John MinteChanneling Davis

Krikee DanceKids Play Along

Fine EyeNicole Caslon’s Vision

Splendid GrassRon Short

Building BridgesFrom Morpeth to Stroud

Colour & SoundGreg Ling’s Floyd Rig

Mixing with the BestTrouble in Mind

social/life magazine

features n music n sport n events n people n travel n food n you...

Issue: 1August 2011

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ThisisamagazinededicatedtothevitalityandcolourandpersonalityofNewcastleandit’speople.

Newcastleisacitythat’sisputtingitselfontheworldstagewithresearchandindustryleadingthewayoncountlessfronts.We’readiverseplacewitharguablythewidestchoiceofweekendactivitiesandnightlifeanywhereaswellasavastchoiceofculinarydelightsand...ofcourse..shopping!!

Wehaveahealthymusic,theatreandentertainmentindustrythatisbecomingworldreknownwithtalentedNovicastriansshowingupinfilm,music,fashionandtheatreeverywhere.

Asthenation’s7thlargestcity,Newcastleiseverybitthecapitalwithallthatacoastallocationcanoffer.Alongwithourfamousbeachesandmountains,riverlandandtownships...theNewcastleregionholdsnoendofinterestandisamagnetforAustraliansandvisitorsfromacrosstheglobe.

Weinviteyoutobepartofthisexitingnewmagazineandsharetheactivitiesandeventsinyourlifewiththerestofus.We’llbesharingsocialpagesandstoriesthatcouldbeaweddingoracitystreetfairoracorporatelaunch...younameit...we’llbringthebrightestandbesttoyourpageseverymonth.SostayittouchNewie! ...

Welcome to social/life magazine.

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creditsCreative Director: SteveDunkleyemail:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sociallifesteved@exemail.com.aumobile:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0428438663

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contributors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . TeganHughes

................................................... MichaelBlaxland

....................................................GrahamDunkley

.......................................................SteveDunkley

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.......................................................... JulieWilson

.......................................................TaniaDunning

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Social/LifeMagazineispublishedbySjdCreative,Newcastle,NSW.Submissions

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publishers,staffandassociates.Noresponsibilityisofferedorimpliedbysocial

lifemediaforviewsexpressedbycontributors.. . . . . . . . . . © Copyright 2011 sjdcreative.

social/lifemagazine contentswildweatherman. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PageXXgavinmorrisshareshisweekendadventures

asenseofplace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PageXXtheartofnicolechaffey

portland-quirkycity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PageXXdavidbarettdiscovers32kindsofbeer...anddoughnuts

springcarnivalexpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PageXXvanessaswilksuncoversfashiongemsattheraces

health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PageXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

pets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .PageXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

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V I C T O R I A B O U T I Q U EJ U N C T I O N V I L L A G E

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Marshal Owens brings a new slant on blues to the Shores Hotel.

HailingfromCanberra,acitynot traditionally known forit’s music industry, MarshallOwensmaintainsavitalityofvocalandguitarstylethatisseldome seen and heard -especiallyasabluesartist.

Owens,37, isawell-knownexponent of the traditionalform of blues found in thedeepsouthof theUSA.Hesites great players such as

Muddy Waters and Chill-bone Blaze as his majorinfluences but attributes hisfreshstyletoyearsandtearsofstagetime.

“You can’t just get good practising in your room”

“You just can’t get goodsittinginyourroompracticingto the walls. I did that buteventually, really quickly, infact, Ihad togetoutof thehouseandplayinarealbandwithrealplayers,”hesaid.

The Marshall Owens BluesCombo is a three-piece,sometime four-piece unitwho’smusicrevolvesaroundthe output of Owens whoalsoplayspianoandclassicHammondOrgan.

Jack Stanely on Bassand Phil Barter on Drumscomplete the band withSpike Jeffries joining themseveral times for harp andsecondguitar-Spikeistheirsoundengineer.

With all four grinding a fewclassics interwoven withthe eight tracks from theircurrent release, “Bakin’”,the energy is palpable andechoesthesolid localbluessceneofthe70’s.

Sydney and Melbourneaudiences have taken thebait and responded withrecord hits on the Owenswebsiteanditunessales.

Owens and Combo willappear at the Shores onSaturday,April4th.withTheElementsassupport.ll

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sleepinginthevanSongs from the soul of a living musician

Andy Church - Sleeping In The Vanavailablefromhiswebsite

www.andychurch.comanditunes.

Raised in the Southeast on barbecue and college ball, Andy Church

combines heart, soul, and fine chops to create new music inspired by the innovative bands of the 60’s and 70’s.OriginallyfromLexington,NorthCarolina,

and steeped in the rich combo musicculture of Chapel Hill, Andy has spent alifetime pursuing great songs from almosteveryangle...asaperformer,sessionplayer,guitar dealer, studio organizer, instructor,enabler,handyman,avid listener,amateurscientist,andlabrat,Hehascollectedastrongsetofdiverse

skillsandputthemalltoworkinthemakingofthisofferingSleeping In The Van.Thoughtful lyrics and boldmelodies are

settoarichly-texturedblendofelectricandacousticguitars.Not exactly true to any specific genre,

thesesongsreflectanhonestapproachthatgoesstraighttotheheartofwhatmakesaboypickupaguitarinthefirstplace.Andplay....hedoes....

Sleeping In The Van is not a conceptalbum but the underlying theme thatpermeates its playlist is one of a livingmusician’slife;talesfromtheroadandtheoccasional circumstances that lead to aroadside stop-over with nowhere else tosleep.It’s about a musician’s life.

Any working musician can relate. Andy shares the intimate and silly, the

nuancedmommentarydetailof lifeaswellassweepingafewbroadbrushstrokesofhislifeintoviewviaglisteningguitartones.Wegettoknowsomething,anemotional

echo perhaps, of his surroundings suchas the single track Linden Lane. To takenoteofthelyricsistoexperience,perhaps,something of the life atChapelHillwhereAndy’s studio is situated and reflect onrelationships, hopes, troubled times anddwellingonasenseof“place.”Theeverhopefull,Stars Align isperhaps

themostvulnerableof the tunesalthoughit’snotthemostheart-felt.Thatawardlieswith the title track -again the tornapart,

workingmusician isrevealed-Notalwaysabletolivethedreamwithoutgivinguptheroad,theplaying,theguitar...a curse and a blessing in one. Andy is one of thousands of musician

songwriterswhocanbefoundsellingCD’sonline.Buthe’srealisingthereal-lifedreamofbecommingalivingmusician.ll

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It started off with China announcing a $600 billion fiscal stimulus plan effective from now until 2010, to be spent on infrastructure and social projects.

Even this Asia powerhouse is not imperious to the global economic downturn, they are expecting growth to slow down to 8-9% as opposed to the double digit growth in the last 5 years. On the plus side, at least they’re able to and are doing something to increase the liquidity in their economy.

Over in Europe, things are not so positive. Latvia a small European country, part of the former Soviet Union, just took over their second largest bank, Parex, last weekend. Are they going to be the next Iceland?

Back in the US, American Express got approved to become a bank holding company on Tuesday (just like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley). This way, they’ll have better access to capital both from deposits AND from the government, which is probably a good move since consumer loans is expected to hit next and Amex has a LOT of business in that (obviously).

The latest bank in the spotlight is Citigroup. The good news is that on Tuesday, they joint the ranks of Bank of America and JP Morgan to refinance mortgages to

help people stay in their homes. The bad news

is that Citigroup will be laying off 10% of their workforce

(which may add up to 40,000

layoffs!) and doing some serious cost cutting. People are also not very happy with their (relatively) new CEO Vikram

Pandit. He lost the Wachovia deal to Wells Fargo and the share price has gone down from $50 last year to $9 on Friday. The board is now questioning whether he’s up for the job after all (granted it really wasn’t his fault that Citi is in such deep trouble, he was just called in to fix Chuck Prince’s mess). He is expected to be making a huge speech about all this on Monday.

On Wednesday, Paulson announced that they were

changing their strategy for the use of the $700bn bailout- now known as

the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds. Instead of buying up bad mortgage debt, they are

now going to use the remainder of

the funds to directly inject capital into financial institutions. They realized that given the current situation,

the original plan was becoming cumbersome and it was just easier and more efficient this way to directly inject capital in order to stabilize the financial system and get lending going, which right now they seem to have achieved (temporarily anyway). But then the

question becomes, at which point do

they stop giving capital injections to

anyone who asks?

This question is especially

interesting with the current fiasco in the auto industry. The big 3 are now desperately lobbying for a $25 billion

financial aid package to save them from filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy, which means liquidation and going out of business. This would potentially indirectly

lead to millions of job losses, due to its huge supply chain. Obama and the democrats are all for it, but some of the Republicans are more reluctant. I can actually see where they are coming from. Bailing out the banking industry is one thing, since banks are a huge part of our economy and will still be around in 50 years time. The auto industry on the other hand, is a dying industry.

American cars are simply not globally competitive enough to survive on the long term. They are not as luxurious as

European cars, they are not as cheap as Chinese cars and they are not as endurable and gimmicky as Japanese cars. They would slowly go out of business anyway. The current economic situation is just speeding up the process. I’d invest in a Chanel flap bag because I know that it will still be elegant and classic 20 years down the road, but I wouldn’t spend the same amount of money on a Coach bag, even if it is limited

edition and super luxed up. But I guess the $25

billion will buy us more time to

“prepare”, so it doesn’t add to oil to

the current fire. They are also quibbling about where this money should be coming from. The Democrats want it to come out of the TARP money. (which makes sense, especially given the “new” strategy) and Bush wants to widen the budget deficit. I believe they’re hoping to approve the package this week in the lame-duck

session, as I was, check it out e).

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social/life10

Howmanysurfershaveyouseengeta shoutout fromQueenLatifa at theTeenChoiceAwards?Hmmm...letmethink.

Even if you are new to the surfinggame, chances are that you haveheardofKellySlater.

Six-timeworldchampion,formerPamAnderson LeeRock’s love-slave, oneof People Magazine’s Most Beautiful

People,andguitaristfor“TheSurfers”,Slater has broken the mold of thearchetypicalprofessionalsurfer.

The“confines”oftheprotourcontestswere transcendedearly on, andKellymoved his act to the world mediaarena.

While the magnitude of his successcouldn’t have been predicted, itwasobviousthatthelittlekidfromthesurf-

starved beaches of Cocoa Beach,Floridawasdestinedforgreatness.

Intensive tutelage from some EastCoastlegendsandextensivetravellingturned his raw talent into somethinginhuman.

Nowwithabiographyon themarketandavideogame inhis likeness, it isdifficulttosaywhat’snext.

the big swell at teahupoo tahitiWorld champion surfer is no stranger to popularity. He is recognised everywhere he goes. So where does this seasoned traveller go to disappear?

STORY: Steve James PHOTOS: Tony Moore

social/life12

Avid thrill-seekers wait for their turn on the big swell at Teahupoo..

Evenifyouarenewtothesurfinggame,chancesarethatyouhaveheardofKellySlater.

Six-time world champion, former PamAnderson Lee Rock’s love-slave, oneof People Magazine’s Most BeautifulPeople, and guitarist for “The Surfers,”Slater has broken the mold of thearchetypicalprofessionalsurfer.

Evenifyouarenewtothesurfinggame,chancesarethatyouhaveheardofKellySlater.Slaterhasbrokenthemoldofthearchetypicalprofessionalsurfer.

While the magnitude of his successcouldn’t have been predicted, it wasobvious that the little kid from the surf-starvedbeachesofCocoaBeach,Floridawasdestinedforgreatness.ll

social/life 13

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Outdoor GardensWhether you live in an urban or rural

area, gardening in the outdoors is something many people have in common, and we experience it in different ways - both big and small - from growing herbs on the back porch to perusing the community farmer’s market in town.

But why not take it a step further and take action to make your community a little greener? Creating an outdoor oasis helps preserve green space, beautifies neighborhoods, and can also bring together the community through a shared cause.

One way to do this is through a community gradening project such as NSW Open Gardens, which, through the input of people across the country, awards grants to projects, for both individuals and organisations, that do good for the community. As always, the challenging question is how can you upgrade your town with a new community garden?

Go to www.refresheverything.com and give them your best answer, or click through the hundreds of other entries to vote on your favorite ideas to help ensure worthy organisations receive the funding they deserve. Since last year, U.S. citizens have chosen to award more than 20 million

dollars to community-supportive ideas that receive the greatest number of votes through a landmark fundraising effort organised by Pepsi.

Take Central Elementary Gardens for example, started by teacher Christy Cuthbert, who used the $25,000 Pepsi Refresh Project grant to create an outdoor learning center and garden for her school.

Students not only get their hands dirty in the garden, but also learn skills to promote and manage a community farmers market. There’s also the Brigit’s Bounty started by a Colorado resident, Brandi-Lynn Greig. She used her $25,000 grant to provide fencing, seeds, trees, and educational programming for a community garden, which provides fresh vegetables to over 200 families in need each month.

Other ways to get involved are to join an already established community garden or farm in your area. From planting to managing sales, there are several ways you can contribute.

Every action helps to create

major impact on communities, whether you choose to vote for your favorite idea or put your own idea into action. Even as the summer days start to shorten and we head back to school, Pepsi will continue to challenge Americans with the next question, asking, “How would you make learning fun?” No matter the season, ideas can always inspire change in communities and the Pepsi Refresh Project encourages just that.

NSW Open Gardens continues to organise seasonal viewings of exceptional gradens from regions around the state.

In Newcastle and Hunter Valley, the Project has more than 300 gardens listed for public viewing.

Details can be found on their website: www.nswopengardenscheme.com.au

Refreshing Communities through

The summer heat has peaked, and blistering temperatures are especially noticeable on scorching city streets. Known as the “urban heat island effect,” this phenomenon labels the way urban environments trap more heat than nearby suburban and rural areas. As a result, increased energy demands and air pollution are often anticipated, yet unavoidable.

“All the concrete and the blacktop warms up faster,” says Lauren Nash, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “So it keeps the city hotter and it stays hotter longer.”

Costly energy bills target apartment and office buildings, condos, warehouses and other storage facilities. To combat the urban heat island effect, city managers across the nation are exploring the benefits of cool roofing systems. For example, New York City’s Department of Buildings started an initiative to paint 1 million square feet of roofs white last summer as a way of cutting the city’s energy costs – roofing

manufacturer GAF supplied the reflective coating for one of the many projects of the initiative, as well as materials and labor.

Environmentally friendly and energy-efficient roofing is growing and evolving with the advent of innovative technology like cool roofs and reflective shingles. For those unfamiliar with the concept, cool roofing has a reflective coating that blocks heat and emits the sun’s rays back into the sky. This reduces the levels of heat energy absorption that a roof must handle and then dissipate, not to mention keeping the building cooler inside. Years of 90-degree summers can take a serious toll on roofs with each expansion and contraction.

With cool roof technology proving effective, combining green building technologies, such as cool roofs and solar panels, is logically the next step. Although it may seem counterintuitive, solar panels actually work better when cooler. They produce less energy with higher temperatures, sometimes reducing efficiency by as much as 12 percent. One

of the more effective roofing technology accompaniments to solar panels designed to increase solar panel efficiency, GAF’s EverGuard Extreme TPO (thermoplastic polyolefin) membrane, has been developed with UV absorbers to achieve an unrivaled weathering performance.

“Cool roofing is widely acknowledged to reduce energy consumption, which in turn reduces greenhouse gas emissions,” says Martin Grohman, GAF director of sustainability. “In fact, using published energy usage calculators, the installation of one billion square feet of reflective TPO roofing – in place of conventional dark-colored roofing in air conditioned buildings – avoids the emission of approximately 280,000 metric tons of CO2, or the annual equivalent of taking about 27,000 cars off the road.”

To find out more about green roof technologies, visit www.gaf.com/Roofing/Commercial/Green-Roof-Central/Green-Roof-Central.aspx or coolroofs.org.

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Newcastle City

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With more than one hundred thousand domestic dogs currently redident in the Newcastle area, calls have been made for the Council to add several other areas to the list of dog-friendly recreation areas.

Lake Macquarie‘s most popular doggie playing area is Croudace Bay Park (between the two boat ramps) where the Croudace Bay Puppie Playgroup meets

every Saturday morning.

Headed by founder Brad Moore, The Puppie Playgroup has more than 400 active members and holds official events every year totally self-funded.

“We;ve been in conversation with Lake Macquarie Council for a long time to introduce bag dispensers for the little doggie “messages” but it’s been tough going. We hope to have them installed soon. It would make life so much better for everyone who used the park,” said Mr Moore.

The Playgroup website is www.puppieplaygroup.com.au and contains all the event information for interested dog owners. ll

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MichaelhasheatedupaMichelinstar-studdedvenuesfromSpaintoTokyoandnowhe’ssharpeninguphisknivesattheBataviaEmporiuminCheltenham.Knownforhiscreativeapproachandaninateabilitytosourcetop-notchingredients,Michaelhasassembledadessert-inspired

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“Ireallylovecomfortfood,”Tonysaysasheintroduceshissublimevealcarpaccio.HissignaturedishisariffonthetraditionalItalianclassic.Thecarefullyselectedingredientsperfectlydisplayhiskeepitsimpleapproachtowardcooking.Accompanyingthemouthfulsofvealstuffedwithimpossiblycreamygoatcheeseisasidesaladofartichokes,peashoots

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social/life20

have your coffee& cake...

NewcastleiswellaboveaverageforcafedwellersThe concept of the cosmopolitan “Eat Street” has been a modern addition to town planning for many years. Certainly larger cities have areas that have grown, almost by osmosis to become clusters of various kinds of restaurants and cafes that offer a remarkable spectrum of flavours and aromas.

Newcastle enjoys several enclaves of good food, wine and entertainment have emerged to fill

a growing need in our community.

Novocastrians from all walks of life congrgate at favorite cafes for coffee, cake, desserts and snacks while meeting with friends several time a week on average.

This is beyond the national average of once every ten days - but for some reason, in Newcastle, there are more cafes and they are frequented more often by patrons.

Newcastle Business Research Centre’s Daniel Crowley suggests that the reason is geographic.

“Newcastle is a massive basin set below a low dividing range of hils,” he said,

“This geography tends to pocket people into small areas - It makes sense that retails centres, including cafes, would exist in these areas to fill a needs for entertainment. ll

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Brightwater’s famous

The residents of Brightwater south of Newcastle will know the home of former Melbourne Cup trainer, Lionel Garret. 85 year on, and the old place has been given a new lease on life.

The land, which sits close totheBottleBay InletwasoncepartofalargerpropertyownedbytheScottfamilywhoarrivedinAustraliaintheearly1700’s.

Captain Aurley Marshall ScottwasappointedCaptainof theGovernor’s Guard attachmentfor the region after coal wasdiscovered in the area. Scott,a formermilitaryengineerwastoplayapartintheplanningof

heavyrailroutestoSydney.

Only weeks after the workbegan on the railway, Scottrealised that a permanentresidence in the area wouldallow faster progress andalmost eliminate the need toreturntothecapital.

Alongwithalmostonehundredothermen,rankingofficersandworkers alike, a small villagewasplannedandconstructed.

Land allocations became“owned” over time and thefamilies remained seeminglyhappy with their proximity to

work, the new township of

PortHunterand thecapitalof

Sydney.

Theearlyrail lineisgonenow.

Years of neglect, the weather

and the harsh Australian

elements have erased all that

Scottandhismenbuilt.

When Elileen Hanson retired

from her working life as an

interior decorator in Sydney,

the chance for a sea changewasmagnetic.

EileenfoundthelocallyfamousScottresidenceinarealestatebrochure at a friend’s houseone afternoon, “We had beentalkingaboutmyplansandhoweverythingdependedonfindingtherightplace,”saidEileen,

“I didn’t want to be so faraway that I would never seemyfriendsagain-Itwasfunnythat the brochure was sittingon the coffee table all thattime, and perhaps severaltimesbeforethat.OnceIsawtheplace, IknewIwasgoing

tolivethere.”

With a little research, Eileendiscovered that amore recentownerofthe lake-sidecottagewas LionelGarretwho trainedseveral successful racehorsesincluding a Melbourne Cupchampion and several otherfamousnationalraces.

The property was designedbyGarretasarefugefromthebusy world of racing and theconstantmediaattention.

There are the remnants ofstables at the far fence lineofthe back yard. “All that reallyremains of the Garret stablesisafewfoundationlinesandasolidwallwithsomeoldbrasshooks where the saddles andother rigging was stored.”Eileensaid.

The present owner has madeherownmarkontheplacewitha classic blue facade outsideandnaturalmaterialswithin.

Furnitureisallnaturalfibreandwood with almost no sign ofsyntheticsorplastic.

Eileen is a devote of livingin harmony with nature. Thegrounds are flourishing witha variety of native trees. Thehouse itself is filledwithwoodand naked surfaces showingthe beautiful texture and grainof several different type oftimber.

“I’ve collected a few thingson my travels. I get a lot ofsatisfaction in theorganic andpurelynaturalthings.”

Eileen proudly indicates herhand-maddiningsuite,creativefromlocallycollectedmangrovetimber, and her collection ofIndonesian statuettes datingfrommorethanacenturyago.

On any given night, Eileenwillenjoy sharing stories of travel,artandlifebythewarmthofhercombustion fire with scentedcandlesandaniceglassofred.

Asanewlocalresident,Eileenis happy here, “The bestexperiences are the ones wehaveathomewithdearfriendsIthink.” ll

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The Sheila Sessions are receivingrave reviews for their high-energy

show and cleverly arranged songs. Freshfromasell-outTamworthperformance,The Sheila Sessions are set to hit Victoria forthefirsttime.

WhenBeccy Coledecided to invitehertalentedfriendsKate Balantyne andChris E. Thomas toajamsessiontheyhadnevermet each other. Beccy expected musicalmagic to happen when the three played,shewasnotwrong!

The Sheila Sessions is a conceptdevelopedby these3women that showsthe strength in not only them but in thewomentheypaytributeto.

“We take our favourite moments in thehistoryoffemalesongsandgivethemnewand different arrangements” Beccy said,

“I’veneverhadamore fun time inmy lifethanwhenIgettoplaywiththesegirls,theirtalentblowsmeawayconstantly!”

When you look at The Sheila Session set list, a consistency springs to mind‘strong women with something to say’ andthesamecanbesaidabouttheSheilasthemselves. Between the 3 of them, thegirls have around 5 divorces, 4 children,9GoldenGuitars, 2Starmaker awards, 1teachingdegreeand3glowingreputationsofbeingfabulousandfunnyonstage!It all reads like a famous country tune...

In between The Sheila Sessions, thegirls are very active in their solo careers.Triple gold album selling Beccy is aboutto record album number 6 and tour withAdam Harvey. After being backing singerfor the likes of Wendy Matthews, Tina

Arena, Brian Cadd and Adam Brand, Chris E Thomas hasfinallyreleasedherownfirstsingle“LetGo”andisreceivingravereviewsand chart success. In a bravemove, sheshavedherheadforCampQuality infrontofacapacitycrowdattheTamworthfestival(and still looks incredible)!

Award winning “Bella” beauty, Kate Ballantyne’s recent single “Ride” rodehighandthisSheilaispossiblythehardestworking woman on the planet jugglingmotherhood, supestardom and primaryschoolteaching.

In short, 3 women on stools withguitars playing some very cool versionsofsomeverycoolsongs, tellingstoriesofearly influences and adding originals thatcompletethestories.

Topqualitymusicfromgreatgirls. ll

The hardest working songstresses in the industry: The Sheila Session, Kate Balantyne, Beccy Cole and Chris E. Thomas. Seasoned Artists in their own right, performing together while paying tribute to Women of Song.

triple the talenttribute to women in song

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