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UPCOMING GIGS


PAST GIGS

 

 

Ember Lounge @ Memo Music Hall 

Wed 22 April 2026 7.30pm

80A Acland St, St Kilda VIC

Book Here 

TableLands Folk Festival 2026 (TBC)

Newstead Live Folk Festival 2027 (TBC)

 

Australian Tour 2025

with Mal Webb & Kylie Morrigan duo​​

Thursday 3rd April ARC Switchroom, Yinnar ​​

Saturday 5th April Stratford Courthouse​​

Sunday 6th April Bar 303, Northcote 4pm​​

Friday 11th April The Muddie, Mallacoota ​​

Sat 12 April Goulburn Workers' Club ​

Sunday 13th Smith's Alternative, Canberra

Kangaroo Valley Folk Festival October 2024​​

National Folk Festival Easter 2024​ "Songs for Social Justice" concert​

Woodford Folk Festival New Year 2023-24​

Denmark Festival of Voice 25-26 June 2022
National Folk Festival, Easter 2022

GANEAA Festival, Wangaratta 29 April 2021-1 May 2021​

The Supper Club @ Tamworth Country Music Festival 17-26 Jan 2020


THEATRE


Back to Me: Tilly's Story 

13th December 2025 ARC Switchroom, Yinnar

Voyage tour. 3-23 MAY 2021 Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo.

PENELOPE SOLO GIGS

 

While the Pandemic made things quiet on the gig front, Penelope has played literally thousands of solo gigs over the past 30 years. Highlights include Australia:

 

Woodford Folk Festival (16 festivals)

Port Fairy Folk Festival (7 festivals)

National Folk Festival (5 festivals)

Maldon Folk Festival (5 festivals)

Yackandadah Folk Festival (3 Festivals)

Tamworth Country Music Festival (3 Festivals)

Nanga Folk Festival

Fairbridge Folk Festival

Yungaburra Folk Festival

Yandina Folk Festival

West End Folk Festival

Majors Creek Folk Festival

Gulgong Folk Festival

Cygnet Folk Festival

And many more.

 

New Zealand:

Auckland Folk Festival

Wellington Folk Festival

 

USA:

Estfest Women's Music Festival, NY (Headline)

Forksville Folk Festival, PA (Headline)

Philadelphia Folk Festival

 

UK:

Sidmouth Folk Festival

Reading Folk Festival

Cambridge Folk Festival

Stonehaven Folk Festival

 

Ireland:

Rose of Tralee Festival

 

Penelope has also done venue tours of the above countries, house concert tours of Canada and the US, and gigs in major cities in Asia, including Japan, Beijing, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Bands She has also toured Europe and Australia several times with her band Totally Gourdgeous, which has played many of the same Australian Festivals. In addition, she has appeared at Mountaingrass and The Great Alpine Pick with bluegrass band Lonesome Still. She plays whistles with The Good Girl Song Project and has played Elizabeth Wade with the one-act festival version of Voyage at festivals around Australia and New Zealand. She continues to understudy the role in the new, full-length theatre production.

Back to Me is a one-woman musical journey from Australian folk legend Penelope Swales, built from songs by three collaborating writers, Swales, Jules de Cinque and Victoria Vigenser.

 

In the small car that becomes Tilly's home, there’s no room for the guitar she’s always played. Instead, she wields a ukulele — a poignant reminder of how much her world has shrunk.

Back to Me is about holding on to your voice when life is unyielding. It is a 60-minute story of survival, via transitional housing, taking one woman from homelessness to hope.

Content warning: This show contains references to homelessness and family and domestic violence.

If you or someone close to you is at risk of family violence, you can call 1800 RESPECT free of charge, 24/7.

Or, visit https://www.orangedoor.vic.gov.au/ for more information on support available to Victorians. 

CONTACT

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