The secret Victorian town that celebrity musicians love

It's not every day that You Am I frontman Tim Rogers plays at the opening of a hat shop, but Yackandandah, in Victoria's High Country, is not an everyday regional town.

Rogers - known for 1990s hits like Berlin Chair and his recent collaboration with Bamboos band leader Lance Ferguson - played an intimate instore gig celebrating hatmaker Feather & Drum moving into a larger shopfront. The hat store is the brainchild of fellow musician Cat Leahy, who was grounded from a life of touring by the pandemic and decided to pick up a new skill. Leahy learned the basics of making a hat in Melbourne and started Feather & Drum to make expressive headwear for artists and musicians (Rogers is a client).

"What I love doing is making a hat just for you, one that speaks to who you are and what you do and ultimately I would like to make hats for the movies," Leahy says. "Distinctive hats where you see the silhouette and you recognise who the person is."

Leahy is back on the road now with her band, This Way North, but you will still find her in Feather & Drum shaping hats by hand with a waiting list of clients that stretches for months.

There are plenty of theories as to why Yackandandah, simply "Yack" to locals, has become such a magnet for creativity. Some point to a 2015 episode of ABC's Backroads, highlighting the town coming together to build a new service station; others reach further back to its starring role in the 2004 Paul Hogan film Strange Bedfellows. But all agree on the strong feeling of community.

"I used to come here and play the folk festival and it always had such a nice artistic and supportive community which you don't get in all rural communities," Leahy says.

This High Country village was once a mining town and its town centre - all bluestone gutters, gold-rush era shopfronts and gum trees - is National Trust-listed. You can walk from the "top pub", the Star Hotel, to Leahy's shop at the other end in minutes past antique stores, cafes and the legendary Gum Tree Pies (try the Thai chicken).

Next to Feather & Drum and tucked behind clothing store Vivienne Cate is our base for the weekend, Miette, a new boutique accommodation that makes you feel part of the high-street action. This modern stay mimics the shape of the heritage building in the front that once housed the town's French baker in 1853, but Miette's front is all glass, spilling light into the living space and open kitchen.

Owner Jane Dowsley was drawn to Yackandandah's tranquillity and has watched it evolve into the "creative, entrepreneurial" destination it is today.

"It's that unique blend of history and community in Yack and the fact that it is not as big as Beechworth, if you're looking for something a little bit laidback," says Dowsley. "But it's only 25 minutes into Wodonga so you've got that rural city right on the doorstep but with that real small-town vibe."

That vibe presents itself in many ways across our weekend. One morning we wake up to a kangaroo hopping leisurely down the leafy main street, and Dowsley later tells me that he lives between the courthouse and the school. If I had been earlier, I might have caught the big stag deer that hangs out at the skate park. Wandering up to The Guard I meet Gary and Samm who sling coffee out of a century-old train carriage and I recognise a Feather & Drum original perched on Gary's head.

Dinner that night at the Star is a Build Your Own BBQ Platter from Papa Bear BBQ, packed with Buffalo chicken wings, American-style ribs and brisket burnt ends piled high on a tray of slaw, chips, onion rings and condiments. A polite enquiry about the pub sees me taken on tour of original photos from the set of Strange Bedfellows and the beer garden pub stage signed by visiting musos such as Thirsty Merc.

On our final day in Yack we have a hearty breakfast at Two Sisters cafe across from Miette, take in the ghostly remnants of the gold rush mines on the Gorge Walk and head up for a tasting at Backwoods distillery.

Bree and Leigh Atwood also fell hard for Yack when looking for a place to start their whisky distillery. They are based in the Yack Station Precinct, a pimped shed that is home to Happy Baker, Backwoods distillery and The Guard.

Pride of place in the distillery is "Stillvester" the hardest working 1250-litre copper pot still in the High Country, pumping out 10,000 litres of spirits a year; starting as a whisky maker the company recently shifted to making gin.

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"The High Country gin was the first one we did, we really liked the idea of representing the local bushland in a gin," says Bree. "It is a really good gin-and-tonic gin pared with a dry tonic and sprig of rosemary. We also make a salted lime gin, as a tequila substitute, and then [Beechworth restaurateur] Michael Ryan took our rye whisky and we made a gin for Michael's restaurant Provenance with bergamot, citrus, cherry blossom and shiso."

There are connections everywhere you look in Yack, a web of hard-working creatives that all have each other's back in an inventive, picturesque, peaceful village that dances to the beat of its own drum.

Getting there: Yackandandah is a three-hour drive from Melbourne, or about 35 minutes from Albury Airport.

Staying there: Miette is a two-bedroom stay on the main street that costs $400 per night with a two-night minimum. mietteyack.com.au

Explore more: victoriashighcountry.com.au; featheranddrum.com

The writer was a guest of Tourism North East.