Perth Concert Hall will play host to a very special event on Sunday 11 June 2023 from 5pm to 7.30pm when a 1000-voice choir and many others take over the venue for one evening only.
– a 1000 voice choir encompassing several local and WA choirs plus many individuals in four-part harmonies – 250 ukulele players – seven-piece jazz band featuring Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts graduates – Perth Highland Pipe Band – a few extra surprises some of which not even the choir knows about yet.
Image courtesy of Born To Sing
At the time of publishing this short article, about 80% of the tickets have been sold, and the rest will go quickly. So if you want to experience this amazing live event, go to: www.perthconcerthall.com.au/events/event/born-to-sing immediately if not sooner.
The concert runs from 5pm to 7.30pm with a 25-minute interval at 6pm. Food and beverages will be available.
Except for this bit in italics which did not appear, mostly because when I wrote this article as a lazy way of getting my column together at the last minute by effectively duplicating an old article, I did not realise it would be my last for Trad and Now. But a few weeks later, a few ripples had become waves, and those waves were starting to smash upon the shores of my frustration, patience, and perseverance. I tendered my notice to not contribute to the magazine from 13 March 2023.
Trad and Now is a great magazine, written by passionate and knowledgeable people who give so much on so many fronts for independent music. I remain a great supporter of it. If you have the time and interest, you can read a bit more about my 16yrs 3mths writing for the magazine in a later article here. But to the column that appeared in the actual magzine:
As I type, it’s the last day of January 2023, and last night I sang farewell to Walyalup. (Walyalup is the local Nyoongar word for the area known as Fremantle.) The venue was Clancy’s Fish Pub, the song was (of course, if it’s me), Rag and Bone by Ian Mackintosh of The Wheeze & Suck Band/Traditional Graffiti, and the crowd was glorious.
Also, this article is running late because after 16 years of A Punter’s Perspective/Folk On The Road, you don’t [muck] with tradition. Sliding in just in (or just after) time is kinda my thing.
This edition’s column was originally going to be about an unsavoury crowd/audience incident from late last year in Walyalup, and far too many similar occurrences. I need another month to process all that, though the audio version exists in the on-demand section of 107.9FM Radio Fremantle – Filling Around, Monday 9-11pm. (I’ve already resigned from that radio gig while waiting to raise my anchor and sail off from Fremantle. Also they’re not part of the overarching Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, and I took issue with some of their practices.)
So for now, here’s my column from April 2011, and I’ll organise my thoughts for March 2023. (Now a later entry here on this website.)
50th Top Half Folk Festival, Mary River Wilderness Retreat, NT in June 2021
Darwin Muso Series is a string of an indeterminate number of mini to medium to mega interviews with Darwin-based musicians and performing artists. Starting in September 2019, and we’ll see how many we can cover over the next weeks/months/years.
Airlie Beach Festival of Music is held in November, however, in the lead-up, the organisers stage what is arguably* Australia’s biggest battle of the bands competition.
* You’d be doing very well to beat 12-13 major locations across half the continent.
Alice Cotton is an emerging artist who has returned to Darwin to ply her musical trade(s). Alice has a unique twist on folk-country music with original songs steeped in warmth and humour. Her songs draw influence from old-time American music, with a nod to growing up in humid climes amongst a tight-knit community in the Northern Territory. Alice is recording her first EP in late 2019.
Bill Quinn: What’s the Alice Cotton story? With music!
Alice Cotton: I was actually studying classical music; I used to play classical flute, but I just found it a bit of an elitist culture.
And then I really got into music therapy. It was through that I started song-writing and doing my own stuff.
I found it gave me more space to be more creative and do what I wanted to do and do gigs more easily.
BQ: Is that your ‘rent gig’? Do you do music therapy during the day?
AC: Yeah.
BQ: That seems to be a bit of a theme!
AC: Yeah, Crystal [Robins] as well! We actually studied together through University of Melbourne [Alice in Melbourne, Crystal in Sydney].
Darwin Muso Series is a string of an indeterminate number of mini to medium to mega interviews with Darwin-based musicians and performing artists. Starting in September 2019, and we’ll see how many we can cover over the next weeks/months/years.
Airlie Beach Festival of Music is held in November, however, in the lead-up, the organisers stage what is arguably* Australia’s biggest battle of the bands competition.
* If you can find a bigger one, I want it stuffed and mounted on display at ARIA or APRA headquarters, please.
Opening the batting for muso chats on the night (and for this series of interviews) was Josh Tarca of Ben Evolent.
(Just a quick Overheard At Passport To Airlie from my notes here. My mate leaned over as the third act came on and said, “I think the announcer said this band is from the Netherlands”.
Me: “No, the band’s name is ‘Ben Evolent’!)
Ben Evolent performing in Passport To Airlie – Darwin at Darwin Railway Club
Airlie Beach Festival of Music is held in November, however, in the lead-up, the organisers stage what is arguably Australia’s biggest battle of the bands competition.
And you’d have to argue very convincingly to beat this: regional finals in (take a deep breath): Darwin, Cairns, Townsville, Mackay, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Nimbin, Newcastle, Sydney, Illawarra, Melbourne and Adelaide.
It’s huge.
And budding musos are all vying for the chance to participate in the final at Airlie Beach in November.
As well as the performance opportunity in 2019, the overall winner gets to return to play the main stage the following year, receiving four nights’ accommodation, VIP main tent passes, a $1000 performance fee, and a spot on Music View TV (Cairns).
If you’re a regional muso aiming to get your music to a wider audience, it’s well worth a shot.
Arriving in the Blue Mountains for a few days at short notice, I consulted the font of all knowledge on what was going on in most regions (Facebook Events), and it turned up an exhibition in Katoomba called ‘Witch’ by local artist Nina Lipscombe.
The paranormal, mythological, and mystical aren’t things that normally pique my interest, but increasingly, I’ll have a look at subject matter outside of normal interests.
I’m glad I did.
‘Witch’ is an intriguing exploration of themes that may not exactly leap off the promo flyer or internet page. Speaking of our friend social media, a comment on the event page led to an exchange with the artist Nina Lipscombe, and a few days later, we were sitting in the leather-padded comfort of the guest lounge at the Carrington Hotel.
Bill Quinn: Just for my background, can you tell me a bit about how you came to be involved in art.
Nina Lipscombe: It’s an interesting story, because I didn’t do it very much in high school. I was doing theatre and television, but right after high school, I decided to dabble in it.
So I bought a kit from Hobby Lobby! It was Bill Alexander; he was the original happy painter. He’s the one that actually taught Bob Ross, with the happy clouds and the trees and everything else.
I bought this oil painting video, went to my garage, started painting, and I fell in love with it.
From then on, I started to make acrylics, water colours – mostly oils still – and it just kind of evolved from there.
I didn’t really get too involved with the arts scene in Tennessee at the time. But later in 2011, I moved to Argentina, and it kind of thrived from there.
I had exhibitions, I did workshops, I had private classes with really amazing teachers there, and I took off.
BQ: When I think about art around the world, Argentina definitely is on that list. I’m gonna say that the Tennessee art scene is not one that immediately springs to mind. What was that like?
NL: Yeah, you’re right about that! I’m not 100% sure; I never got highly involved with it. They do have some good art galleries, and really good art has come from Memphis. But the art scene there compared to Argentina and compared to here in the Blue Mountains is not quite as big.
Gypsy. Effectively on the road from Ngunnawal (Canberra) since 18 March 2013, with a 2.5 year stop in Darwin (March 2019 to August 2021).
Currently in residence in Walyalup (Fremantle, Western Australia), on the lands of the Whadjuk people, and I pay respect to the custodians past, present, and emerging. These are lands that are called ‘Australia’ and Terra Australis, a land of many nations, that were never ceded by the traditional owners. Vote ‘Yes’ for A Voice To Parliament.
Overheard Productions 