BIGSOUND, Australia’s premier music industry conference and live music showcase, has announced the full line-up for its keynote speakers.

Australian music icon Paul Kelly (left) will reflect on his career and the future of Australian music at the event, which takes place at a variety of venues in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley from September 4-7.

Co-founder of influential independent US label Fat Wreck Chords, Erin Kelly-Burkett, and Joey Cape, frontman of Californian pop-punk band Lagwagon, will also be delivering addresses, joining previously announced speakers Mardi Caught, of Sydney music industry start-up The Annex, and author Virginia Hanlon Grohl.

Hanlon Grohl — aka the mother of Foo Fighters frontman and former Nirvana drummer Dave Grohl — will discuss her acclaimed book From Cradle to Stage, in which she interviewed a variety of “mothers who rocked and raised rock stars”.

Some of the mums Hanlon Grohl (right) spoke to for the book included Marianne Stipe, mother of R.E.M. frontman Michael; Rush singer and bassist Geddy Lee’s Polish mother Manya Rubenstein, who survived internment at Auschwitz, during World War II; and Beastie Boy Mike D’s mother Hester Diamond.

“All of them were pretty high-energy mums, I guess, with all different,” Hanson Grohl told The Courier-Mail, adding she did find common ground with most of the mothers when it came to discussing their children’s passion for music.

“It was almost like when we first discovered we had musical geniuses in our houses, we were all starting from scratch with these kids that wanted to play music,” she said.

“They were all really intense about it, they wanted to do music all the time and most of them did not want to take lessons, they wanted to do it their way and David said he still plays the drums all wrong, because that’s the way he started.

“I don’t know what it is he’s doing wrong, because he sounds pretty good to most people, but evidently he doesn’t hold the sticks properly or something”

Hanlon Grohl said she had visited Sydney and Melbourne before when her son was touring Australia with Foo Fighters, and was looking forward to her first trip to Brisbane for BIGSOUND.

“I think I will probably talk about some of things from the book, just some of things I learnt from writing it and the things I learnt along the way in talking to the mothers and what I’ve learnt about since,” Hanlon Grohl told The Courier-Mail.

BIGSOUND has also announced the first part of its live music line-up, with established acts including Butterfingers, Killing Heidi’s Ella Hooper set to appear alongside rising stars such as Asha Jefferies and acclaimed Melbourne indie-pop singer Gabriella Cohen. Visit bigsound.org.au