Martha Spencer and Archer bring a spellbinding night of old-time country, folk and blues to the Brunswick Ballroom, weaving mountain songs, outlaw ballads and stories that feel as old as the hills and as immediate as now.

Hailing from Virginia’s Blue Ridge Mountains, Martha Spencer is a renowned Appalachian singer, multi-instrumentalist and flatfoot dancer, raised in the musical Spencer family on Whitetop Mountain, where traditional mountain music and dance are a way of life. Armed with guitar, banjo, fiddle and a voice rich with high lonesome soul, she channels deep-rooted old-time, bluegrass and classic country, while her infectious stage presence turns every show into a front-porch song session and dance.

Joining her is Australian cult favourite Archer, the “old time sing song man” whose stripped-back songs for voice and guitar draw on early blues, folk, country and gospel, like they’ve been pulled from a decades-old time capsule. Born in North Carolina and now based in regional Victoria, Archer’s tremolo vocal and dusty, wandering storyteller’s spirit evoke bushrangers, river songs and roadside campfires in equal measure.

Together on the Brunswick Ballroom stage, Martha Spencer and Archer promise an intimate evening of harmony singing, shared songs and solo sets—where Appalachian fiddle tunes meet eucalyptus-scented ballads, and the line between deep American roots and Australian folk becomes beautifully blurred. Ideal for lovers of old-time, honky tonk, folk and anyone who wants to sit close to the fire of timeless song.