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= The Ska Vendors = From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Ska Vendors is a ska band based in Melbourne, Australia playing early Jamaican rhythm and blues, ska, rocksteady and reggae. Many of the musicians have won ARIA s or Music Victoria Awards. The Ska Vendors have released five studio recordings.

International artists touring Australia have used The Ska Vendors as their backing band, including Stranger Cole, Eugene Grey and Richie Stephens. The Ska Vendors were the backing band for the Majestics, a trio consisting of vocalists Kerri Simpson, Nichaud Fitzgibbon and Kylie Auldist.

The band has opened for The Beat, the Special Beat, Neville Staple, The Selecter, Rhoda Dakar, Keith & Tex, Chris Wilson and Big Jay McNeely.

Dennis Sindrey, also of the Caribs, contributed guitar on The Ska Vendors' 2014 album, "Feeling Fine". Eugene Grey recorded harmonica on the forthcoming album. Stranger Cole used The Ska Vendors to record his single, "More Ska" in November 2022, which was released in 2023.

Formation
Lead singer Steven Montgomery, drummer Steve Phillips, and keyboardist Gus Kenny formed the band in 2003 after meeting at the Ska Bar. The Ska Bar was held on the first Thursday of every month from 1999 to 2004 at the Royal Artillery Hotel, Elizabeth Street Melbourne, which later became known as The Arthouse.

The original line-up was ex Adelaide Two Tone ska band drummer, Steve Phillips, ex Melbourne ska band Trojan Horns keyboardist, Gus Kenny, ex Yeah Yeah trumpeter, Stuart Ferguson, (who was at the time the lead singer of ska band Red Sand Shuffle), bassist Luke Walsh, guitarists James Majernik and Greg Middleton, and trombonist Eoin (pronounced Owen) Pehm, who says he was fourteen when he joined the band.

Montgomery approached Lowell Morris (d. May 2023), formerly of the Caribs, to join without expecting him to be interested, but he agreed. The recording label Island Records located in Jamaica and owned by Chris Blackwell, Graeme Goodall and Ken Khoury, recruited the Caribs in 1959 to be their first studio band.

The band played its first gig at the Dan O'Connell Hotel, 225 Canning St, Carlton in September 2004 playing a mix of covers and original material.

In 2006 the band played at the Queenscliff Music Festival, after which, radio station 3PBS named The Ska Vendors the "band of the weekend".

The band has played at every Jamaican Music Food Festival held in Williamstown, Victoria.

Development
Despite playing early Jamaican ska, Lowell Morris thought the band was playing to fast and too much in the faster-tempo style, Two Tone ska, causing him to loose interest and quit the band. (need Steve's interview about audacity in asking Lowell) The band went through line-up changes with James Thompson from the ska band the Moonhops joining. Steven Montgomery was already playing in the Melbourne Ska Orchestra, which had a rotating roster of about thirty musicians, and this connection provided Montgomery with a pool of talented ska musicians to fill in when any member of The Ska Vendors wasn't available for gigs. Many players from the Melbourne Ska Orchestra played one-off gigs but some became permanent members. There were musicians who were not involved with the Melbourne Ska Orchestra who also filled in. Montgomery refers to these guest musicians as part of the extended The Ska Vendors family.

Several members have come from associations, gigging and recording with early Australian ska bands such as Just Kidding, No Nonsense, Strange Tenants, Loonee Tunes, Yeah Yeah, Redsand Shuffle and Loin Groin.

Members Individual Awards
The bulk of individual awards has been through association with the Melbourne Ska Orchestra. Kerri Simpson's award nominations are for her solo work.

The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music.

The Music Victoria Awards commenced in 2006 and celebrate Victorian music.

Contents

 * 1Discography
 * 1.1Albums
 * 2Awards and nominations
 * 2.1ARIA Music Awards
 * 2.2Music Victoria Award