I laid soft and low over the blissful new 2017 months but I did bump into Kasey Chambers and just so happened to sing harmonies on her song The Caption three times last month!
What else is in store for 2017 you ask? .....read on to find out!
Read MoreI have no idea what actual day of the week it is. This is my proof I have for once, managed to ....relax! So before my brain leaps into planning and tour strategies for 2017 and beyond I shall stop myself and reflect upon the year that just was...
Read MoreFriends don't let friends shop at chainstores and fill the pockets of further CEO's hiding money offshore!! Friends open each others world to the possibility of other choices that enable more Aussie creatives to thrive. Besides, who doesn't want something made by hand and with love?. This comprehensive list is ever growing and truly allows you to give the gifts that keep on giving! <3
Read MoreIf I had to squish this month of jamp-packedness into one photo and one instagram video...these are IT! To me it is a pure combo of resourcefulness and joy! A playful curtsy bow, the thrill of a road trip, the luxury of having my bro from Melbourne to play with me, wearing my new fave frock and freshly painted boots and about to open for one of the best Aussie bands around...
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My art space for blessed creative MESS! This is where my years of Mexican trinkets and art supplies are transforming into the new album artwork. (Big thanks to my mum for generously allowing me to overtake her gardening shed for a while!)
Hi and Bye September,
Ok I guess this is cheating: Using todays instagram post as a cheap last minute attempt at getting this months blog up before October 1st! My writing energy this month has been re-routed towards finishing my fictional story for the new Spaghetti-Mex-Western album. This new medium has been somewhat of a rather painful growing experience for me. Songwriting and being an .....dare I say it.....writer-writer ....or AUTHOR are very, very different mediums!
I'm spent for now so goodnight and I will tell you so much more about the magical unfolding of this album and how wonderful it is to be collaborating with people on it all over the world from Mexico, Italy, Germany, America and right here in Oz!
Life's good and when it aint? put some Frida flowers in you hair and flip the bird like ya just don't care.
More soon loves,
Abbie
x
On The Road Again...
Skidding in sideways just before winter in this hemisphere comes to a close and September brings Spring...I race to deliver you to these August musings. I considered typing this with one finger on my mobile phone app a couple of weeks ago in mid check-in queue to one of my numerous flights during this months heavy touring schedule but it all seemed too uphill. I decided I was allowed to drop the ball for a moment or two and just rely on instagram and face-crack to keep in touch.
My Songs For The Dead Of Winter Tour was a non-stop adventure that took me to freezing Melbourne and regional Victoria, Brisbane, back to Adelaide, all the way to my first trip in balmy wintery Alice Springs and back again! It was a beloved month of flights, long drives, solo, duo and band gigs, songwriting workshops, a charity fundraiser and lecturing JMC lyric classes in-between it all. Busier than I have ever been I felt alive and thrived. Naturally, I am now ready for the flip-side quiet of the countryside..... to write, make art and be still for a moment before the next wave of touring. It took me a while to truly understand this...but the dump after any big event, tour, production, play etc is real and oh so very normal. I am already keen for the next phase.
I love all the stages of this vocation. The Yin & The Yang. The loud and outwardly mobile larger than life stuff that leads me to adventures, new friends, bright lights, late nights and encores.....and the solitude of extended creative times wether joyful or challenging. The never-ending admin stuff can grind me down sometimes but it really ends up making the touring harvest all the sweeter.
Let the photo's below from my August do the rest of the talking.
Rehearsing in Melbourne with my Texicans; my bro Jeb, Ash Davies on drums, Eamon McNelis on trumpet and Trent McKenzie on bass! Woohoo.
Open Studio with my beloved Texicans!
10 folks took part in my songwriting workshop in this gorgeous space and Jeb & I performed to a beautiful crowd that night alongside local legends Alawishus Jones & The Outright Lies and beauty Graciana Holland.
Another beloved candle-lit house concert in Castlemaine! Gah. This was so cosy and beautiful. It was a shame I had to drive back to Melbourne that night for my early flight back to Brissy. We could have easily stayed by the fire drinking vino with those lovely folks!
One text sent and I met her backstage. Next minute she's up on stage with me!? Very cool.
Thanks to Mike Wolke for bringing us all together for this special show in Alice Springs
Can hardly believe it! I just finished teaching the 12 weeks Lyric Writing course at JMC mUsic Academy. Was so absorbed in it I forgot to take a pic of my awesome students!
Thanks to Phil Barlow, Sian Evans, Cameron Milford, Asha Niketan Constance, Alicia and Shelley May Evans for donating their talents to this charity show for The Women Of Deep Samburu! We had messages in real time from Naomi the charity organiser in the Samburu village as the concert unfolded. Stunning messages about her drinking Chai at sunrise whilst explaining to some women what a 'house concert' is....and I kept sending photo's of each performer. We raised $550. A modest amount to some but a formidable amount to help three Samburu widows. We collectively can say we have changed their lives for the better forever and pat ourselves on the back. Go team.
Catch you soon online or in the flesh at an upcoming gig,
Love Abbie x
P.S. I have very exciting gigs to announce over the next month as I support The Wilson Pickers Album launch for a few shows with my band and solo so stay tuned!