Gigging is life for Millthorpe couple Jason and Chloe Roweth, who have enjoyed a 30-year-long career with repeat bookings at music festivals across the world.

Jason is a singer and guitar player, who also tells life stories and poems. Chloe is a talented vocalist, and also plays mandolin and concertina as a speciality: she can essentially turn her hand to anything with strings.

Performing as Chloe and Jason Roweth, the pair specialise in folk and roots, and original songs, but also have a variety of performance acts. 'Furphy’s Law' incorporates a bit more “old-style bush entertainment” with “improbable stories from reputable sources” interwoven with music, while 'Easy Jim' is an opportunity for the pair’s love of Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan, Robert Hunter, and Jerry Garcia to shine, featuring 1960s and 70s American music.

Growing up in a traditional family where his father worked as a farmhand across various Western NSW properties, Jason felt the world “opened up” when he first heard music.

“It was an instant obsession, life-changing,” Jason said. “It was the first time I felt like life was enough. As soon as I realised what music made me feel like, I had a plan that’s what I would like to do with my life.”

Jason and Chloe first met in Sydney in 1991.

Originally from South Africa, Chloe moved to Australia when she was 11.

“Chloe is a constant source of inspiration,” Jason said. “She is an incredible singer… she just has a natural talent to get a tune going. Within no time at all, we just realised that playing together was very easy. We’ve been able to call it a career for 30 years.”

Jason is also an educator through campfire music, stories and dance, and has worked with more than 200,000 children while working with school groups of all ages at Bathurst Goldfields on Mount Panorama, Bathurst.

However, he never had formal lessons himself, and admitted taking gigs while he was relatively inexperienced.

“My theory has always been ‘Just say yes and work out how',” he said. “As soon as I was playing, I was gigging. It’s a great, fast – sometimes brutal – way to learn!”

He loves 1950s rock and roll, and the Beatles. Jason also enjoys punk music of the 1970s and heavy rock and roll.

The first big gig he watched was Midnight Oil in 1983 at The Hordern Pavillion, Sydney. Jeff Buckley was a 1990s inspiration, while blues performers Skip James and Howlin’ Wolf are other musical influences. Aboriginal acts like the Warumpi Band and Kev Carmody are also favourites of Jason’s.

After leaving Sydney, Jason and Chloe have been based in Millthorpe since 2002.

While COVID-19 meant the temporary disappearance of live performances, the Roweth family didn’t mind the break after travelling from gig to gig for so long previously.

They were able to turn their attention to making records and videos for the online audience. He said what many people don’t realise is that people stopped buying albums around the same time, which was one-third of Roweth Music’s income. Subscription models and merchandise sales have replaced some of that income, he said, but festivals and concerts are getting less pre-sales than usual, which affects operating budgets.

“The positive is that people are wanting to support music. It’s not the first time in our career we’ve had to stay light on our feet and make sure we are flexible enough to go where the music wants to go. As long as we can play music we love, we are happy.”

They have been playing a lot locally in 2025. Jason’s favourite Central West venue is the Prince of Wales Opera House in Gulgong, the oldest still-operating opera house in the Southern Hemisphere.

“It’s the most extraordinary place to go and sing,” Jason said. “It’s just stunning for anything acoustic, or near acoustic.”

The Taproom at Badlands Brewery, Orange, is another location Jason enjoys, while noting that Orange has a variety of quality places to play.

“The scene is really happening at the moment,” he said. “While a lot of our work is people listening to us in concert, I also like playing music when people are having a beer and a yarn. That’s a hard thing to get right, but they have it working well in there (Taproom at Badlands). They’re curating it so well, with a funky atmosphere.”

Jason enjoys history, First Australian cultural stories, and watching rugby league and cricket. Chloe is an avid gardener.

The pair have two teen children, Oliver and Joanna, who are both skilled poets. Joanna also loves music history.

“We are a creative family,” Jason said. “We just like playing music together. And playing music with and for audiences.”

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Jason's dream five-act musical line-up:

• The Beatles early 1960s line-up at Hamburg with Ringo Starr playing drums.

• Bob Dylan and The Band in 1966 at Manchester Trades Hall.

• Grateful Dead in 1971 at the Fillmore East.

• Jeff Buckley and band at The Phoenician Club, Sydney in 1995 (a gig Jason attended).

• Howlin' Wolf and band in Chicago in 1959.