Tag Archive: singer songwriter

Dawn Barrington > singer songwriter

🥶 WHO SAID MELBOURNE WAS COLD? 🤣

May 4, 2023 0 Comments

They were absolutely right! Actually it’s bloody freezing today!! 🤣

Yep I have succumbed to making comments about the Melbourne weather. Whenever I say that I live in Melbourne the first response that I get is “it’s cold in Melbourne” 🤣 yeah I know it is but the people are so so friendly here that I am staying for now.

I am downing tools at the moment after an incredibly chaotic, busy 7 months since my arrival here. Melbourne is a hive of creativity with, I believe, more culture and diversity than Perth, and there is so much more to do and see here too. I got hit by a virus (no not the C one) just a bog standard one that stopped me in my tracks and reminded me to take a bit more care of myself and to remember that “nothing is something worth doing”.

Humph Hall

I want to share the amazing experience I had of playing with Susie Bishop at the infamous Humph Hall in Sydney in February. It was an amazing evening. Susie and I met through the refugee advocacy and activist network a few years ago now and found that we had so much in common that a friendship grew over time but we had never met in real life. I totally admired Susie’s incredible violin playing but I didn’t want to ask her to join me at Humph Hall because I knew she had just had a baby, and that she was already in high demand most of the time. Then a mutual friend suggested that I ask her and he promised me that she would love to play with me  so I took the plunge and asked. Susie was like “I would absolutely love to play”…..I was so excited at the prospect. Not only did she offer to play but also offered me a room during my time in Sydney.

It was so lovely to meet in real life and to meet Susies new born baby girl Julia and her family. The gig was 2 nights away and Susie had never played any of my songs before so we had a little rehearsal in her garden.  I had no idea how Susie liked to learn songs, some people need charts, some need to hear the music beforehand. Some like to have the sheet music before you actually meet to rehearse, but not Susie she just listened to the first few chords and off she went with beautiful melodies and rhythmic sounds which totally enhanced each song. I was immediately totally at ease knowing that she would be able to do whatever came her way. Not that I ever doubted it of course 😁 but there is always a level of apprehension when playing with another muso for the first time. Although I have to say Susie is not any muso she is a classically trained violin player who can ad lib or improv at any folk or jig gathering.

Off we went to Humph Hall the next night and amazingly we were playing with the same band that I played with the last time I was there in 2017, well not quite the exactly same band there were a couple of extra members. We discussed which songs we would play together at the end. A great night was had by all. I would have to say that Humph Hall on February 18th of this year which was also my birthday was one of the most perfect gigs I have ever done. Wayne and Giall do such a fabulous job at Humph Hall. They book events every week and always put on a light supper and generally make everyone very welcome. Wayne also films the event which means we get a professional video at the end of each event. I am going to post them at the end of this blog entry. 

Thornbury Local

In January I had a busy month with a couple of band gigs. I started playing with a band over the holiday period because they needed a vocalist for a couple of gigs so I was very happy to oblige but the condition was that I could also play guitar 😁 

It was a great experience and we even scored another couple of gigs from the 2 that we did in January which was awesome but it also kept me very busy, way to busy actually so I had to stop at the last gig and come back to my own music endeavours.

The Thornbury Local was a solo gig on a Sunday late arvo early evening in March. It was a 2 hr original gig which I hadn’t done in a while and I had also played at a 60th birthday with the band the night before so it was really testing my agility. I absolutely loved the Thornbury Local gig, the owners and bar staff were amazing. The audience were really attentive and it was an overall really positive experience. It was also lovely to see so many friends there too.

YouTube Videos

Here are the videos that Wayne took starting with the group song of “Leaving on a Jet Plane” by John Denver.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Activism, Gigs, Photos, Refugees, Song writing, Sydney, Touring

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It’s February 2023!!!

February 9, 2023 0 Comments

I know it’s crazy but we are already into the 2nd month of the year and still the sun hides behind the clouds here in downtown Melbourne 😅 and the thermometer is stuck in the mid 20º section. I am sure that will change but I have been told “you’re in Melbourne now” 🥳 ….. yeah they almost have a smile of glee when of reminding me of that point.🤪 But guess what? I LOVE IT ❤️ all of it.

MOE

I have been so busy since arriving late September last year. Moe RSL was great fun. The lovely Alan Edwards from the Musicial Australiana show on  Gippsland FM was kind enough to organise a radio interview then a gig at the Moe RSL. It was the end of year Christmas gig so it went down a real treat. I even won the raffle which was a washing basket filled to the brim with Christmas goodies that I am still ploughing through. 😍

CERES

Sunday 14th January I had a lovely surprise at the CERES Organic Market and Bakery, what an amazing little hub of activity. It was lovely to see so many familiar faces too. I played 2 hours of original songs about all the things closest to my heart and what an amazing attentive audience. ❤️

Here’s a little clip of me singing one of my favourite songs Women of War.

BAR 303

Then last week I was invited by Peter Vadiveloo, Cate Taylor and Phil Hudson and the Grand Kompanions to play a few songs at their gig at Bar 303 in Northcote. It was such a great night of original music and so lovely to share it with other great musicians who are passionate about the same things as I am.

Hopefully I will be able to do more gigs like that in the future. There are so many more opportunities here in Melbourne to connect with like minded people who are seeking the same in their musical and artistic adventures.

 

 

 

Upcoming!

 

HUMPH HALL IS NEXT!

I am really excited about this one! The last time I was at Humph Hall was February 2017 which was before I even started writing songs that reflected my 6 years of involvement in refugee advocacy and activism. It was even before my first trip to Manus. I am incredibly excited also because Susie Bishop, who is an extremely talented violinist amongst other things, is going to join me. I connected with Susie through the advocacy network, she too was doing all she could to support the refugees who had been medivaced here and locked up in hotels and detention centres across Australia for years. From the first time we spoke on the phone I knew she was from my tribe and even better still she is a musician too. The Sunloungers will also be playing on that evening, I played with them the last time I was there and we had a lot of fun. We will probably play a few songs together at the end of the evening like last time which was a huge amount of fun.

March 5th I will be playing at the Thornbury local solo. It’s a venue that supports original music so looking forward to playing a heap of my own songs there. I also have a new side project. 🤪 I have joined a band and we are playing a bunch of fun covers and I am having such a blast! More of that to come next time folks. Enjoy what life has to offer and see you soon. ❤️

Spotify    Bandcamp   Youtube

Activism, Gigs, Melbourne, Photos, Refugees, Song writing, Sydney

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Final words for 2022

December 14, 2022 0 Comments

Upcoming Gigs!

I hope you are all well and enjoying the final few weeks of the year. I have well and truly got myself settled into life in Melbourne and I love it!! It’s December 15th 9am in the morning and the temperature is 13C outside with much rain falling from the sky …..no no I am not complaining but ….does the sun actually ever come out here 😂 😂 😂 

Jokes aside the gigs are starting to happen with the first one being just over a week away at the Moe RSL which is a town in the Latrobe Valley just an hour and half South East of Melbourne. This gig was secured by radio presenter friend Alan Edwards from the Music Australiana show at Gippsland fm 104.7. who has been a playing my tracks on his show for a number of years now. So it was a lovely surprise when he asked if I would come on the show and then play at the RSL that week too. There are so many more places to play here and even though I have been slow of the block I am starting to find the venues that are most suited to my style of music. I will be playing at the CERES Organic Markets & Bakery on Sunday 14th January which I am very excited about. 10.30 am is the start time so please come down for a coffee, cake and some groceries. I am assuming it’s going to be a bit warmer by then 😂 😂 😂 although not counting on it 😂

Me at Humph Hall in 2017

My next stop is Sydney in February I will be playing at Humph Hall in Allambie Heights. The last time I played there was April 2017!! I can’t believe that much time has passed already!!  Then March is when I will be playing a 2 hour set at The Thornbury Local on Sunday, March 5th and you can see all the times and dates on my “upcoming gigs” page right here or just follow me on Facebook or instagram. I am currently spending my time getting familiar with Melbourne and checking out that venues that support original live music.  I am keen to find a few band members to form a duo or trio while here in Melbourne so if you have any friends who you think will be interested please send them to me. I am in Parkville currently but looking to secure accommodation in Brunswick long term. 

Wishing you all the best for the holiday season and the New Year and I look forward to sharing more shenanigans in the New Year. 

 

 

Airplay, Gigs, Melbourne, Photos

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Melbourne Awaits!

July 18, 2022 0 Comments

I hope you are all well and thriving or at the very least surviving the current ever changing times that we are in. Yeah I know it really is challenging but I guess we have to find ways to see what we DO have. For example I have a roof over my head, running clean water, power, food and am safe and I can still afford wine and chocolate on a Friday night which puts me in the top 5% on the planet, so in that context I am thriving :O).  However, if I jump into the context of not being able to travel as easily and the difficulty booking gigs, the decimation of the live music industry, well that’s a whole different story…..it’s not quite the end of the world but it’s getting close 😁. Yeah ok that was a bit dramatic but some days it feels like that so that is when I have to go back to my lucky to be in the top 5% posi. 

Me getting the admin done

After a 6 mths break from doing gigs I have now started booking again. I am keen to get out there playing again, although I say this as the latest reports are showing surges in COVID cases across the country.  Gigs don’t just pop up out of the blue, there is a lot of work to do behind the scenes, unless you are well known of course. For the sea of singer songwriters out there such as myself, there is a lot of chasing up to do and more…… It’s a very competitive area to work and even more so if you are female but I am not going to go there today, because if I use that as my excuse I will never get things happening. I won’t deny that being a woman in this industry has it set backs but I am changing tact today. I am going to look for the benefits and forge my way forwards. It’s important because there aren’t many of us and I have an opportunity to offer something to the up and coming young female musicians. They CAN NOT BE what they CAN NOT SEE.❤️

There is a huge amount that goes on behind the scenes for musicians and artists and the picture above is to show you that I do spend a lot of time on my laptop. Yeah OK it’s not that bad but I was short of photos for this blog post so I felt an up and close of me doing the not so glamorous work would fit the bill 😁.  It’s Monday lunchtime and I am still in my PJs getting all those emails and promo’s done.😁

So what is it that we have to do?

Phone venues to ask for gigs (it’s so hard!), then write emails with our bio, attach links to our work. You have to have examples of live performance to share and your social media pages. We have to keep our social media pages active and updated all the time. I have recently been calling venues in Melbourne to play a few gigs there so I need to make sure that they can see that I do have “something to offer”. It’s not easy to promote yourself and your creative work, most artists are not comfortable with this aspect of life as a creative but we have to do it. I then make contact with radio shows that play my genre of music and send them my latest releases and sometimes I get an interview or get asked to go into the studio to play a few tunes.

I have a long bio and a short bio that I send depending on what’s needed. Just one bio isn’t enough though because there are always variations depending on the venue. Recently I have been applying for Festivals which need to be done at least 6 to 10 months in advance. You have to put your expected fees which could be the make or break of getting the gig. Many musicians who really want to play may undercut themselves which undervalues the work of all musicians. However, I am not going to be too critical of this because I really don’t know what the answer is. Many people will say we love what we do and don’t mind playing for free which is not true of course, yes we love what we do but it doesn’t mean we can afford to not get paid or to be grossly underpaid. The arts is undervalued across the board and the whole culture of this country and of how important art is viewed and received needs to to change.

Anyway how did I get here?

I am supposed to be telling you about my upcoming gigs in Melbourne but first I want to thank Michael Crichton from 94.1 fm 3WBC radio Melbourne for playing my recent releases “Pledge my Soul” and “He’s My Brother” on two of his shows this week. I say recent releases because in these COVID times it has been much more difficult to release tracks due to the lack of opportunities to perform so I am going keep these as “recent” to make up for the lost time. 😁

Upcoming gigs

As stated in the heading of this post I am heading to Melbourne again, just for a couple of weeks but I do have some gigs booked in. The first one is a House Concert on Sunday August 7th. I will be sharing the evening with the lovely Cate Taylor who is an Indi folk singer songwriter, we are going to be doing an intimate concert at a friends house,  Jo & Dave’s, who are wonderful hosts living in Parkville. There are very limited seats s if you would like to join us please email me dawnbarringtonmusic@gmail.com. The tickets are $20 (supper and drinks are provided).

Tuesday 9th I will be playing at Open Studio for a dinner and music evening from 6.30pm – 8.30pm. It is going to be a bonus Tuesday free event, get your tickets from Eventbright to book a spot at this dedicated music venue in Northcote. Here is the facebook event.

Then on Thursday 18th August I will be playing for the Writers Block at the The Lomond Hotel which I am also really looking forward too.

If you would like to purchase any of my tracks please download them from Bandcamp and please also subscribe to my Youtube page where you can be updated on any new videos or play the ones already uploaded. Last but not least you can also follow my music page on Facebook where I will always keep you updated where I am playing or you can go to “Upcoming gigs” on this site.❤️

Airplay, Gigs, House Concderts, Melbourne, Photos, Song writing, Touring

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NEW RELEASE “He’s My Brother”

December 13, 2021 4 Comments

It’s here my new release “He’s My Brother” recorded at Soundbaker studio by Rob Agostini. I am absolutely delighted with the results and you can download it from Bandcamp or stream it on spotify. Also please subscribe to my Youtube page.

It’s my first release since moving up to the big smoke last year. I have been a bit reticent about going through the recording process since moving to Perth because I wanted to find the right person for the job. I was spoilt in Denmark for 9 years where I had the privilege of working with Tony King and other amazing local musicians in my home studio. Al Smith from Bergerk studio would come down to Denmark WA for the weekend and we would spend the whole time recording, it was fluid, spontaneous and so much fun. When you step into the studio you need to be with people that you can trust with your creation. However, us creatives who fall into the category of musician and songwriters all have our own ideas about what we want to achieve and of course there is the ego to deal with too. I always found my time in the studio, supportive, inspiring and extremely productive so of course I wanted to find the same for my new work. I was fortunate to find Rob Agostini who is an incredible musician, technician and producer and all round nice guy who really does know how to listen.

We worked in the studio for  2 half days and here are the results:

“He’s My Brother” was written quite spontaneously, while spending time observing the daily suffering of one of the refugees who stayed with me for a short time. He was detained on Manus Island Papua New Guinea for 6 years and then medivaced here to Australia where he was locked up for a further 2 years in a hotel in Brisbane with 120 others. He came to stay with me to gain his feet and get some support to live in the world again. I was shocked at the suffering that he had personally experienced and at that he had witnessed, all in the hands of the Australian Government. The Government that I put faith in each day to live a “free” and “democratic life” and to do the right by us and others.  The grace and gratitude that he showed me was humbling and I felt compelled to document that experience hence the creation of “He’s My Brother” (Thank you Ahmad).

What’s Next?

What is next? Well I do have another single to release early next year and I am currently writing a grant to record an EP next year. Grants are a long process and it takes a huge amount of energy to find the right information to put forward. It’s kind of a creative process because you have to think outside the box and come up with creative ideas but it’s also very left brain, logical, sequential jumping through hoops kind of pull your hair out stuff to. It doesn’t seem fair that we have to go through such a process and I always think about those who maybe have an incredible amount of creativity and enthusiasm but just don’t have the grant writing acumen. Anyway I will do my best and let’s see what happens. I want to go back to Soundbaker studio and I have a couple of amazing musicians friends lined up to join me and some great ideas brewing so I will keep you posted on that.

Next Year!

Next year I am hoping to start touring again but I am not sure when but I will definitely keep you all posted. It might be later in the year but I might do a quick visit in the first quarter. It’s all dependent on whether or not I get the grant. If I don’t get it I will organise a tour earlier but if I do it will probably be later. I am so keen to get back over East to play music again but it’s all a bit difficult at the moment and almost impossible to plan anything so a little more patience is required.

I am keeping this update short and sweet this time so wishing you all an amazing seasonal break and lots of beautiful moments with family and friends and keep safe. See you in the NEW YEAR!

 

Activism, Airplay, Recording, Refugees, Song writing, Streaming, Videos

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