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Biography - Val Ockert Val Ockert springs from the Canadian prairies with a suitcase full of songs and stories in the tradition of a long line of popular Canadian songwriters. Australia is now home and the highly metaphorical songs continue to pour out stories of love, loss and landscape through the sounds of banjo, guitar, Bolivian charango, mandolin and piano. Val’s influences are Irish from his ancestry, Country from the prairies, Rock and Jazz. A prodigious writer, Val’s current songs evoke a kind of Rock/Blues fusion reminiscent of the late 1950’s. They are fun, articulate, melancholic and soothing. Val plays regularly as a duo with his friend, partner, producer, manager Tracey Stride. An eclectic group of musicians also join him as the band ‘Stop Kicking My Dog’. Their current album, ‘Lane Hog Mind with a Timid Heart’ was selected as a finalist in the Dolphin Awards 2017.