Spring music festivals are now over for another year and this season was spectacular with four festivals across three weekends. Probably the highlight for me was performing solo for the first time at Neurum Creek Music Festival. I've been performing at Neurum Creek as a bassist for the past five years with a different group each year, so it was wonderful to share some of my songs for the first time. A few "retro classics" (my specialty) were added to the mix too ... because a bit of spontaneous dancing and an eighties singalong is always good fun. I also shared the stage with some fantastic musicians at three other festivals - Maleny Music Festival, RedFest and Coast Acoustics - performing with Lovely Bones featuring Canadian singer/songwriter Carolyna Lovely, Angela Toohey Trio and a new collaboration of talented musicians/sound engineers called "We Suffer for Our Art" featuring Mark Smith, Rob Stewart and Dave Parnell. Hopefully you will see more of this collaboration in the future, it was a blast working with them!
Up next is another bass gig, performing with David Truong and Ambition Road at Undercover Artist Festival. Presented by Access Arts, it's a multi-arts festival showcasing the talents of performing artists with a disability. I'm honoured to be supporting my friend and blind keyboard player and songwriter David Truong and a festival that believes the arts is for everyone. I agree completely. Check out David's story in a recent ABC interview here: Ambition Road: After a life of sport, blind singer-songwriter David Truong returns to music.
Then I'm off to New Zealand in November to sing at a wedding ... followed by a few weeks of road tripping around the North and Sound Island to soak up the beautiful scenery, hike around mountains and take thousands of wildlife photos. Hopefully there will be some new songs and videos created along the way. Travel is always inspiring.
Hope to see you at a gig sometime.
Jodi.