On Saturday 20 June, Central Highlands songwriter Glenn Musto will present a special afternoon performance at The Cosmopolitan Hotel in Trentham, blending live music, storytelling and reflections gathered across more than thirty years of songwriting, touring and creative life.
Known for his work with cult Australian indie bands Showbag!, The Nordeens and College Fall, Musto has spent decades performing throughout Australia and Europe while building a reputation for emotionally honest songs that sit somewhere between indie rock, folk and lo fi storytelling.
Today, he lives amongst the forests of Victoria’s Central Highlands, operating an animal sanctuary and writing music from a small cabin studio surrounded by rescued animals and native wildlife.
The Trentham performance will offer something beyond a traditional live show.
Alongside original songs spanning his career, Musto will share stories from a life immersed in music. Tales of late night share houses and lo fi recordings. Touring Europe in battered vans. Supporting musical heroes. Learning to write songs in a world that did not always make space for emotional openness. And ultimately finding his way back to Country, community and a slower, more connected life.
The show will also feature songs that have shaped Musto’s own creative journey, with performances of influential works that helped form his distinctive songwriting voice.
“Music has always been about connection for me,” says Musto.
“Not just connecting people to the performer, but helping people reconnect with themselves. Some of my favourite concerts are the ones where a story leads into a song and suddenly the whole room understands why that song exists.”
The performance comes at a particularly significant time, following the recent return of Showbag!, who played their first shows in more than two decades and released their acclaimed comeback album Waterhouse earlier this year.
While those recent events have reconnected Musto with his musical past, the Trentham show focuses equally on where the songs have ultimately led.
“Living on Country and caring for animals every day has changed my understanding of creativity. The sanctuary gave me a chance to step away from the identity I’d built as a musician and discover who I was without it. Ironically, that journey brought me back to music in a much deeper way.”
Hosted within one of regional Victoria’s most beloved community gathering places, the afternoon promises a blend of humour, reflection, warmth and song.
Part concert. Part campfire conversation. Part celebration of the strange paths that creativity can take us on.
Glenn Musto performs live at The Cosmopolitan Hotel, Trentham, on Saturday 20 June from 3pm until 5pm.
