Tag Archives: piano

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Natalie Gauci Releases Single ‘Fame’ PLUS REMIX

UPDATE

With her current single FAME receiving generous airplay across the nation including the Flow Networks, ABC, community and commercial stations Natalie has just this week dropped a dance floor smash remix of the track.

Natalie and DJ/Producer JPA, have been collaborating on music endeavours on and off since 2009.  Fame is the first single they’ve decided to remix and release to the public and are very excited about it.  It all came together quite quickly as the song has a few simple catchy hooks which JPA picked up to really give the remix momentum and a great build.  The remix gives it a twist and a new flavour, definitely a happy tone.

JPA has received attention across Australia’s realm of notable clubs while also having toured throughout Europe, from Ibiza to Amsterdam and some of the electronic music industry’s lucrative events including ADE. An emotive force in the house and techno pool, JPA’s remix of Fame is a superbly curated signature of his work in 2023.

Check it out – click below

fame remix

From an early age, Natalie dreamed of being famous. Now on her new single ‘Fame’, she explains that fame is about learning to choose to do good things through love, instead of the bad things, through blocking pain.

In a classic case of ‘be careful what you wish for’, Gauci learnt that being famous also had a downside as she illustrates on her new song; “Fame got me wanting all the bad things, the bad things, shame it brought the sad things” Gauci laments. 

“Writing ‘Fame’ made a difference to my life; it made me realise it’s not about the fame, it’s about honouring the gifts I’ve been given.”

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‘I recall blowing my candles out on every birthday, wishing to be famous. Now I look back and think, hmmm, why did I want to be famous?  I wanted to make a difference in the world.”

Fame finally arrived for Gauci in 2007 when she gained massive national overnight recognition after winning Australian Idol.

Gauci subsequently signed a record deal with Sony BMG Australia. Her debut single, ‘Here I Am’ released in November that year, reached #2 on the ARIA Singles Chart and gained a gold accreditation.

The following month saw the release of her debut album, ‘A Winner’s Journey’ which reached #11 on the ARIA Albums Chart and was certified platinum.

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International success followed with a charting single and album in the UK, Sweden, Germany and Denmark. She toured the UK and Europe and held down a residence at Ronnie Scott’s in London. Other highlights included: Henley On Thames Music Festival UK (with Chaka Khan), In The City Festival Manchester, Sofa Sounds London, TEDx London, FestiBall Buckinghamshire UK Festival, Walk The Walk Breast Cancer Charity Festival and The Big Umbrella Charity Event Kathmandu.

All proceeds from the sales of Natalie’s forthcoming album, ‘Brand New Day’, are going to support her charity, A Call to Wisdom which will help people who have broken parts that require healing from sexual abuse, trauma and domestic violence“Brokenness is leading to homelessness and what we need now more than ever is hope” says Gauci.

New single ‘Fame’ is available on all digital platforms Friday 29th September.

Album ‘Brand New Day’ will be released in 2024.

TOUR DATES

9TH Nov, The Toff In Town, Melbourne

Tickets: https://thetoff.com.au/gigs/

12th Nov, Carafe Wine, Southport QLD

Tickets: https://shorturl.at/estzC

16th Nov, Brass Monkey Cronulla, Sydney

Tickets: https://shorturl.at/pruwI

3rd March Lefty’s Music Hall, Brisbane

https://shorturl.at/cHKOP

9th March Birds Basement, Melbourne

STREAM – September 29 (Foghorn/MGM)

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Fiona Joy Hawkins and Rebecca Daniel Release Album ‘To The Wind’

Fiona Joy Hawkins and Rebecca Daniel Present New Album
To The Wind

When Fiona and Rebecca flew to the USA from Australia, it was to tour and to record with producer Cookie Marenco. Fiona and Rebecca played to full houses in a series of iconic venues that would add a lustre to any artist resume: Carnegie Hall, Dizzys Jazz Club, The Moss Performing Arts Centre, The Hollywood Piano and topped by a live concert at Echoes for NPR.

With the tour done they moved to the studio. Producer, Cookie Marenco, known for her trademarked pristine recordings to DSD256, was ecstatic with the results. The now critically acclaimed “Heavenly Voices” is a testament to their virtuosity. The time on stage meant their skills were honed to a knife edge and “Heavenly Voices” became a heavenly recording.

‘Rather than stop recording, this duo decided to try something new – compose music on the spot and reimagine songs they had recorded in the past. They brought freshness to older pieces with piano, violin and voices. All recorded in one take, live in the studio,’ says Cookie.

“Heavenly Voices” was released globally in March 2021 with great success. With the world still shut down, Fiona, Rebecca and Cookie agreed that those stunning ‘one take’ sessions should be released. They have become the follow up – “To The Wind”.

Rebecca:
‘Personally, ‘The Void’ and ‘Blue Dream’ are two of my favourites to play. ‘My Hands Were Busy’ was initially going to be on the Lightness of Dark album, but we ran out of time. The song then became an integral part of the concerts, due to its moving and emotional connection with the audience. This collection brings a true “live” experience, presenting a concert performance with a studio quality sound. No tricks, just two musicians in a studio, recreating highlights from their concerts.’

About

Fiona Joy Hawkins is a classically trained pianist and singer inspired by Mendelssohn, Chopin and her Celtic heritage. Her song ‘Grace’ was on a GRAMMY ® winning album in 2014. In 2016, she won two categories of the Independent Music Awards. In Australia, she was an ARIA Finalist & MusicOZ Winner.

Rebecca Daniel studied violin and chamber music with Emanuel Hurwitz and the Amadeus String Quartet at The Royal Academy of Music. She was invited to move to Australia to join The Australian Chamber Orchestra, and was Orchestra Leader for Les Misérables, Phantom of the Opera, The Sound of Music & Beauty and the Beast. She has recorded and performed with John Denver, Bread, James Galway and the Chieftains, Will Ackerman, Shirley Bassey, Barbra Streisand, Men at Work and INXS.

Both virtuosos, together Hawkins and Daniel make for an incomparable team.

‘To The Wind’ is OUT NOW on Blue Coast Records
Available on SACD and Digital

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Darlene Koldenhoven’s new album has reached #1 on the Soundslikecafe instrumental chart

GRAMMY® Award Winner and 3 time Nominee Darlene Koldenhoven’s new album ‘Traveling the Blissful Highway’ has been cruising up the Soundslikecafe  charts since its release in October and has now hit the number 1 instrumental album spot!!
Not only that but the single ‘Jade Dreams’ is hanging out at number 2 on the overall top 10.

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 The album also had local Australian articles in Scenestr magazine and Whats My Scene. Darlene was recently interviewed across the pond for Aparna Vats Point of View show on Alive 90.5 fm Sydney.

The chart position isn’t surprising considering these great reviews of the album below:

It is some of the most relaxing and
dreamy music you will have the pleasure of enjoying – a slice of heaven.
– Keith “Muzik Man” Hannaleck, New Age Music Reviews, Founder 7/18/22

The music of “Traveling the Blissful Highway” is colored with many colors, as if you are enthusiastically
leafing through a color album of a wonderful photographer who captured the most beautiful landscapes
that he met on his way. And each new page is even more beautiful… There is sophistication and a lot of the
smallest nuances in its perfect sounding music. A wonderful end to a hard day, bringing peace to the soul
and clearing the mind of worries.
– Serge Kozlovsky, Minsk, Belarus skozlovsky.com 7/30/22

“Traveling the Blissful Highway is an album you will want as your musical companion, to help make your life
joumey a more enjoyable and beautiful discovery. Darlene’s experience and exposure to varied cultures,
countries and traditions have contributed positively to her broad and diverse vision of humanity and our
world which comes through in her musical compositions and especially shines on this album.”
-Lizzette Cascante, Aurelscapes 8/3/22

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Travel with Darlene Koldenhoven and her musicians on the blissful highway in her new album that features twelve instrumental tracks including four with her angelic, harmonic vocalese, occasionally used as background instrumentation. All of her compositions and arrangements invite us to go out and see the world and have a good rest at the end of an exquisite day. There are 53:46 minutes of colorful timbres and some nature sounds to keep you balanced, focused, refreshed, and joyfully relaxed. Darlene performs on keyboard synths, creating a culture of calm: half the album has ethnic influences to gently keep you going on the road and half lets you exit to the rest areas. Even when real travel is not in the picture, pack these traveling soundscapes for your inner and outer journey. With this album, the only passport you’ll need for these destination cities – peace, calm, happiness and bliss is your own mindfulness to visit them and the album as your tour guide.

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About

GRAMMY® Award Winner and 3 time Nominee, Darlene Koldenhoven is a vocalist, pianist, composer, arranger, lyricist, speaker, and sonic therapist from Studio City, CA, born and raised in Chicago, IL. Her last two albums, “The Grand Piano Spa” and “The Grand Piano Spa: Legacy” debuted on the prestigious Billboard Classical Crossover Charts at #4 and #8, respectively in May & November 2021.

She was inducted to the Indie Music Hall of Fame at the GRAMMY® Museum in 2019 by the Indie Music Channel Awards and the COVR Award hailed her “Chromatones” as Album of the Year a few months later. Several of her albums ranked #1 on the worldwide ZMR Radio Charts and she has 2 Best New Age Vocal Album and Best Holiday Album from ZMR.

Darlene is best known worldwide as the featured soprano in “Yanni, Live at the Acropolis” and for her role as the tambourine-waving choir nun in both “Sister Act” films with Whoopi Goldberg.

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Fiona Joy Hawkins New Album Moving Through Worlds

Fiona Joy Hawkin’s Presents New Album and Video
Moving Through Worlds

As the Australian Bushfires crept toward her rural home, Fiona Joy Hawkins turned to her Stuart & Sons piano to do what has always bought her solace: writing music. After crafting 4 songs that she later marketed as fundraisers for firefighters and wildlife rescue – and which are included on this album – she began final preparations on Moving Through Worlds.

Although she began recording and conceptualizing the album three years ago, one could say it is an album 44-years in the making. One of the more classical-crossover pieces is “For the Roses” which a 12-year-old Fiona wrote for her Grandmother’s funeral.

Fiona says, “I believe music is a gift from another world, from ancestors of the past communicating to inspire and give us hope. Music is a universal language that connects us without prejudice, it speaks to us all equally, yet is received with great variation. My wish is to open a few more hearts to the power of music. Now more than ever we need the connection to our past to find the pathway to our future.”

The 14-track album was beautifully produced by Will Ackerman (Founder Windham Hill Records) and Tom Eaton. As per her usual style, Fiona defies genre by bringing Classical, Contemporary Piano, and New Age instrumentals together to create something uniquely her own, and reflective of all the worlds that she has moved through so elegantly while this powerful music gathered in her soul.

Fiona Joy Hawkins is an Australian Pianist, Composer and Singer who enjoys and regularly tours China and the USA and is also a member of the Contemporary instrumental group FLOW (Fiona Joy, Lawrence Blatt, Jeff Oster, Will Ackerman). Fiona Joy Hawkins is best known for her romantic, melodic songs and lush arrangements. A prolific composer, she has always been interested in creating music that evokes images, emotions and tells stories.

Fiona Joy is known for ‘Grace’, her song on a Grammy Winning album in 2014 and for her extensive catalogue produced by Will Ackerman (Founder Windham Hill Records). In 2016 she won two categories of the Independent Music Awards at the Lincoln Centre in New York and has been awarded Best Piano Album by International Radio (ZMR Awards) for several of her albums. Nominated alongside Pete Seeger for Best LIVE Performance Album in the Independent Music Awards,Fiona was an ARIA Finalist in Australia in 2008. Fiona works with Australian piano maker Stuart and Sons, and has several albums with Blue Coast Records (content partners with Sony Music for hi-resolution releases).

Watch the Video (Premiered on Scenstr) for Calling County Clare here

In the case of Fiona Joy Hawkins’ latest collection Moving Through Worlds, there are glorious exceptions where it’s not hyperbole in any sense and fits today, tomorrow and for all…let’s just say I can’t imagine there ever being a time in the future when listening to this deeply personal, socially conscious, stylistically expansive 14-track musical narrative would grip me any less than it does today, in the midst of world gone mad 2020. – Jonathan Widran, JWVibe

“Moving Through Worlds” is OUT NOW (July 7) via Little Hartley Music. 

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For further information, Files,  CD and Interview Requests please contact:
Marshall Cullen at Foghorn Media
0416 143 030
marshall@foghornrecords.net

 

Fiona Joy Hawkins

Fiona Joy Hawkins’ New Single and Video

Fiona Joy Hawkin’s Presents New Single and Video
 Calling County Clare

Music for this moment… A piano journey that finds joy. Calling County Clare is the first track on Fiona Joy’s upcoming album Moving Through Worlds due out 7 July. Calling County Clare is a Celtic dance and joyful celebration featuring piano with Irish Whistle, guitars, accordion and rhythm. In the video Fiona is standing on the shores of Town Beach at Port Macquarie and calling to the shores of Ireland. There’s some really beautiful drone footage of the Irish coast throughout the video shot specifically for the clip.

Fiona Joy Hawkins is an Australian Pianist, Composer and Singer who enjoys and regularly tours China and the USA and is also a member of the Contemporary instrumental group FLOW (Fiona Joy, Lawrence Blatt, Jeff Oster, Will Ackerman). Fiona Joy Hawkins is best known for her romantic, melodic songs and lush arrangements. A prolific composer, she has always been interested in creating music that evokes images, emotions and tells stories.

Fiona Joy is known for ‘Grace’, her song on a Grammy Winning album in 2014 and for her extensive catalogue produced by Will Ackerman (Founder Windham Hill Records). In 2016 she won two categories of the Independent Music Awards at the Lincoln Centre in New York and has been awarded Best Piano Album by International Radio (ZMR Awards) for several of her albums. Nominated alongside Pete Seeger for Best LIVE Performance Album in the Independent Music Awards,Fiona was an ARIA Finalist in Australia in 2008. Fiona works with Australian piano maker Stuart and Sons, and has several albums with Blue Coast Records (content partners with Sony Music for hi-resolution releases).

Watch the Video (Premiered last week on Scenstr) for Calling County Clare here

Blue Coast owner/producer Cookie Marenco says, “Fiona’s melodic solo piano and masterful performances are the perfect music to debut the kind of clarity double DSD audio brings to the home listener,”

“One of the brightest lights in contemporary instrumental music, Fiona Joy is poised to move into stardom,” -Will Ackerman, Founder of Windham Hill Records

“Calling County Clare” is OUT NOW via FOGHORN/MGM. 

Streaming “Calling County Clare”
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For further information, Files, CD and Interview Requests please contact:
Marshall Cullen at Foghorn Media
0416 143 030
marshall@foghornrecords.net

The Eden Project EP Gatefold Art Melissa Black 200918 MASTER

Melissa Black – The Eden Project EP

Melissa Black is a musician and songwriter with a strong connection to nature, as evident on her new release,
The Eden Project EP.

For the past decade Melissa has been a staple on the original music scene steadily gathering accolades and building a loyal fan base. A chance meeting with singer/songwriter Scott Bird led to a production meeting with Riversong Music and the team was assembled to work on ‘The Eden Project’. Pre-production began mid 2016 and tracking started soon after. As the project developed the musical landscape was revealed and the imagery surrounding the songs came into sharp focus. The production team then developed filming ideas around the stories that were emerging from the songs, after spending time as participating artists at Tarkine in Motion 2017. The quality of the recordings and visual concepts led to Melissa becoming a Riversong Music family artist and a valuable contributor to their environmental arts project.

Melissa says her passion for music began when she was very young. “I used my older brothers record collection for ages, where I discovered Jethro Tull, Cream, Deep Purple, Led Zep all the classics, then I discovered (I think much to my brothers disgust!) Queen and I was off on my own adventure.”

These early influences still inspire her sound today. “There was a lot of hammond organ in my brothers collection which I loved the sound of, then Queen with the piano sealed the deal.”

The title track, ‘Eden’ shines as a key single from the EP, with an enticing piano, strings and guitar intro leading into the full instrumentation evoking comparisons to Neko Case’s album Hell On and Tori Amos.
The hooky chorus of ‘Fallen Angel’ sets it up as a great radio track and the song has already found a warm response on the soundslikecafe network.

A music mentor teacher for children and teens, Melissa is inspired by a broad musical pool. She cites her favourite artists as “most definitely the story tellers”, listing Freddie Mercury, Jeff Lynn, Paul Kelly, Missy Higgins, Regina Spektor, Elton John for the melodies and Bernie Taupin for the stories, Kate Miller-Heidke, Aurora Jane and Diana Anaid.

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Melissa is also a part of an exciting new short film called ‘Merging with takayna’, launching in July, which is part of the Tarkine In Motion project  co-ordinated through the environmental action group of former Greens Senator and environmentalist Bob Brown. Takayna is the name of the Tasmanian wilderness also known as Tarkine – Australia’s largest temperate rainforest which is the habitat of many of Australia’s most iconic animals, some of which are endangered.

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Check out Melissa talking about the Tarkine and her release on 3CR Melbourne here.

Piano driven songs supported by solid groove, understated guitars and a conversational vocal delivery which evokes the rich Australian landscape and an empowering feminine essence ~ Heart Light Music

The Eden Project EP is out now through Riversong Music.
The video for Eden will be released on the 10th of May, with shows to follow in July surrounding the Tarkine in Motion exhibition in Hobart.
More tour dates below:

2nd May – Guest Host Australian Songwriters Association – Ground N Sound’, 6/23 Musgrave Avenue, Chirn Park Gold Coast 6.30 – 9.30pm.

17th May – Album Showcase – Boho & Co Prospero St, South Murwillumbah NSW

18th May – Launch of New Shop + Album Showcase – Boho & Co Prospero St, South Murwillumbah NSW

29th May – Murwillumbah Farmers Markets (Album Showcase)
Murwillumbah Showgrounds NSW 7am – 11am

6th June – Ground n Sound (Australian Songwriters Association)
Chirn Park, Gold Coast QLD 6.30pm

8th June – Valiant Music (Instore Album Showcase)
Brunswick Heads NSW 11am – 12pm

10th August – Album showcase for Fundraising Support for Cancer Function – House of Gabriel, Riverside Drive, Tumbulgum NSW

August 24th – Ground n Sound (Album Showcase)
Chirn Park, Gold Coast QLD

August 25th – Sphinx Rock Cafe (Album Showcase)
3220 Kyogle Road, Mount Burrell NSW 12pm 

Sunday 1st September – The Nook Cafe, 87-89 Tweed Coast Road, Hastings Point, 6.30pm – 8.30pm Bookings 02 6617 6779

Friday 6th September – Marty’s at Caba, 35 Tweed Coast Road, Bogangar (Cabarita), 6.30pm – 9.30pm Bookings 02 6676 3955

Sunday 15th September – Uki Buttery Markets, Uki Village, Kyogle Road from 9.30am to 1.30pm

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Fiona Joy - Story of Ghosts - Cover

Fiona Joy (Hawkins) – New Album – Story of Ghosts

Fiona Joy (Hawkins) – New Album – Story of Ghosts

Having won many awards for her two previous solo piano albums, Fiona is destined to do the same with Story of Ghosts.

Fiona’s third solo piano album takes her fans on her journey of the past year of her life as she deals with a harrowing year in 2017 and makes no attempts to sugarcoat the emotional’s. The year included many friends and family members getting seriously sick, dying or going insane.!!

She bares it all over the course of these mostly grey-toned melancholy and vulnerable pieces, that draw on her classical background and impressionistic modern yet melodic composition.
‘There is a little madness in the music I write, it only pops out of the calmness momentarily, but enough to know that there is uncertainty in everything we hear, feel and experience. It’s much more classical and very connected to my roots” says Fiona .

“There’s a lot of emotion in it, that part was challenging. But when I get feedback from my fans that I’m touching their lives, and in some way making a difference, that makes it worthwhile.”
She uses the piano to weave interconnected tales with similar motifs – She opens the album with the uplifting and just whimsical enough “Song for Dunnie,” which she wrote for the funeral of Annette (Dunnie) Crossley, one of her best friends and business partner in her company Little Hartley Music. The lushly flowing piece represents a life full of vibrant brightness, good humour and joy.
“Story of Angels” moody hypnosis that leads to attempts to dance and then sudden dream-dashing stops into “Story of Ghosts” the deepest tale is told by the third story song. The contemplative “Story of Insanity” which alternates shards of light and night in a romp of anger tempered by gentle understanding. “Contemplating (Solo) which find Fiona deep in thought, seeking answers in the high notes as tension builds. “Blue Dream” whose high and low dynamics indicate mood swings that shift on a dime during crises. “The White Light” perhaps a place between worlds where high and low notes battle it out for our mortal hearts.
Fiona ‘s  choice to work with producer Cookie Marenco reflects Fiona’s appreciation for high quality audio. “Even CD quality is unsatisfying when you’ve heard DSD or SACD, especially when played on a high-end system” says Fiona.
Fans of FLOW, the recently launched hit new age group featuring Fiona, Will Ackerman, Lawrence Blatt and Jeff Oster, will recognise the closing track “Before the Light” as the beautifully rendered foundation of “Arrival,” the opening track on FLOW’s self-titled debut. In the FLOW version, the darker edges of the piece get subsumed into a lighter hearted grooving vibe. Here it’s allowed to flourish in the shadows, exploring the heavy mysteries of life’s pain that occur before the healing – and wondering along the way if it will ever come.

Fiona recalls asking Ackerman once “What would happen if I ever got happy? Would the creativity dry up?” – since she’s built her artistry and fan base on her incredible musical embrace of sadness.
“No, Fiona, you will just start writing happier music.” He said, surprised at the answer “Maybe down the road, I’ll make a few happy songs”.

But for now, especially on Story of Ghosts we can enjoy the musical beauty and grace that she shares while working through the obstacles to make peace with the sorrow life has thrown her.

 

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