Songbirds - local sounds
5 Feb 10
While most of us have been enjoying the summer holidays Ben Moore has been following his passion in the record studio.
Ben moved to Kangaroo Valley three years ago and has been managing 313 Recording Studios in Nowra.
Ben became aware of the multitude of talented singer/songwriters in the south coast region around the same time he became aware of the lack of venues, networks and resources available to these local artists.
His solution was to initiate a project that was to become known as Songbirds: an acoustic compilation CD of original songs by local female artists.
Songbirds’ main purpose is to showcase the local female singer/songwriter talent from our region and give them greater opportunities to perform and identify themselves while creating a local music scene.
Once the word went out late last year Ben received over 30 demos from local singer songwriter’s including the Valley’s own Lee Kingston.
Ben’s instincts were on the mark, he had more artists than he was able to use.
Since November Ben has been recording the songbirds.
Lee Kingston heard about Ben’s project through a friend and sent in her demo straight away.
Lee is thrilled to be included on this compilation CD.
She says her involvement has boosted her confidence and encourages her to keep writing
and singing.
Lee first started writing poetry twelve years ago before setting her words to music eight years ago.
Lee didn’t think that she could write songs but a desire for self-expression prompted her to take the plunge and start song writing.
She initially co-wrote songs then moved to writing songs alone as her confidence grew.
In fact Lee feels so strongly about music and singing she would like to teach music to pre-school children.
She would like people to have the confidence
to write and sing songs from early in their lives. We wish Ben and Lee every success
with the Songbirds CD.
The CD has been created with much commitment and little money, funded by Ben and his production team and a small grant from the Shoalhaven Arts Board to assist with the promotion of the launches.
If any money is made after costs, it will be used to fund future projects: an album of local male singer/songwriters is next…so look out for this CD in shops in early March
Official launch is Saturday 6th March
Stay tuned to www.myspace.com/songbirdscd for launch details and where to buy the CD. Elizabeth Aitken