On the back of a stellar 12 months, Folk Bitch Trio will play a special Candlelight Concert at Fed Square in February.
The end of the calendar year is often a time for taking stock of one’s achievements and setting goals for the year ahead. The three members of Folk Bitch Trio did exactly that in the final days of 2024, making a list of all the things they hoped to achieve in 2025. By the end of the year, the harmonising indie rock outfit had ticked off every item on their list.
“It’s been a crazy year of firsts and achievements,” says Jeanie Pilkington, one of the group’s three vocalists and songwriters. “It’s been wild.”
Folk Bitch Trio’s free show
- Tuesday 10 February
- Fed Square
- Free for all!
Stay up to date with what’s happening in and around Melbourne here.
It’s no surprise to learn that Pilkington and her bandmates, Heide Peverelle and Gracie Sinclair, surpassed even their own lofty expectations for 2025. Whatever angle you look at it from, Folk Bitch Trio had a phenomenal year.
They started the year supporting Rufus Wainwright at the Sydney Opera House and Melbourne Recital Centre. “So we already started off in kind of psycho mode,” says Pilkington. “Never thought we’d get here, but let’s go. And then…”
In April, Folk Bitch Trio announced they’d signed with US indie label Jagjaguwar, home to Bon Iver and Sharon Van Etten, and in July, they released their debut album, Now Would Be a Good Time.
Critics lapped up the album. NME gave it five stars, commending Folk Bitch trio’s abundant “emotional literacy” and “deftness with melody”.
“We did our first album campaign. We spent months overseas slogging it, being fucking exhausted, and it was worth it – it all felt worth it,” Pilkington says.
They toured the US and UK twice each, and played shows in Europe, Canada and New Zealand. They did their biggest Australian headline tour to date in September, including two sold-out nights at the Corner Hotel.
They were named Unearthed Artist of the Year, and received ARIA, AIR and J Award nominations. Now Would Be a Good Time was one of nine albums on the Australian Music Prize shortlist.
In addition to enumerating their goals, the band members’ list was effective in getting them to practice some mindful gratitude as they ticked off each new milestone.
“I think the biggest thing was maybe just a little bit of an attitude shift for us where we force ourselves to have moments of, like, whoa, this is really happening,” says Pilkington. “Like, ‘I love you guys, I’m proud of you guys.’ I think that that is the most important thing, to do that, even when you don’t feel like it.”
But while they’re grateful for all the critical accolades and somewhat taken aback by their growing international profile, the three members of Folk Bitch Trio are unanimous about their 2025 highlight.
“Honestly, it’s hard to look past Meredith,” says Sinclair. Folk Bitch Trio performed at 6pm on the opening day of the Meredith Music Festival in early December, where the crowd was close to 13,000 people.
“It was a coming home show for us, and it was absolutely surreal to play to a crowd that big that seemed to know us,” Sinclair says.
“Our friends and family were there,” says Pilkington. “We popped a big bottle of champagne afterwards, and then we had a great weekend. And it didn’t feel like there were heaps of moments this year where we had the opportunity to take it all in that much.”
Peverelle agrees. “I think that’s definitely my moment as well. I think because we shared it with not just us, but with everyone else. Because usually it is just the three of us across the world, and it can be difficult to kind of relish in the greatness of a situation or a moment. And yeah, to go backstage and have our best friends there and our families, it was kind of surreal.”
Folk Bitch Trio have made a new goals list for 2026. They’re keeping mum about its contents, but they’ll tick off another career milestone when they perform a Candlelight Concert at Fed Square on February 10, part of the Open Air at the Square program that’s running throughout February.
“We’re excited,” says Sinclair. “I’m not sure what to expect with the candles.”
“We’ll bring the real fire to the stage,” adds Pilkington. “Yeah,” laughs Peverelle. “We always bring the fire everywhere we go. We bring the heat.”
Folk Bitch Trio will perform at Fed Square on Tuesday 10 February. Learn more about Fed Square’s Open Air at the Square program here.
This article was made in partnership with Fed Square.
