Promising a mash-up of traditional blues, the swagger of hip-hop and the high energy of rock n roll,  Alex Rossi & Friends: The After Party is coming to Adelaide Fringe to have you dancing into the wee hours.

On the back of sold out seasons at Edinburgh Fringe, accomplished U.S. musician Alex Rossi is excited to be coming to Australia for the first time to get the after party started.

“I’ve never been to Australia before, and I am excited to reunite with the Fringe Festival, although it will be in Adelaide this time, rather than Edinburgh. I am most excited about hooking back up with people I met after Edinburgh Fringe. We’ve been in touch over the years and it’ll be great to see them again and make music,” he says.

“In Edinburgh, I enjoyed the uniqueness of the festival and the magnitude of how much the city transforms for the Fringe. Seeing an entire city turn into a venue is something to behold and participate in. Also, I have been in the deep, cold, Midwest for months. I am bright pink and I’m freezing. I am ready for the heat and I am ready to see some sun.”

Heading to Adelaide to play every Thursday to Sunday (as well as Monday 11th March), Alex will be bringing old friends with him and calling on new friends to join him on stage.

“Hopefully we’ll get Jamie McDowell and Tom Thum, my good friends to interact as much as possible and there’s a few others we’ve done the After Party with in Edinburgh who might pop in. I hope to include all sorts of performers and friends I haven’t made yet. The fun thing for me is that the band I’m bringing is really exciting,” he says.

“On bass we’ve got Dan Ristrom who was in Rhythmic Circus with me, and on drums I’m bringing Reed Grimm, who’s another Minneapolis musician. He had some American Idol fame. He’s just an unbelievable talent.”

The After Party set list will change from night to night depending on who is around and wanting to jam, and Alex is ready to collaborate with locals and visitors.

“It’s been really fun to talk about the sets and think about all the tunes that we can bring to the table as a little trio,” he says. “I’m also excited because one of my good friends Winston, from a city not too far from Minneapolis, was a front man of a band down there. He moved to Adelaide and is kind of mixing it up in the scene there, which is an incredible coincidence, so I’ve kind of got some feet on the ground already, and I’m trying to hustle up some collaborations with some local Adelaide people.

Alex is bringing with him an incredible musical talent, which has been influenced by some of the great musicians of all time, most notably Jimi Hendrix.

“I got my first guitar for my 14th birthday and, like a lot of people who start guitar, I sat it down for a good six months and never really played it. I was doing a lot of the grunge stuff, which I love, like Pearl Jam and Nirvana but it just didn’t move me. Then I got word of this Jimi Hendrix guy. I got hold of this really obscured bootleg and it had the most beautiful version of the song called ‘Little Wing’ so I was like, ‘alright, I got to get into this guy. About ten seconds into the intro of ‘Voodoo Child’, I’m telling you, a switch was flipped and I have not been the same since,” he says. “I’ve been chasing that rock n roll dragon ever since that day.”

And you can join him in the chase by heading along to Alex Rossi & Friends: The After Party where Alex promises to get you moving.

“It’s impossible to say what my favourite song to play live is, but I will narrow it down to something that’s rather up tempo and very move-your-booty type funky. That’s usually where I find my happy point at the end of the night. But you know, it could be blues too. You never know. It all depends on that night.”

Get along to see Alex Rossi at the Fortuna Spiegeltent at The Garden of Unearthly Delights every week of the Adelaide Fringe so grab your tickets HERE.

By Libby Parker