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WAMFest and Recording

November 9, 2018 0 Comments

WAMFest (West Australian Music Industry)

I was lucky enough to be selected for WAMFest this year, so after a gig at Freehand Wines in downtown Denmark I then got myself organised for a some original sets, one in Albany at the White Star for Regional WAMFest and then 2 in Perth.  One was at the Perth Cultural Centre where I did a busking spot and the other was at Yagan Square which is an amphitheatre right in the centre of Perth which was amazing.  Something even more amazing happened and it was a total surprise to me and that is my song “Fly Free Little Bird” got chosen for the KISS MY WAMi Compilation CD. I didn’t even realise till I checked the program to see when and where I was playing and the songs that had been chose were on there. All in all it was a fantastic weekend and a great honour to be a part of such a big Western Australian Festival

It’s hard to believe that so much has happened in the past 7 years and to be a part of this festival was something I had never imagined would happen because I thought that the music industry only catered for people who were not in the 20s or 30s.  It has been a real slog being a woman and middle aged for that matter to get noticed and be treated as an equal. I  am not using age and gender as an excuse, it’s just a reality, and I think our culture really doesn’t take mature women seriously and it’s not easy for young women either because

 they have to deal with expectations placed on them. However, I have noticed that things are changing and gender equity is starting to happen so hopefully this will happen more and more.  I notice that when I play at venues where there are people from Europe or the Middle East or India they are always much more attentive and interested in listening, so maybe we need to learn something from those countries.

Recording

Since my last post I have finished two recording sessions. Al Smith from Bergerk Studio came down from Perth for the

weekend twice, once in September and again in October and we recorded 4 songs for my upcoming EP which I will probably be releasing in January.  Tony King is amazing and once again he offered to do my instrumentation and he also helps with production which is awesome! I love recording andI love how the songs evolve and it really is a collaboration because I never know where each one is going to go. We just start with my acoustic version which is literally lyrics and chords and then Tony adds his magic as he comes up with ideas throughout the process.  This was the first time working with in the studio with Al although he has mastered all my tracks since I started recording. Tony has known Al for 20 years and they worked brilliantly together and what I love the most about working with these guys is that there’s no inflated egos. It’s all pure fun and creativity. Luke Tulloch came in and did some violin tracks, he is an incredibly talented young man that I met at TAFE a number of years ago now and it didn’t take him long to find some lovely violin melodies to accompany my songs.

To top it all off I had a great gig at the Three Anchors in Albany with Tony King and it was the first time that I had done a three hour gig with him, and I was a bit nervous hoping that he would know how to play all my songs, but I realised very quickly that there was nothing to be concerned about, Tony is a legend when it comes to improvising, he really is an outstanding musician.  We had a great gig and he managed to compliment every song brilliantly and thanks to John King we got a photo to prove it. 

Albany Gigs, Gigs, Photos, Recording, Song writing

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Taking flight – Festival fun

June 10, 2018 0 Comments

Denmark Festival of Voice 2018
The sun was shining and there was a buzz in the air in Denmark as the Festival of Voice got into full swing. Our beautiful little town came alive with song, poetry and music scattered in every venue across town. I played at Mrs Jones Cafe on Saturday and Sunday.

On Saturday early evening Tim and I did a documentary screening of “Music from Manus – 5 Days not 5 Years” which was very well attended. Once again we had a fantastic response and people really engaged with the information being shared on the screen and thanks to all those who signed my petition and put money in the tin afterwards.  I have been able to send some money to help a refugee get some urgently needed dental treatment today as a result of the money raised at the screening.

Thanks to the Denmark Yoga community for raising funds and to all the individuals who have approached me in the street to donate too, their money also was able to support the dental costs. We have a few more local screenings, one in Denmark and one in Walpole then the next ones will be when I go over east in August.

So life has been changing dramatically for me in recent months with so many more engagements than ever before.  My music career has overlapped with my activism work and my purpose has become more clear.  I am passionate about music and writing and recording songs and performing which always comes first.  However, alongside that is my desire to see an end to the offshore detention of innocent people.  I am passionate about that too and I am honoured that I can use my music profile to raise awareness and support change.

Gigging Land
In the next few months I will be doing my usual gigs and they include my first time at Freehand Wines right here in Denmark and then I have been asked to perform a the Truffle Kerfuffle in Manjimup being organised by Kelsi Miller Good nights Bunbury on Sunday 24th which is fantastic!.  A week before I go to Townsville I will be playing at one of my favourite local spots….well almost local….in Albany called Six Degrees which will be a great warm up for the pending trip.

Next Album in the making
I have a heap of new songs that I want to get onto my next album so I’ve booked a weekend in September to record the first few songs and it’s wonderful to have Tony King there to do lots of the instrumentation and Al Smith from Bergerk! studios is coming down to set up his recording gear in my music studio. I’m going to ask a bunch of locals to participate too so it’s really going to be another local affair.  I’ll keep you posted on that one folks.

Townsville Cultural Festival
July is a month where I will be getting organised for the biggest event for  “Dawn Barrington Music” this year and that is that I will be performing at the Townsville Cultural Fest! This will be my very first visit to Townsville and it’s going to be awesome and especially lovely to catch up with Kallidad who are one of the headliners.  This is an incredible festival where gender equity is a priority and all cultures are recognised in one big celebration.  The organiser of this festival Farvardin Daliri and his team have been making this happen for many years and he is a great advocate for cultural diversity in his community and I am very looking forward to meeting him and his team in August for this fantastic weekend.

Documentary screenings
After the Townsville Festival I will be going down to NSW to do a heap of screenings down the NSW coast in Newcastle, Gosford, Sydney x 2, Wollongong and Eurobodalla. I am very excited because there is such enthusiasm by the people hosting them to make it happen and I will get to meet all the fellow activists/advocates over there who I have been conversing and liaising with on facebook for the past 18 months or so.

I am now keen to spread the word far and wide so please feel free to share the documentary and if you want me to do a screening in your town please make contact with me because I am very happy to come and do that.

Albany Gigs, Denmark Gigs, Gigs, Recording, Videos

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Finishing off the Year and bring in 2018

December 20, 2017 0 Comments

Well it’s that time of year again and what a year it has been.  I spend way too much time each day thinking that I am not doing enough in one way or another and yet when I look back on the past 12 months I can see that I’ve done more than enough to fill anyone’s calendar.

This year started with the production of my 2nd album, how could I forget that memorable 10 days? Toby came down from Perth to set up his studio in my music room and a bunch of amazing artists and friends came and put down their tracks. Tony King my teacher and mentor and Toby should get the most credit because they work so well together and I just love what they come up with everytime. While Toby finished the mixing off I went to Sydney for another tour where I got to play at some amazing places and meet some wonderful people.  It was a huge sense of achievement too because it’s not easy to go off on your own to play at venues that you’ve never played before, because you never know what reception you’re going to get.  However, had a fantastic time and I got to meet some lovely friends there including fellow musician friends who came to see me play.  

This year I have clocked up a pile of gigs too and Peter Caron joined me for  many of them which was lots of fun. It’s always good to share the stage and have a good laugh on the way home at all the things that happened throughout the night.  Thanks Peter for such a great year of musical shenanigans.  We also played at the Denmark Festival of Voice where I launched my Album “When did it change?“.

This year was also my year of House Concerts, I did more house concerts this year than I have ever done and it’s such a great experience.  I met a lot of lovely people and learnt a lot about myself and how I want to present my act.  What do I want to share with the audience? How do I do that in a way that is complementary to my music and staying true to who I am as an artist?  They are questions I ask myself everyday.  I guess I’m just working it all out as I go along.  I did house concerts in Denmark, Sydney, Kalgoorlie, Manjimup, Kendenup, Northam and Warnbro and I’m looking forward to doing my first one for 2018 in Mandurah in March.

One of the biggest things that happened for me this year was that my son Andrew went on a school trip to New York and he’s only 15 years old.  He was so excited and so were we but I was so anxious too. It was his first time away from home for such a long time and he was going to NEW YORK….I mean isn’t that the place where all sorts of terrible things happen…yeah I know I’m being a bit pathetic, but the most ridiculous things go through your head when your only child is leaving the country for a few weeks without you.  He had the time of his life and came back a new young man glowing with confidence and self esteem that no school lesson or other experience could have offered.

Finally this year was my year of many radio interviews too, I am very grateful to all the lovely presenters who invited me into their studio to talk about me and my music and especially to those who offered me an opportunity to play a song too. Not to forget the phone interviews too. They include John Regan from Northside Radio 99.3 fm, John Tonks from Voice of the Avon 101.3 fm , James Monte from Monte Famous Mondays,  John Maddison and David Sims from Albany Community Radio 109.3 fm, Chris Spencer from Australian Sporgasbord ORC fm,  ABC Kalgoorlie fm  and ABC Albany. It’s fantastic to have the opportunity to play and put your music out there.  I would like to make a special thank you you Pete Williams from Sunbury fm 99.3 fm’s “Made in the Shade” for the fantastic review of my recently released album “When did it Change?”.  It was incredibly exciting to receive such a wonderful review which I have pinned at the top of my facebook page and it’s also become a wonderful resource that I can use when applying for gigs, festivals and other events. I want to thank all the presenters who continue to play my music too, it’s only because of you guys that independent artists can get heard by a larger audience.  I would just like to thank a lovely presenter that is all the way across the states in Tasmania who plays my tracks Dave Anger from WNCM100.3 fm .  Thanks Dave and I look forward to coming in for an interview when I come to Tasmania next year.

Wishing you all a fantastic Summer break (or winter if you’re in the northern hemisphere) and I look forward to many more musical shenanigans and surprises for in 2018 including an opportunity to play at a big festival over east. More to come on that soon.  Also I will be recording my next album too…..I’ll keep you posted on that one too.

Bye for now xox

 

 

 

Albany Gigs, Denmark Gigs, Gigs, House Concderts, Sydney

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More musical shenanigans!

October 27, 2017 0 Comments

It feel’s like it was only a few days ago that I was posting to my webpage and here I am again. I never know how to start my blog posts and I’m always trying to find different ways to get the conversation going, well, not quite conversation because it’s just me talking to my computer but I think you know what I mean.

It was great to play at the Albany Boatshed Markets at the beginning of the month because we got to play on the big stage in the far corner which has a fantastic mural on the wall. A couple of people I knew were there and they were kind enough to take some pictures of us playing. The Albany Boatshed Markets has been going for 10 years now and they have supported live music by booking a couple of acts every Sunday and paying them to play.  We also get some fruit and vegi’s, free coffee and a few other treats depending on who’s there. The same day Peter and I played at the Earl of Spencer Historic Inn and Restaurant so it was a full on day.  I was worried about losing my voice after 4 hours of singing but that was fine, however, my fingers were very sore by the end of the evening. There’s things that I had never anticipated that I would have to think about before I started this musical journey.

On October 14th I had my first house concert in Northam to look forward to.  Tonks is a lovely guy from Voice of the Avon 101.3FM community radio station who has been playing my tracks for the past 12 months after I submitted them to Amrap/Airit. Amrap Airit is a not for profit organisation that promotes and supports Australian Independent artists.  Each time an artist produces an album or EP they can submit a maximum of 3 tracks to Amrap Airit where they are then distributed to Community Radio stations across Australia. It’s a fantastic service and I have had a lot of airplay through this great initiative. I have had many radio interviews and I’ve been invited to many shows to play live, with the presenters that I have built relationships with. Many of them are passionate about music and and love to find new music to play on their shows so in effect their passion supports us to do what we are passionate about. It’s a win win for everyone involved!

Anyway I’ll get back to the House Concert in Northam.  Tonks was my host and we did the concert at his friend’s house Brett and Julie.  Gracie B is an up and coming local artist so she was my support act for the night.  She did a fantastic job and we played a few tunes together too, which was a lot of fun. She’s a lovely young lady only 13 years old and is a great musician. We had a great audience who thoroughly enjoyed themselves and Tonks wrote me a beautiful review for the House Concerts Australia Network page.

Here’s a glowing review from Tonks
“On the 14th October 2017, I hosted a house concert in Northam W.A. My choice of artist for this event was @Dawn Barrington – singer/songwriter from Denmark in WA. At Dawns suggestion I also engaged a young lass from York WA – Gracie B. Gracie is an up and coming singer/songwriter who is just starting out on her musical journey.  Gracie B started proceedings with a twenty minute set and then Dawn performed a forty minute set. We then had a feed (bbq) and both artists did another set each – and a jam session.

Dawn is a consummate musical professional, great entertainer and very nice person to boot. I could not have made a better choice for my first concert. Dawn enthralled the audience during the concert with original music and some covers – and had the audience singing along with her.  Gracie B showed why is she is an up and coming talent with her unique cover versions.  Both Dawn and Gracie met for the first time immediately prior to the concert – but you would not have known that if you were to judge by their jam session!.

This was the first house concert in Northam, but will not be the last. It was a very successful concert.” Allen Tonkin, Voice of the Avon 101.3 fm

I came home on Sunday to a house full of great friends which was very exciting because we catch up around 2 times per year and we met through music which is the most exciting part. I was so looking forward to catching up with these guys we always have the best time together and the best jams. On Sunday night we had the best jam in the history of humankind, I’m biased of course lol ;O)  The guys all play in a band and they brought some friends with them this time which made it all the more fun.

Then on Saturday October 21st Peter and I joined Luke Tulloch to play some tunes at the Bahá‘u‘lláh   200th anniversary Baha u allah shares the beautiful message of hope and enlightenment to all across the planet. It was a great afternoon at Mahsa Anderson’s home in Denmark WA.

This Sunday we will be doing a house concert in Warnbro at a private home. House concerts are really starting to take off here in Australia and House Concerts Australia is where you can sign up as a host or an artist.  It’s free to sign up as a host and you can invite artists from all across Australia to play in your home. It’s a great way to meet the artist and have an affordable fun evening for you and your family and friends.  In the next few months I have some local gigs and a few out of the box gigs and then it’s Xmas!!

Upcoming Eastern States tour
Yep I’m doing it again folks!  This will be my third solo Eastern States tour in the past 18 months and this time I’m going to take the road north of Sydney although I haven’t decided how far yet or whether to do a U turn once I get to Upper Landsdowne and go southwardss. I have some bookings in Upper Landsdowne, Newcastle, Gosford and Sydney so far. I will keep you posted on the rest of the bookings when I get them.

Well that’s it from me for this month and I’ll be back next month with more shenanigans.  Over and out Folks!

Albany Gigs, Gigs, House Concderts, Photos

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It’s time for an update

September 25, 2017 0 Comments

I thought it was time for an update on what’s been happening the past few months. As soon as I got back from Kalgoorlie I started getting ready for a House Concert which is the first one that I have booked through House Concerts Australia.

It was at Arcadia Wines in Kendenup which is only an hour or so away from Denmark.  Gaye and John are a lovely couple and they have only had the cellar door open for the past 18 months and they are doing really well. They have award winning wines and I would personally recommend the aged Riesling. Gaye and John are lovers of live music and they are really passionate about having regular live music events which is awesome. All the tickets were sold and we all had a great night. The photo isn’t brilliant but it’s just evidence that I was there lol!

Then a couple of weeks later I took a trip up to the big smoke for a couple of gigs.  One in York which is about an hour east of Perth where I played at the Settlers House York, which is a beautiful old heritage building. York is the the first inland town Settled in WA.  We had a few drinks at the end of the night and I heard a few good ghost stories which was a bit unnerving.

On Sunday I played at Jackadders Music Club. I had a really warm welcome from Carmel and Ron and we had a lovely afternoon. It was great to hear the audience sing along to my original songs and the whole gig was recorded which was fantastic.

Next was one of my regular gigs at the Earl of Spencer in Albany. Peter Caron joined me on guitar and I love playing with Peter because we have a lot of fun and he adds lots of fancy guitar work to my songs, and the covers, that we do.  I usually do an even mix of originals and covers when I do pub gigs which is pretty cruisey and generally good fun.  Peter set up the video so we got some great footage of us playing too.

 

Then last but not least I did another house concert but this time in Manjimup at a beautiful historic building called Dingup House Bed and Breakfast which is managed by Chris and John.  Dingup House is one of the first houses built on the original town site of Manjimup until they moved the town a few kms down the road. Chris and John do a fantastic job there and we had a wonderful intimate evening with soup and song.  The photo isn’t the best but it just gives you an idea of the set up there.  Half the guests stayed the night and the rooms are all beautifully presented with heritage style beds and lovely patchwork bed covers. I would highly recommend a stay there if you’re travelling through that neck of the woods.

 

WHAT’S NEXT

My son has gone to New York for a school trip so my husband and I have decided to go for a little holiday across to Augusta and Margaret River and I’m going to play at the Goodfellas i cafe in Margaret River while we’re there. I know what you’re thinking….can’t she just have one weekend without playing music…and the answer is most definitely not….lol! It just so happens our friends own Goodfellas and I just love playing there.

Then the following week I’ll be doing a double gig with Peter Caron which means we will be at the Albany Boatshed Markets in the Morning and at The Earl of Spencer in the evening.  I’m really looking forward to doing a house concert in Northam in October.  I’m also busy planning another Eastern States tour for Jan/Feb or next year which is very time consuming and fun at the same time.  I’ve also been busy writing songs for recording next year.  That’s it for now folks!  Stay warm and dry in this crazy weather if you live on this side of the planet and down this far below the equator.

 

Albany Gigs, Gigs, House Concderts, Photos, Videos

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