Songwriter Trysts

Kirsty Lee Akers currently on Channel 9 reality TV show 'The Block' with husband Jessy and releasing her first single under her new independent record label, this is a rare talent who is proud of her First Nations heritage, she is a woman of the Wonnarua Nation (Hunter Valley – Australia). Akers describes herself as a fusion of country and Americana, with pop stylings. She has embraced a global musical culture and now spends her time between Australia and a hard-earned international touring schedule in North America and Europe. Although she spends time overseas during the year, Australia will always be her spiritual home.

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Jasmin Bade received an APRA scholarship to do a bachelor of music at the university of Tasmania and talks about what collage was like for her and the benefits that she got from going to university that isn’t always listed in the description of the course. It was the culture and community and life experience she got from living on campus.

Now living in Nashville and getting an internship at the blue bird she is living her dream, inspired by Casey chambers and Taylor swift she is chasing her dreams to be an incredible singer songwriter in her own right. Phil barton is a great supporter of her in Nashville who is also from Melbourne and now in Nashville as a songwriter.

Being mental health week we talk about the challenges around social acceptance of mental health issues. And especially how it has increased during Covid not just in the music industry but for everyone. We go into what a mental health first aid certificate is and why it's so great to have.

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The Dawsons are a country family through and through. From Ballarat to Yapoon and then back to Tamworth. Australian farms and country music are a deep rooted part of this family and Peter Smokie Dawson is sharing his passion for country music at country music festival all over Australia.

In this episode we talk about his journey as a young boy passionate about the guitar and settling down into a married family life as a windscreen professional for a long time before getting back to his passion for country music after an injury. Rae Leigh and Pete met at the singer songwriter retreat in 2016 and they were both in a low place and co-write a song together called "All I Can Do". They talk about their meeting and Pete shares his travelling stories as he goes from festival to festival sharing his songs and songs from legions past. 

Captain Moonlight - By Peter Smokie Dawson - see live performance on the Songwriter Trysts Facebook Page or listen on Spotify HERE

All I Can Do - By Peter Smokie Dawson & Rae Leigh - view HERE

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Jimmy Fortune is a child of the depression, found an old guitar in a dump and after leaning that people would give him money to sing he realised very young that this could be his full time job, against the encouragement of his parents. An American country music singer from Nelson County, Virginia. Fortune sang tenor for The Statler Brothers for 21 years, and wrote the song "Elizabeth" for the group. After The Statler Brothers retired, he continues to perform as a solo artist.

We talk about his song "More Than A Name On the Wall" a tribute to Vietnam Veterans which strikes a cord for host Rae Leigh as her father was is also a Vietnam vet. 

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In 2019 Rae Leigh went to the DAG singer songwriter retreat where Shane Nicholson was one of the mentors and they got paired up to write a song together called 'Powered By Love'.  Shane has been recording and releasing his own music since the 1990's and has worked with some amazing artists including Kasey Chambers. 

With over 10 million streams to date on previously released material, the writing process for Shane’s latest offering played out a little differently.  Instead of taking himself off to a remote location (his usual writing process) most were written in borrowed houses nearby on the Central Coast, and as a result of Song Club - the online writing community set up by Nashville-based expat Sam Hawksley, whereby songwriters have to produce and post a new song every week.  The recording process for ‘Living In Colour’ also played out differently to his last albums, where he previously worked with his good mate and multi-award winning producer Matt Fell.

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Andrew Farriss hardly needs an introduction to music fans. He is the man behind the songs that saw INXS sell more than 50-million albums throughout their career. Consequently his music has been on welcome and constant radio rotation globally for over 3 decades.

I was lucky enough to chat to Andrew about all things music and find out more about his life growing up living WA listening to an AM radio which he listened to everything that was available. Listen to the podcast to find out which band he first ever saw live and what inspired him and his brothers into music. 

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She's worked with Recording Academy / GRAMMYs award winning Dave Audé and had a number 2 on the Billboard charts in the states. Now in Gold Coast and being a finalist in the Gold Coast Music Awards this year she shares her journey as a mum #singer #songwriter and also shares about her collaboration with Sheppard for the Olympics this year creating a song to help better athletic performance.

Jamie has maintained an independent artist over the years of her career even after what looked like very good offers from major labels however it was more important to her to maintain her independents over the years than to join with them to keep her music limitless. She has made her own way making movies and working with amazing creative producers in Australian and the US living in LA for a while before returning to the Gold Coast Australia during the Covid pandemic. 

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Samantha Sharpe is an independent Australian artist in the pop/indie genre disrupting the music scene. With her new EP recently released, Sharpe makes her debut with thought-provoking, heartfelt lyrics and tunes. The solo artist is best known for her stunning vocals that depict the rawest emotion.

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Jayne Denham is one of Australia's most admired and sought after country rock performers. Her impressive and relentlessly energetic live shows have earned her countless opportunities performing for VIP crowds at Keith Urban's Sydney shows.

During lockdown Jayne has recorded a brand new Album ‘WANTED’ that is set to be released inAugust2020. The latest single ‘Better Settle Up’ is racing up the radio charts across Australia and has already reached No #1 on the Tamworth 2TM chart. The epic music video hit over 8,000 views across all platforms in the first 48 hours

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She knew and her parents knew that this is who she was, music was her thing and they were going to help her stay focused which has been a huge blessing in her life. After being diagnosed with ADHD she was angry and her grandmother got behind her, got her the electric guitar she had always wanted and encouraged her that no one can ever define who you are except yourself.  In this episode we discuss co-writing, all areas of music and development and whether we really can change who we are, or not? As a coach and songwriter to the core, Francesca and Rae Leigh discuss her life long journey and how she is working tirelessly to support others in the industry. 

With a background and formal education in opera and "the classics", Francesca is equally comfortable on stage at The House of Blues as she is at Disney Hall. Teaching, coaching writing and using takelessons.com to work with people from all over the world she is making waves in the world of music that most of us would never know. Working with a choir that started to support people homeless and living on the streets Francesca work with them weekly bringing hope love and community to a space where it can be rare. The Choir just this year auditioned on  America's Got Talent and Terry Alan Crews the host of the show was so moved by their performance and original song that Francesca helped them with that he hit the Golden Buzzer. A moving moment to see that there really is power in numbers. 

See the Americas Got Talent full audition here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tAyPwL-JCI

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