The Northern Shiners are a Melbourne-based bluegrass trio featuring Daniel Watkins on guitar, Justin Vilchez on mandolin, and James Taylor on bass. Known for their lively performances, they play weekly gigs around Melbourne and enjoy bringing their take on bluegrass and country standards to a wide range of listeners. Daniel and Justin also play in the High Street Drifters, nominated for Bluegrass Recording of the Year at the 2025 Tamworth Golden Guitar awards. James plays double bass with local stringbands Oh Gibson and Redfish.

Sitting in for Justin Thursday is Paddy Montgomery previously with Mustered Courage.