Esther Hannaford will be joined by an all-star band at the Civic Theatre on April 15 to celebrate 50 years of Carole King's landmark album Tapestry.
Musical director and Jet bassist Mark Wilson, keyboardists Clio Renner and Louis Macklin, guitarist and vocalist Olivia Bartley and drummer Pete Marin will join Hannaford to perform the album from start to finish, as well as a selection of King songs she wrote for fellow multiplatinum-selling artists.
Released on February 10, 1971, Tapestry immediately topped the Billboard chart and remained there for 15 consecutive weeks, giving us classic songs such as I Feel the Earth Move, So Far Away, You've Got a Friend, It's Too Late, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, and (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman.
Hannaford, who won her second prestigious Helpmann Award for Best Female Actor in a Musical for her role in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, says she didn't realise how many songs she knew from Tapestry until she started working on the musical.
"I was like 'Wow, she actually wrote all of these songs'. Some pretty amazing people have covered her music, too," she said.
"People I meet and talk to about her tend to have a story attached to each song. That's the sort of impact her music has on people."
Tickets to Carole King's Tapestry - 50th Anniversary Concert (7.30pm, April 15, Civic Theatre Newcastle) are on sale now.
Reliving the '90s
Newcastle's own Amy Vee, who just wrapped up a busy week with Chess: The Musical at the Civic Theatre, is paying homage to some of her favourite artists in a show called Glory Box.
It's at Lizotte's Newcastle on July 16 and is a nostalgic '90s flashback featuring songs by artists the calibre of Air, Radiohead, Portishead, Mazzy Star, Tori Amos, PJ Harvey, Fiona Apple, Massive Attack and Bjork.
"The songs from these artists were coming-of-age songs for me, spanning from my mid-to-late teens right through to my 20s," Vee said.
"These are my staples. The albums that are always on high rotation and I always come back to. They have shaped the way that I approach making music.
"It's a style that keeps coming around: ethereal, down-tempo, emotive, dark and very moody."
Vee first performed Glory Box at Lizotte's in February and, to her surprise, it was to a sell-out crowd.
"It was probably the most exciting live gig I've done for a while. There was just a genuine amount of love in the room for that music," she said.
"I had people come up to me after the show and tell me they cried several times and I realised I wasn't the only one who had an emotional connection or attachment to those songs."
When asked to define what it is she loves about this music, Vee says it's all about the mood that it creates.
"There's a haunting, ethereal feeling behind it that always drew me. It's almost too hard to put into words. It reaches inside of you somehow and it makes you want to keep listening."
Tickets to Glory Box: A euphoric 90s experience at Lizotte's Newcastle on July 16 are on sale now.
Forsyth drops single
Kurri Kurri singer and songwriter Tori Forsyth will release her sophomore album Provlépseis on May 21. Her new single and video All For You is out now.
"Provlépseis means predictions in Greek," she explained.
"It's been a while since I recorded this album and it's interesting to interpret the lyrics with the benefit of hindsight; where I might not have really known what a few songs meant at the time, I definitely do now.
"I'm a pretty spiritual person, but I think that just goes to show how important it is to listen to your intuition."
Forsyth wrote the chorus for All For You five years ago, and rewrote the verses during the pandemic last year. The video was directed by the team behind her video for single Courtney Love, director Emily Avila and producer Coralie Tapper.
Forsyth released her debut EP Black Bird in 2016, recorded at ARIA and Golden Guitar Award-winning Shane Nicholson's Sound Hole studio. He also worked with her on her 2018 debut album Dawn Of The Dark as well as Provlépseis.
"He knows what I'm after when I go in, and I kind of give him free rein with production because I really trust his knowledge of music," Forsyth said.
Carbon neutral to the core
In Hearts Wake is playing an acoustic gig in Newcastle in April as part of their Unplugged Earth Week Sessions. Catch the metalcore band at The Cambridge Hotel on April 24.
Alt-rock brothers on a roll
Newcastle alt-rock trio Snowfish are releasing their second single, Middle Name, tomorrow (March 5). It's produced by Jack Nigro of The Grove Studios at Somersby. The single will be officially launched at The Cambridge Hotel on March 12 at a gig with fellow Novocastrian band Steer. Brothers Jordan, Solomon and Kalan Rodrigues formed Snowfish in 2019. They released their first single Ghost last October.
Heaven on earth in Newcastle
Belinda Carlisle is coming to Newcastle next year for her Decades tour, which is celebrating the 35th year of her solo career. The tour will stop off at the Civic Theatre on February 23. Her hits include Mad About You, Heaven Is A Place On Earth, Leave A Light On, In Too Deep and Summer Rain.
Fresh face on festival scene
NEXT EXIT Festival has officially unveiled the line-up for its inaugural event - and it's jam-packed with local Aussie talent.
The announcement includes a pledge from the promoters to shine a light on not only Australian music but regional towns across NSW, ensuring that live music reaches fans outside of Australia's capital cities.
The goal is to drive economic activity and encourage regional tourism.
Next Exit's line-up includes Ocean Alley, Spacey Jane, Dear Seattle, Merci, Mercy and CLEWS.
It kicks off at Bicentennial Park in Tamworth on May 21 before travelling to Gosford (May 23), Batemans Bay (May 28) and Mudgee (May 29).
Tickets are on sale from noon on March 9 at mjrpresents.com.
The Ten Tenors
The Ten Tenors are celebrating their 25th anniversary with an Australian tour.
The vocal group has announced a 22-city tour that kicks off in Brisbane on July 1 and concludes in Port Macquarie on August 1.
The show will revisit the "best of" the group's back catalogue as well as highlights from their 4000-plus live performances.
The song list will include Bohemian Rhapsody, Hallelujah, Perfect, In My Life, Here's to theHeroes, Pearl Fishers Duet, Funicul, Funiculà, Largo AL Factotum and Nessun Dorma.
"We haven't been all together since we said goodbye to each other in Brazil on March 17, 2020," Jared Newall said.
"We are ecstatic about the idea of doing shows again, especially to celebrate our 25th anniversary."
The Ten Tenors were forced to cancel their first tour of Brazil (which was a sell-out) when the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year.
"I cannot wait to get back on the stage with my touring mates," Daniel Belle said.
"I am so excited I am even looking forward to doing rehearsal. It's been well over a year and we just want to sing together and see all the happy faces in the audience again."
The Ten Tenors have achieved a lot in their 25 years. They have sold more 2.8 million concert tickets and 1.2 million albums worldwide, and have toured 34 countries to date.
They have 15 studio albums to their name and seven of those have gone platinum.
They have also raised more than $11 million for various charities along the way.
"The camaraderie and feeling of being a Tenor can be likened to the combination of the best parts of a strong family bond and a secret society rolled into one," said producer and manager D-J Wendt.
"I think that's why the group has gone from strength to strength over the past 25 years.
"It's hard work, sometimes even gruelling. But it's also so much fun, it gives you incredible experiences and memories and it gets into your blood."
