How a Blue Mountains live music festival + event producer came to live in + love the midwest of NSW... a prelude to SUNSET ON THE ROCKS event May 23

When "The Music Hunter", nickname of Meg Benson, moved from one K-town to another in 2022, it was the afternoon light on the Mid-Western landscapes that captivated her, as well as the proximity to a slow Kayak in the Wollemi National Park. "It really is the best  perch for capturing sunset", she said about home. Her early years were spent in Sydney and gradually she's trekked west with a 33 yr stop in the Blue Mountains where she independently organised and promoted hundreds of events including festivals with high profile partnerships such as Live at the Village, The Creative Arts Network, Katoomba Live & Local, Katoomba Solstice, The Art of Lunch, Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Blue Mountains Theatre, Blue Mtns Writers Festival, Blue Mountains Council, Fusion Boutique and Music in the Mountains as well as community groups and private events. Meg has brought her master of ceremonies talents to the Big Top at Blue Mountains Music Festival and stage managing skills to Woodford Folk Festival.

Meg said goodbye to Radio Blue Mountains in Katoomba, and hello to Kandos Rylstone Radio team (KRRFM.ORG.AU) where her enthusiasm for genre-diverse music is evident to listeners on Tuesdays 12-3pm on the Music Hunting show, a name that matches the sense of adventure for the listener.  The show can be streamed live from the KRR website home page.

Meg arrived to the midwest with a commitment to rest, rejuvenate and reimagine. "Being an ideas factory, I already had visions in mind for pulling a team together to present a music festival across the twin-towns making use of venues and street fronts, so it took some mighty restraint to write them down and just put them on ice. .." My first 3.5 years here has been spent gardening, swapping crops and engaging in genuine broad community participation including hanging out at a range of community pubs, clubs, cafe's, restaurants, galleries, event venues, wineries, recreational and hobby groups, such as dance classes and a choir, joined the broadcasting team at KRR FM, frequenting various dog parks, playing bowls, darts, pool comp and especially had fun at the local open mics where I have found friends to play music with as a music lover, not as professional. I've met a heap of good folk from many backgrounds, I know enough of the communities well enough now to start bringing them together at events."

It wasn't just producing 300 events, or 7 recent years living as a foster carer that led Meg to slow down, she had additional external factors that conspired as obstacles against making events happen. Those living in the Mountains would have experienced the disappearance of Music Hunter as fairly instant. In July 2022, The Music Hunter facebook page was active with three thousand followers and a reach of 10,000 and disappeared as if in a puff of smoke when it was hacked with offensive content posted by an unknown person. Facebook failed to restore Music Hunters account, even though a genuine victim of a random hack and with an immaculate history of good conduct and 100% 5-star reviews. Meg eventually found real Facebook staff to discuss it with but to no avail.  A significant social media detox was welcomed, she found the silver lining. Instagram was unharmed though.

As well as the physical relocation in Dec 2022 from Katoomba to Kandos, the email subscribers to Music Hunter "What's On" e-news were disconnected by a fault by her domain hosts. Meg no longer had access to significant email contacts from musicians across the globe, Australia and statewide. It was fairly unbelievable though that in Dec 2024, her domain hosts lost her longtime held domain name musichunter.com.au and consequently the email address info@musichunter.com.au. They let it go to sale, by an error during their financial transaction with Oz registry. Meg had paid the renewal with a receipt in hand and on time. Admitting the error, they gave her a website domain name of her choice, free for the first 3 years. Hence this blog on the new domain name musichunter.events.

"What a hassle, no wonder this hiatus was a long one. So I prioritised catching sunset, having hands in the soil, attending a few music festivals each year, singing, dancing and basically avoiding any unnecessary administration. After 3.5 years I finally crossed the bridge, and in April 2026, knuckled down to revive the website and get cracking on bringing some good stuff to these communities. One of my best friends here, Andy Garland, grew up here, and he's going to be my sound man for the upcoming local events. We also have a duo/ trio together that we perform repertoire, sometimes with guest musos. We are called Blue Limestone".

Although having grown up in Sydney, catching the sunset was first modelled to Meg as "a thing" by Cliffy, her cattle farming grandfather, a Queenslander. He had been in the air force, and survived. He never missed a sunrise or sunset, always ready to stop on cue, and those quiet reflective moments were essential to the farmers' long days.  Meg has bonded affectionately with the midwest landscapes and many of its people. "Childhood memories of mustering on acreage and sitting next to granddad eating porridge on the porch just before first light may have been part of the attraction for me to move here to the country...Although a larrikin, I loved that my granddad was fair, especially for a man of his time in regards to the first nations people he worked with. I continue his legacy to be mindful of how incredibly fortunate we are to love this land that has been loved by the first families and communities here for over 60,000 years. It's not too much of a stretch of the imagination to admit we all share the affection for country and that being dispossessed of it would suck.

Meg's first appreciation of first and last light happened here at Sunset Plains.

This is Meg as a little girl, at her grandfather's former 6000 acre property Moura, NW of Rockhampton, Queensland.

The first public event by Music Hunter in the midwest, is planned for May 23, 2026. SUNSET on the ROCKS and features Owen Campbell who is an original Blues / Rock /Alternative Country musician from Newcastle and just the perfect act for this community event. He's a crowd pleaser! The venue is the recently built stunning RRCA community centre amidst iconic landscapes of ancient rock, green valleys and brimming with wildlife. The venue enables appreciation of the outdoors as well as indoor refuge from the weather. It's sure to be live music in paradise.

"I toured musicians to the midwest four times before moving here,  the first two times in 2011 and 2012. We stayed on a property at Coxs Creek Road.  I literally had to stop the car on the side of the road, multiple times, wind down the window captivated by the rocky dotted landscapes amongst wavering pastures kissed by afternoon golden light. Kandos, Rylstone and the Capertee Valley were clearly the gems of the Mudgee Region, and so well placed next to the Wollemi National Park. It feels fitting to be working on my first event in this incredible location that stole my heart ."  

Music Hunter's priority of social wellbeing runs parallel to delivering premiere events and may stem from Meg's background as a psychotherapist and years liaising with the community for example as Adolescent and Family Counsellor at Lithgow Neighbourhood Centre since 2005 for 13 years or perhaps from achievements such as founder of Blue Mountains Children's Theatre in 1997, an initiative for children and teens peer-group connections and confidence to blossom. That's how I paid my bills, not from my service to the community and musicians via Music Hunter.

Meg sees herself as more of a grassroots community builder, than just a promoter and event producer. She's committed to oiling the social cohesion that communities thrive on and she's left a trail of evidence, testimonials and memories behind her. In a world where politically motivated media succeed in dividing people, Music Hunter continues on with the simple and beautiful work of bringing all types together to experience wonder.  "I've never brought people together for live music and then had social friction. If you are a genuinely warm host, create a visually inspiring environment and especially if the music and sound is fantastic, people always find common ground in the storytelling that is song and the idea that music is what human feelings sound like.... 85% of my work on this event is given in kind as an introduction to the community. It's only ever when you get funding that quality events of this boutique scale can pay for themselves. It may take a hundred hours, but the ripples of good vibes spread all around, and that social capital is at least my bottom-line guarantee. There is a reason why you don't find enough people making good stuff happen and a bloody good reason why I had a 3.5 year rest."

Meg has been able to bring music to some private events in Kandos, and as a result, Meg has been invited to dream up an event concept for the paradise that located on Coxs Creek Rd at Rylstone Regional Community Association Incorporated (RRCA) which is a registered charity. "The RRCA committee team have impressed me, especially in regards to their motivation to make their site work well for community gatherings and for events. The grounds are filled with impressive sculptures by Ludwig Mlcek, who made the dream for a community centre site on Coxs Creek Rd by offering a 99 year lease on his property. The view is stunning. They can see how beneficial it is to partner with an experienced event organiser and live music promoter, their venue is getting catapulted out to new horizons. The committee are getting behind the catering efforts and are excited about having high quality professional performers feature for their communities. RRCA is providing the facebook event platform for this event.

Some of the RRCA objectives are in alignment with the longstanding values of Music Hunter (Since 2010).  The motivations of Music Hunter underpin exceptional quality live music event production focussing on good times and community connections.  

For example: the corresponding RRCA objectives include but not limited to the following;

• To promote community connectivity and relieve social isolation by providing a community hub where people can meet and undertake activities in the company of others

• To increase individual mental health and resilience by fostering social connectivity through the Community Hub and its activities

• Collaborate with other community groups that have similar interests and objectives in an effort to increase social connectivity, reduce social isolation, and build resilience.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/66c355_ed0527248dae4d3fa813f9b0a23db0c4/480p/mp4/file.mp4

RRCA committee member and sculptor, Ludwig created this fire pit as a special focal point for communities to gather around in the cooler months during events at RRCA.

 Music Hunter is happy to assist with achieving these objectives and endeavours to delight the broad community including existing RRCA members, prospective members and those just passing through our stunning Mudgee Region with a special nudge to comrades from the Blue Mountains to be a part of the phoenix rising from the ashes; Music Hunter's return. All are welcome including families. Get in quick as there are only 150 tickets available, this is designed to be a high quality experience for locals and visitors. This is a harmonious, community celebration of brilliant musicians, the landscapes around us with music, dance, art, food, drinks, campfires and fellowship.

"Best of all, we are playing our part in treating excellent muso's as the professionals they are, offering hospitality, fair remuneration and big love from the crowd, and that means a lot in the face of a struggling music industry. "

We hope to attract funding support for our next event, which will be launched by June 2026 for a 5th September event.

This artwork is a collaboration by Sean O'Keefe and Meg Benson 2023

Sean is a Blue Mountains Artist, who painted the figure of Meg on a life size door. He chose about 35 subjects from Katoomba and Kandos and exhibited at the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre. 

Sean snapped a quick pic on the fly, just 5 days before the removalist truck arrived on 6th Dec 2022- destination Kandos. The subjects could do whatever they wanted to Sean's life sized portraits. In true promotor style, Meg digitised the image and created this montage and had it printed on a giant sticker and stuck it to the other side of the door, so was one of two works exhibited double sided, A story was written in white cursive writing on the original hand painted side with the dark cream background, it was about her big move, and about slowing down.

The Music Hunter logo, an idea that came out of her head, was symbolising all the event memories shared with the Blue Mountains people from times in the Mountains, yet also openly contemplating what will Music Hunter bring to the midwest?... and the bigger question, when?

Meg dabbles in art. She has exhibited at NSW Art Gallery, Manhattan Children's Museum, New York, Suite Foray, Katoomba, "The Gardens of Earthly Delights", Mount Tomah among others .

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2026

SUNSET on the ROCKS

LIVE MUSIC in PARADISE

Two events happening this year,

Venue: Rylstone Region Community Association.(RRCA)

1164b, Coxs Creek Rd. RYLSTONE.​

Sat 23rd May

4pm- 9pm

OWEN CAMPBELL

ALT BLUES ROCK

Supported by local musicians.

Owen, who will be playing in a trio, is one of Australia’s premier alternative blues/rock artists, known for his smouldering slide guitar, gritty caramel vocals, and soulful, cosmic sound. He’s released three best-selling albums and two EPs, and his debut album Sunshine Road reached #1 on the Australian charts. Every one of Owen’s albums has hit the Top 10 on iTunes Blues Charts in over 10 countries.

​Buy Tickets to Owen Campbell

Save the Date

Sat 5th September

4pm-9pm

HAT FITZ & CARA

Blues/ Roots/ Folk

Supported by local musicians.

Individual event poster and tickets available after

1st June.

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