interview – TINSEL and TAP SHOES

Interview: Lucy Durack and Penny McNamee from ‘The Odd Couple’

The Odd Couple is playing in Melbourne for a limited season before heading to the Theatre Royal Sydney on June 27. It stars actor, presenter, producer and entertainer Shane Jacobson as Oscar Madison; acclaimed performer of stage and screen Todd McKenney as Felix Ungar.

Seasoned performers Lucy Durack and Penny McNamee play the exuberant Pigeon sisters Cecily and Gwendolyn, while John Batcherlor (Roy), Laurence Coy (Speed), Jamie Oxenbould (Vinnie) and Anthony Taufa (Murray) round out the talented cast as Oscar’s poker loving friends.

Tickets and further information can be found at theoddcoupleplay.com.au.

INTERVIEWS WITH Peter Rowsthorn and Asabi Goodman FROM CHICAGO: THE MUSICAL

Murder, greed, corruption, exploitation, adultery, treachery… and All That Jazz… so begins the international multi-award-winning musical. The longest-running musical on Broadway, Chicago is now playing in Melbourne, followed by Sydney, Adelaide and Canberra.

Set amidst the decadence of the 1920s, Chicago is the story of Roxie Hart, a housewife and nightclub dancer who murders her on-the-side lover after he threatens to walk out on her. Desperate to avoid conviction, she dupes the public, the media and her rival cellmate, Velma Kelly, by hiring Chicago’s slickest criminal lawyer Billy Flynn to transform her malicious crime into a barrage of sensational headlines, the likes of which might just as easily be ripped from today’s tabloids.

It stars Anthony Warlow as Billy Flynn; Zoë Ventoura as nightclub singer and vaudevillian Velma Kelly; Lucy Maunder as Roxie Hart; Peter Rowsthorn as Roxie’s gullible and hapless husband, Amos; and Asabi Goodman as sassy prison warden Matron ‘Mama’ Morton.

For more information and tickets, go to: chicagomusical.com.au.

An Interview with Passenger

Passenger will release his 13th studio album, Songs For The Drunk & Brokenhearted on January 8th. Penned by Passenger – aka Mike Rosenberg – when he was newly single, the album features that raw and authentic vulnerability that Passenger’s global fan-base has grown to love.

Fans from all over the world have the opportunity as well to tune into a very special performance of Passenger and his new record from the iconic Royal Albert Hall in London on January 10, 2021. Due to a partnership with Ecologi and the Eden Reforestation Project, a tree will be planted for every physical copy of Songs sold via the Passenger store. All physical packaging is made from 100% recycled materials.

Passenger is an multi award winning, platinum selling singer-songwriter from Brighton, England. Although still known for his busking, he long ago made the journey from street corners to stadiums – most notably with Let Her Go, which reached number 1 in 19 countries, was certified 7x platinum in Australia and has over 1.2 billion streams.

An Interview with Mardi Wilson

Mardi Wilson is a singer-songwriter, composer and multi-instrumentalist hailing from Brisbane, Queensland. Her unique mix of folk and alternative sounds with a laid-back, surf edge saw her complete a successful east coast in 2019. In advance of her newest single being released tomorrow, we caught up with Mardi to discuss what it’s like being vulnerable, the van life movement and the perfect partnership between music and art.

Your press release describes your music as a mix of alternative and folk, but often times publicists need to pigeon hole music to suit genre normalities. How would you describe your music to people who may not have heard it before?

I’ve been trying to find a genre for ages, which is a tricky thing to do! I like to call it ‘surf folk’ – it’s a fusion between folk and alternative with a singer-songwriter vibe and a little bit of that new “Aussie” sound you hear a lot of bands with an alternative edge have … It’s a bit hard to explain (laughs). It’s nice to know people connect with your music no matter what the genre is you’re hitting.

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Interview: Singer-Songwriter Paul Costa

Multi-Golden Guitar nominated singer-songwriter Paul Costa makes a much-anticipated return with a new single Road Train off his firth studio album, Whisper in the Crowd, in the lead up to two very special shows at the 2019 Tamworth Country Music Festival. I recently spoke with the Australian country music fan-favourite about how he spends his holidays, plans for Tamworth and finding inspiration in unexpected places.

I wanted to kick off with something different before we get into touring and recording. Your birthday is fast approaching at the end of November. What do birthdays mean to you and how will you be celebrating it?

I like to spend it with my family. I don’t go overboard; it’s fairly low key. We might go out for tea or just cut a cake. A lot of people are working in one place, getting away is their holiday. For me, it’s completely the opposite – I’m away so much; being home is my holiday. There’s still work to do when you’re home, as there’s stuff that goes on behind the scenes, so I can’t afford to relax too much but I am relaxed so far as being in one on my favourite places to be.

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An Interview with Brook Chivell

Splitting from his band and relocating interstate has helped define Brook Chivell as an up-and-coming solo artist to watch. After making the finals of Toyota Starmaker in 2017, he toured nationally with fellow country artist Natalie Pearson, as well as releasing his first solo single and its follow up Outta My Song last month. I spoke with Brook about upcoming music, getting dirty and being a fan boy in his own industry.

You were formally the frontman and driving force behind The Brook Chivell Band, releasing singles Drive On, Thrills N Spills and Let’s Stay In around six years ago. What was the reason behind parting as a band and how has that impacted on you as a solo artist? Because even being in the industry for ten years or so now, it must feel a little like starting over?

The main reason for the split was that I moved to Queensland. The distance made it really hard. The band all live in Melbourne and they’ve all got families. For a while we kept it together but it was getting difficult to get everyone together to play gigs. It’s easier for me to do a support gig as a solo artist, purely because I can get up there with a guitar. There’s a great, vibrant country music scene up here. Whereas in Melbourne every time you say ‘country’ it was a dirty word; up here, people love it.

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The Mount Hunter Country Music Stampede Files – An Interview with Jasmine Rae

Jasmine Rae is a three-time ARIA nominated and multi-award winning vocalist, songwriter, actor and entertainer. Described by the Sydney Morning Herald as a ‘pocket-sized powerhouse’, she’s the only female solo artist to win the CMC Australian Artist of the Year Award and has ten #1 Australian country singles under her belt.

Let’s talk about the Mount Hunter Country Music Stampede – a festival only its second year. Held at the K Ranch Arena, just 50 minutes from Sydney airport, will feature a line up of evens such as traditional cowboy skills, equestrian events, jumping castles, food vendors, as well as showcasing new and established country music artists. You’re representing for the females on Friday’s girl power night alongside Christie Lamb and Teleisha Eade, who won the Maton Rising Star last year. What can we expect from your performance?

Friday night is the first night and people usually party the hardest on the first night, because they’ve just gotten there. I usually party the hardest on the first night of a festival, so it’s going to be fun. It’s got to be an energetic show for sure. Playing one new song makes the whole set feel fresh and shiny. It does add some extra excitement.

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The Mount Hunter Country Music Stampede Files – An Interview with Drew McAlister

Drew McAlister has long been recognised as one of the nation’s premier songwriters and performers. He recently lent his voice in support of the drought crisis facing our local farmers and, to coincide with the release of his third single off his current album, he’s been hard at work co-organising the forthcoming three-day Mount Hunter Country Music Stampede.

You released Kissing a Girl Goodnight recently off your album Coming Your Way. In the past we’ve spoken about how important you feel it is to perform songs you’ve written yourself – however, this is a song you found through a demo – and the sound as well is quite different to things you’ve recorded in the past. Does this song resonate with your life and is that what you connected with lyrically?

It’s exactly my life. I connected to it and I think other people will too, that’s why I recorded it. I think a lot of people will be living or will have lived some similar the version of that. It’s quite a difficult song to sing because it’s so low and then so high in the chorus, so I was a bit trepidatious, to be honest, when we were going to record this vocal. I wasn’t sure how it was going to turn out, but I had to work on it for a while and sing it quite a few times to make sure it sat right and I had the right key.

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An Interview with Brodie Rainbird from The Wolfe Brothers

It’s been a busy year for the Tasmanian country-rock band, The Wolfe Brothers – with the release of their highly-anticipated fourth studio album Country Heart in March, its two chart-topping singles ‘Ain’t Seen It Yet’ and ‘No Sad Song’, as well as an accompanying national tour. The album debuted on the ARIA Country Chart at #2 and the ARIA Charts at #9, beating their last album, This Crazy Life, which came in at #10 on release in June 2016.

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