Interview: Singer Casey Barnes

With the release of his catchy third single “Ain’t Coming Home”, off his upcoming new album The Good Life, Casey Barnes’s star continues to rise. Nominated for a prestigious Golden Guitar Award earlier this year, I spoke to the Tasmanian-born now Gold Coast-based country music artist about his latest release ahead of his performance at the sold-out-in-one-hour CMC Rocks Festival.

In a sense, a lot of people first came to know of you when you made the top 12 of Australian Idol in 2009. With Idol contestants Anthony Callea, Casey Donovan and current season’s Shannon Noll also competing in the reality series I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! Would you ever follow in the footsteps of your fellow alumni and go on the show?

I’d love to do it, but I reckon I’d struggle with those food challenges. [Shannon] is doing great. People are getting to see a different side to him and it’s going to be a huge positive. He seems like a decent guy and I really like his latest single. I think he’s going to have a good year.

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An Interview with Josh Setterfield

Josh Setterfield started his career in Brisbane-based pop-punk band, Call The Shots. When the group disbanded, he decided to go solo and embrace the new-sound of current country music. With his second country EP, From Dusk and its singles ‘Feelin’ Love’ and ‘Hometown’, and currently working on his third Til Dawn, the buzz around his name continues to soar.

Earlier this year, you performed at the annual ten-day Tamworth Country Music Festival. How was your Tamworth experience this year compared to when you were starting your transition into country music last year?

Tamworth was awesome compared to last year. Last year, I went there to find my feet. I went down to busk, but that’s all I had gig-wise. This year, I had a show almost every day, sometimes four times a day (laughs). I knew more people, fit in [and] obviously, coming from playing punk, it was a bit different coming into someone else’s scene but it seems to be going well (laughs).

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Interviews with Phil Jamieson, Adalita and Sarah McLeod from Green Day’s American Idiot

Here is part two of the group interviews from the Green Day’s American Idiot media call with Phil Jamieson from Grinspoon, Adalita from Magic Dirt and Sarah McLeod from The Superjesus.

What: Green Day’s American Idiot – the Musical
Where: Comedy Theatre, Melbourne

Performances run until 11 March, 2018
For more information, please visit americanidiotlive.com.au

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An Interview with Tara Favell

Tara Favell released new EP Wild Heart in January, following the success of her last record and feature single ‘Heart-Break’, which garnered over 15,000 views online and received airplay across country radio. Originally from Canberra, the country music singer songwriter performs every week around the Sydney NSW region Tara now lives.

Earlier this year, you performed at the annual ten-day Tamworth Country Music Festival. How was Tamworth experience this year?

Tamworth was good. It was really busy. This is my fourth Tamworth. I was there for 7 days and had gigs on every day. I did my first band show I’d done up at the festival, so that was really cool. At the Longyard Hotel, I got to play full band for a three hour gig, so that was a highlight up there. People were really nice. Because I just released the EP as well, people who hadn’t heard of me were coming up, buying the EP and liking on Facebook. It’s a week of craziness! I needed a week to get over it. It was non stop!

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An Interview with Green Day’s American Idiot co-executive producer Nicholas Skubij

Here is part one of the group interviews from the Green Day’s American Idiot media call with co-executive producer Nicholas Skubij.

What: Green Day’s American Idiot – the Musical
Where: Comedy Theatre, Melbourne

Performances run until 11 March, 2018
For more information, please visit americanidiotlive.com.au

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Thoughts on Beautiful – the Carole King Musical

What: Beautiful – the Carole King Musical
Where: Her Majesty’s Theatre, Melbourne

Performances run until 3 June, 2018
For more information, please visit beautifulmusical.com.au

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Review: ‘Legends In Concert’ at Palms at Crown, Melbourne (2018)

Tribute acts have always had a bit of a stigma attached to them by some members of the public. While tribute artists make up a huge sub-section of the music industry, there are still some audiences who refuse to see a tribute show, as if attending a concert by such a performer is to somehow besmirch the reputation of the real artist they’re honouring.

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Thoughts on Dream Lover – The Bobby Darin Musical

What: Dream Lover – the Bobby Darin Musical
Where: State Theatre, Arts Centre Melbourne

Performances run until 4 March, 2018
For more information, please visit https://dreamlover.com.au

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