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By Roxanne Kiely - Co-Founder and Director
of Operations.
July 2009
Roxanne Kiely
Co-Founder/Director of Operations
Australia
We have had an
eventful first half to the year. From January 2009, we are running
even more Songsalive! Showcases in and around town.
Regular nights
are now on at: Royal Hotel, Leichhardt…Club 5 Dock, Five Dock…
Kellys on King,
Newtown… The Harbourview Hotel, The Rocks…
Another singer
songwriter competition: to begin on the 18th of July 2009,
at the Belrose Bowling Club, consisting of three heats and a final.
Contest Sponsors
donating prizes include:
Songsalive!;
ScoopFX Music; Continuumusic Recording and Rehearsal Studio; Australian
Opal Cutters; Belrose Bowling Club; Warriewood Cinema Centre;
Turramurra
Music Centre; Radio Northern Beaches
We have had successful
showcases at The Basement and have more scheduled for the second half
of 2009.
Russell Neal
is Songsalive! Showcase co-ordinator and doing a mighty fine job indeed.
We’re half
way through our workshops for the year and so far they’ve been marked
by consistency and enthusiasm. We’ve had some newcomers join us adding
new dynamic and variety to both presentations and critiques. Hopefully
even more new blood will be injected throughout the rest of the year.
Workshop highlights
have included guest appearances by Andrew Covell discussing song production
and writing; Simon Morel offering advice on how to be professional pro-active;
and, returning to our shores, Toni Koch and Robert A Case, giving us
savvy and valuable all-round information on songwriting and the music
industry.
The next half
of the year should be equally worthwhile.
Hope to see you
there.
Rita Bratovich
and Eleanor Baker, helped out sometimes by Elizabeth Usher, make sure
that the workshops run smoothly.
Exciting news:
Two new Songsalive! Chapters
to begin very soon
Robert Sturgess, Co-ordinator
for Perth W.A.
Simon Shapiro, Co-ordinator for
Mitchelton, Queensland
CD Sampler #10 coming soon.
2008 - YEAR
OF GROWTH:
Since our inception in 1997, this is my
first year to have volunteers come on board to help me run and host Showcases
and Workshops.
Having a dedicated team that works well
together is a wonderful thing and the Australian team is just that...wonderful.
Showcases have grown astoundingly under the guidance of Russell Neal. Russell, a Songsalive! member for many years
and a very talented songwriter, put his hand up....(well, that is, after I
asked him ....nicely)... in January2008,
to coordinate and host our then regular monthly showcases which were held at
the Cat & Fiddle Hotel in Balmain.
We wanted a changed of venue for 2008 and John Chesher secured Kellys On
King in Newtown as our new showcase venue.
After only a few months, Russell was doing
such a great job hosting the one showcase a month that the manager of Kellys
asked if he’d be interested in hosting two.
Our Showcases are the 2nd
and 3rd Sundays of each month.
You can read all about up-coming Songsalive! Showcases: in the regular
newsletters that Russell sends out.
Workshops hosted by Rita Bratovich and Eleanor Baker
Rita and Eleanor,
talented songwriters in their own right, and members for many years, started
out attending our monthly workshops, as attendees presenting their songs for
critiquing.
Rita and Eleanor
actually met at a Songsalive! event some years earlier and became good friends
and song writing partners. Mid-2007 they said that they would like to
become Songsalive! team members and were particularly interested in helping out
at workshops. They have been doing a
wonderful job keeping the workshops running smoothly and successfully. These workshops continue to be a popular
monthly event with members.
Rita has been
keeping the worldwide Songsalive! Team informed with her monthly reviews.
Workshop review:…By Rita Bratovich
2008 already
seems like a distant memory as we prepare to embark upon another year of
musical adventure and creative ambition. Our workshops last year had a mixed
attendance and ambience. Most consisted of a core collective of regulars,
meeting in a relaxed, good-natured critiquing environment. There were some
fresh faces, especially towards the latter part of the year, adding a new
dynamic to both songs and analytical perspective. The highlights for the year
were the workshops that featured guest speakers, notably Sue Duchesne and
Duncan Hill from Song Central, Robert A Case and Toni Koch, Simon Shapiro, and
Pal and Zelda Sheldon.
The “bring a
mate in 2008” theme was only partially realised, and though we certainly
welcomed new people into the fold, we would like to have had more…..so, let’s
aim for that in 2009!
Showcase Review:… By Russell Neal
We did our first Showcase
of 2008 on Sunday night, Feb 17th at Kellys on King in Newtown. We did monthly showcases there until July
when, in response to the success of the nights, the management asked us to do
it twice a month. At around the same
time we also started doing a Saturday night each month at Belrose Bowling
Club. The promoter of Kellys then started
offering us other venues, Haberfield Rowing Club, Petersham Inn, Drummoyne RSL
and the Royal Hotel, Leichhardt.
In October-November I
organized the first Songsalive! Singer-Songwriter Competition, over 4 weeks at
Belrose Bowling Club. This was very
successful, with a total of 40 contestants, 4 different judges each night, and
prizes including an acoustic guitar and studio recording time (all donated by
people I approached).
We are now doing about 6
Showcases a month. As a finale to the
year I was asked to organize a night, Wednesday 7th January, at the
Basement, a very prestigious venue at Circular Quay. I billed this as a “Showcase of the Finalists
of the inaugural Songsalive! Singer-Songwriter Competition”. It was a very successful night, with 150
tickets sold. I have been asked to
organize a second such event for Monday 16th February – so 2009
looks like being an even bigger year than 2008!
A BIG THANK
YOU TO:
Russell Neal, Rita
Bratovich, Eleanor Baker and John Chesher for being wonderful team members
Thank you to
APRA for continued support.
To The
Canterbury Hurlstone Park RSL club for supporting our workshops throughout the
year, if our usual room (the Wattle Hill Room) was unavailable on a particular
first Tuesday of the month, Virginia and her team ensure another room is
available for us somewhere in the club.
To Kellys On
King / Haberfield
Rowing Club / Petersham Inn / Drummoyne RSL / Royal Hotel Leichhardt and The
Belrose Bowling Club for supporting showcases and
events.
To Sue Duchesne
and Duncan Hill from Song Central, Robert A Case and Toni Koch, Simon Shapiro,
and Pal and Zelda Sheldon for giving up your time to talk about your
experiences at a workshop.
www.asong.org.au
ASONG (Australian Songwriters Official National Group):
Background……In 2004, leaders from the Australian
Songwriters Association Inc, Songsalive!, Tamworth Songwriters Association,
SCALA and the Songwriting Society of Australia - came together to
discuss possible ways in which a national collective council structure, a ‘peak
body’ over and above each organisations’ current independent operations might
now be appropriate to help support the Australian song writing industry.
From 2005
onwards Denny Burgess from (The Australian Songwriters Association), Peter Scully from (The
Songwriting Society of Australia) and myself (Songsalive!) have held by-monthly
meetings to further put in place the plans of this governing ‘peak body’ now
known as ‘ASONG’.
Australian
Songwriters Official National Group (ASONG) will be comprised of three members namely:
Australian Songwriters Association
Inc.
Denny Burgess - Director
Songsalive!
Roxanne Kiely - Director Songwriting
Society of Australia
Peter Scully - Director
‘ASONG’ will put
into action the collective wishes of each independent organisation for its
members and the Australian songwriting community at large. It will provide
networking opportunities, which will strengthen the force each organisation has
developed, and become one voice to create opportunities, pathways etc, for
songwriters.
Thank you to Sally
Howland and Brett Cottle, for their wonderful guidance and support.
Thank you to APRA
for funding the new ASONG Company.
Thank you to
Stephen Kiely for the ASONG LOGO and Website design
The ASONG
registered office is APRA/AMCOS building 16 Mountain Street Ultimo,
The ASONG launch will be end of March 2009 (Date to
be confirmed).
Confirmed Venue: APRA Event Room, 16
Mountain Street, Ultimo.
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