise and Valley Road for an evening of heartwarming songs, intricate guitar work and stunning vocal harmonies at Shedshaker Castlemaine.

Award-winning songwriter, Lucy Wise creates music that gently opens a door you didn’t realise was closed. Blending contemporary folk with pop-inflected melodies, intricate guitar work and poetic lyricism, her songs make space for reflection on belonging, connection and the inner lives we carry. Lucy has toured internationally and earned major accolades, including Solo Artist of the Year at the 2024 Australian Folk Music Awards. This show forms part of Lucy’s East Coast Australian tour of her forthcoming fifth album, ‘Salt’ this September-October.

Long-time friends Bec and Marty (Rebecca Howell and Marty McKenna – aka Valley Road) appreciate a good harmony, thoughtful instrumentation, and quality songcraft. Most importantly, they value honesty and authenticity in music. They collaborate in an organic way, creating moments of gentle beauty and magic that often stir the soul. Their songs are rich in imagery, containing echoes of the dry bush and rolling hills of Central Victoria. Their new album, ‘Plein Air’ (September 2026) finds the pair refining and expanding their sound, exploring themes of longing, travel and home.

Starting off the evening, Luke Watt is a folk/blues singer-songwriter and guitar player. With influences including Chris Whitley, Richard Thompson and Kelly Joe Phelps, he draws on elements of folk and blues to convey stories both dark and uplifting.

A stellar combination of voices, songwriting and musicianship, this is a show not to be missed!

Early bird tix now on sale!

https://events.humanitix.com/lucy-wise-valley-road-double-album-launch

Live music and events

SHIVERS DOWN YOURBACKBONE