WHEN Grace Turner's debut EP Half Truths is finally released on August 7 it won't be before time.
The seven tracks - which include the released Dead Or Alive, Easy I Fall and the new Half Light - were written in mid-2017 by the Newcastle indie-folk artist as a "family" and have been fine-tuned through heavy touring over the ensuing three years.
"It's kind of a collage," Turner said of Half Truths. "I definitely like to work on the production of the songs and it takes me a long time to get it right."
Work on the EP originally began at Melbourne's Sound Park Studios with producer Timothy Harvey (Lisa Mitchell, Ella Hooper), before further recording was completed back in Newcastle by Fletcher Matthews.
Other less traditional spaces such as Raave Tapes' Kurri Kurri tractor shed-turned rehearsal space was used, plus Turner's drummer Matt Taylor's bedroom in Maitland and a caravan in Castlemaine, Victoria.
"We even changed sections of songs," she said. "It's taken a long time and I think things happen when they're meant to happen. I don't like to rush these things.
"It terms of releasing it, I feel ready to release it. I wasn't ready last year."
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CAMBO HOPEFUL
CAMBRIDGE Hotel licensee Dru Russell is confident the NSW Government will ease COVID-19 restrictions further in the next month to allow some entertainment to resume at the iconic music venue.
Since June 1 venues have been allowed to admit up to 50 people. This has allowed the Stag and Hunter, Hamilton Station and Wickham Park Hotels to resume limited live music. Lizotte's will reopen on Friday.
However, the current restrictions are not viable for the Cambridge to reopen. With indoor gyms in NSW allowed to open with 100 people from Saturday, Russell is hopeful licensed venues will also have their restrictions eased further.
Due to international touring being almost non-existent in the foreseeable future, Russell said the Cambridge would likely see some "very big" Australian acts pass through venue if restrictions were completely lifted or eased to allow 500 punters.
SIGN OF THE TIMES
HUNTER artists James Bennett, Lachlan Edwards, Just A Gent, Kristy James and Ty Penshorn and Newcastle venue the Wickham Park Hotel have joined more than 1000 stakeholders in the Australian music industry calling for greater government support to cope with the fallout of COVID-19.
John Farnham, Jimmy Barnes, Nick Cave, Tina Arena and Chugg Entertainment headlined the open letter demanding that JobKeeper be extended beyond September for the music industry, the establishment of a $40 million Australian Music Recovery Fund and a reduction in red tape to assist venues and promoters in re-establishing their businesses.
The live music industry has been effectively shut down since March due to the coronavirus pandemic.
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TWENTIES VISION
MEGAN Core has been a familiar face around the Newcastle music scene in recent years and finally fans have been given a taste of her original music with the release of her debut single Twenty Something.
The upbeat folk-rock track - reminiscent of Alex The Astronaut - tells the story of finishing university, being broke, falling in love and the search "for anything that keeps moving" you on.
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