Stories from a Shower Singer

In our eighth episode, Emma and Tony interview Sydney born singer songwriter- Sam Buckingham.

At the age of 16, Sam dropped out of school and left home, working odd jobs so she could earn enough to jump on a bus and head to Byron Bay. Sam found the power of music there at the infamous Blues Festival, when standing in one of the dusty tents volunteering to pick up trash, realised she was on the wrong side of the stage. She felt an aching to be up there singing.

Fast forward to 2021, Sam has become one of Australia’s most respected independent self managed artists, with two acclaimed albums and a grass roots fan focused approach. Sam has been touring consistently since the release of her 2017 album “The Water”, lapping the country with Kasey Chambers, James Reyne and Diesel.

Buckingham is known for her intimate and almost spiritual live shows and her live performances express sincere emotion through poetry and song. Sam is also a yoga teacher, and mentors other songwriters through the I Heart Songwriting Club.

In this episode we explore where Sam's inspiration comes from, the call to create and connect, singing in the shower, singing Christmas or Disney songs to the cows, the creation of House Concerts, a week in the life of Sam Buckingham, and a particularly interesting Costa Rica yoga retreat that Sam, Emma and Tony went on together (wait till you hear the stories!!).

Featuring the classic song “Can’t Take My Eyes off You” originally performed by Frankie Valli. As always, Emma & Tony will teach you some backing vocals so you can sing along at home!

In our seventh episode, Emma and Tony interview contemporary realism painter, Margaret Ingles, who has had her art exhibited all over the world!

Margaret has two graduate degrees in education and visual arts, taught art in international schools in Nepal and Thailand and gave up teaching nearly 20 years ago to pursue a full time career in creating art. Her works are focused primarily on figurative work and portraiture and there are new works in the pipeline addressing the climate crisis, having travelled to Iceland just before the pandemic struck, to gather photo references of glaciers and icebergs. Margaret is also a beautiful singer, and a member of our beloved community choir.

In this episode, we chat about how good shower singing sounds (and how great showering peeing feels), reminisce on the bands she’s been part of all around the world, stage fright, and coordinating outfits with Buckley the studio dog.

When in her first band at around age 6, she wrote to DY (recording studio) asking for lyrics to the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang songs, which DY actually sent in a neat little package, even asking her band to come in and record a song!

Featuring the classic song “I Don’t Care if the Sun Don’t Shine” originally by Patti Page. As always, Emma & Tony will teach you some backing vocals so you can sing along at home!

In our sixth episode, Emma and Tony interview one of Australia’s pre-eminent guitarists/vocalists – Tim Gaze. 

“I cannot speak highly enough of him, he is one of nature’s true gentlemen.  But not only that, he can make his guitar sing like an angel and scream like the devil.” - Jimmy Barnes

Playing professionally from the age of 15, ARIA Award winner Tim Gaze, has had a diversified career both here and overseas. As a recording artist, producer and teacher, he has worked with a multitude of artists and bands such as Jimmy Barnes, Tamam Shud, Jon Lord (of Deep Purple), Bob Daisley (Ozzie Osbourne, Rainbow, etc), and so many more. 

In this episode we chat about the beautiful way music used to be made and appreciated – records, cds, mini discs - and how special it was to spend hours analysing album artwork and reading the lyrics of each song. We also discuss the power and enjoyment of music and how Tim made a career of it, how different and unique music lessons are these days, how Tim taught himself various guitar techniques like bending and vibrato by listening to his idol Eric Clapton, and the heartfelt story of how Tim was gifted his very first guitar.  

Featuring the rock song “After Midnight” originally by J.J. Cale in which you’ll hear Tim and his “singing angel and screaming devil” guitar chops! As always, Emma & Tony will teach you some backing vocals so you can sing along at home! 

In our fifth episode, Emma and Tony interview the incomparable Melissa Western & Tnee Dyer. Melissa is a British-born Brisbane-raised singer with Sri-Lankan heritage. She is an actor, writer, singer, cabaret and jazz performer who sells out shows in Australia and internationally. Tnee Dyer is a charismatic musical artist with a contagious enthusiasm for creativity. He is known for his virtuosic jazz piano playing and sensitive musicality, spanning a diverse range of genres & styles, and more recently his growing video production business ‘Raw Mint’. Melissa and Tnee are life partners and co-artistic directors of Western-Dyer Productions.

In this episode we chat about creativity, french horns, busking the streets of Australia, young love, and the excitement of Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

Featuring the sweeeeeeetest version of Marvin Gaye’s “How Sweet It Is” in which you’ll hear the duo accompanying themselves on ukelele and keyboard! As always, Emma & Tony will teach you some backing vocals so you can sing along at home!

In our fourth episode, Emma Dean and Tony Dean interview one of their favourite guests to date - their Dad, Christopher Dean! Chris shares his memories of mango fights in North Queensland, growing up in a non-music oriented household, and singing as a boy soprano!

During the folk boom of the ‘60s, Chris bought his first guitar and first LP record. This marked the start of his musical adventures which saw him go on to be on the grand final of “New Faces” hosted by Bert Newton.

As fate would have it, Emma and Tony’s mum (and Chris’ future wife), Anna Dean, was watching from home. Listen to this moving episode to hear this romantic and breath-taking story.

Featuring a unique rendition of Antonio Carlos Jobim’s “Meditation”, Christopher Dean will sing straight to your heart. And as always, Emma & Tony will teach you some backing vocals so you can sing along at home!

In our third episode, Emma Dean and Tony Dean interview David Burton, an award winning writer from Brisbane, who has published two books and written 30 professionally produced plays for theatres across Australia. Closet country fan, Dave shares stories of his murder mystery writing, mental illness awareness and how music ties into his works. Featuring the beautiful “Rainbows” (by Kasey Musgraves) shower singing rendition (sung by David) which Emma & Tony will teach you some backing vocals so you can sing along!

Check out Dave Burton’s books here: http://www.daveburton.com.au/

In our second episode, Emma Dean and Tony Dean interview Neridah Waters, a choreographer, performer and theatre maker. We listen to Neridah’s story about uncovering her true talent, learning why Brisbane is the place to get your creative freak on, and what she’s working on now - the Common People Dance Project (which ends in an epic Eisteddfod dance battle of “blood and sequins”). Featuring an extraordinary version of the song stuck in Neridah’s head (Pat Benatar - “Love is a Battlefield”) which Emma & Tony will teach you a backing part so you can sing along!

Check out Neridah’s Common People Dance Project here: https://www.commonpeopledanceproject.com.au/

In our very first episode, Emma Dean and Tony Dean interview completely blind Brisbane based singer-songwriter David Truong about the role creativity and music plays in his life. Featuring a special rendition of David's favourite shower song (Crowded House - “Better Be Home Soon”) which Emma & Tony will teach you so you can sing along!

Listen to David Truong’s music (Ambition Road) on Bandcamp https://ambitionroad.bandcamp.com/