Leslie Avril will be playing a the Pascoe Vale RSL for the Country Music Guild on Friday November 11. The talent of this highly versatile artist spans a broad spectrum of music. From Broadway and French love songs to blues and jazz. And, naturally, to country which is her favourite genre. Raised in Eltham, in Victoria, Leslie Avril has taken this talent all the way north to Scandinavia, the rest of Europe, the United States and the South Pacific!
Leslie has honed this talent with the best of the music breed. She has worked with Skyhooks legends Ross Wilson and Greg MaCainsh, James Joseph Paulsen aka Joe Sun, outlaw country singer Billy Joe Shaver, the Southern rock/country band Ozark Mountain Daredevils and Texas Country artist Guy Clark. They've all been bowled over by her voice and her music and she has been likened to Streisand, Piaf, Sarah Vaughan, Janis Joplin and Bette Midler.
This Jill of all sounds from Smiths Gully performed with her 90's band the Melbourne Blue Healers who ushered her into country music. Avril was a Nu Country DJ, featured in the album New Country, movie soundtracks and in ABC's “Something in the Air”. She has written songs with Keith Urban and Heather Field. Leslie played the role of Polly Garter in the Athenaeum Theatre production of Dylan Thomas' “Under Milkwood”.
The talent has not gone unrecognized. A regular mainliner at Tamworth, she was nominated in the Judges' Top 10 for the Golden Guitar as Female Entertainer of the Year in 2000 and went onstage as a headliner in a recent Whittlesea Country Music Festival. At the Victorian Awards in Kyneton, Leslie was a dual finalist for Album of the Year and Best Female Vocalist. The CMAA also nominated her as Independent Entertainer of the Year in the Country Music Achiever Awards.
Her sound has been described as “a voice laced with vinegar” (The Age), “a voice full of power, style and class” (Northern Daily Leader), “ a sense of rhythm, melody and lyrics second to none” (Toorak Times), “one of the gutsiest voices around” (Capital News), “as much bluesy rock as country, can be raunchy, gutsy and sensitive” (Art Streams).
Now, how much more versatile can one get?
Check the gig guide to see when Leslie Avril is playing next at The Country Music Guild at Pascoe Vale
Leslie Avril will be playing a the Pascoe Vale RSL for the Country Music Guild on Friday November 11. The talent of this highly versatile artist spans a broad spectrum of music. From Broadway and French love songs to blues and jazz. And, naturally, to country which is her favourite genre. Raised in Eltham, in Victoria, Leslie Avril has taken this talent all the way north to Scandinavia, the rest of Europe, the United States and the South Pacific!
Leslie has honed this talent with the best of the music breed. She has worked with Skyhooks legends Ross Wilson and Greg MaCainsh, James Joseph Paulsen aka Joe Sun, outlaw country singer Billy Joe Shaver, the Southern rock/country band Ozark Mountain Daredevils and Texas Country artist Guy Clark. They've all been bowled over by her voice and her music and she has been likened to Streisand, Piaf, Sarah Vaughan, Janis Joplin and Bette Midler.
This Jill of all sounds from Smiths Gully performed with her 90's band the Melbourne Blue Healers who ushered her into country music. Avril was a Nu Country DJ, featured in the album New Country, movie soundtracks and in ABC's “Something in the Air”. She has written songs with Keith Urban and Heather Field. Leslie played the role of Polly Garter in the Athenaeum Theatre production of Dylan Thomas' “Under Milkwood”.
The talent has not gone unrecognized. A regular mainliner at Tamworth, she was nominated in the Judges' Top 10 for the Golden Guitar as Female Entertainer of the Year in 2000 and went onstage as a headliner in a recent Whittlesea Country Music Festival. At the Victorian Awards in Kyneton, Leslie was a dual finalist for Album of the Year and Best Female Vocalist. The CMAA also nominated her as Independent Entertainer of the Year in the Country Music Achiever Awards.
Her sound has been described as “a voice laced with vinegar” (The Age), “a voice full of power, style and class” (Northern Daily Leader), “ a sense of rhythm, melody and lyrics second to none” (Toorak Times), “one of the gutsiest voices around” (Capital News), “as much bluesy rock as country, can be raunchy, gutsy and sensitive” (Art Streams).
Now, how much more versatile can one get?
Check the gig guide to see when Leslie Avril is playing next at The Country Music Guild at Pascoe Vale
Keith Urban is cancelling appearances and must postpone an upcoming benefit concert after scheduling throat surgery for a polyp that has developed on his vocal cords. "All for the Hall," a benefit for the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum scheduled for January 18th, will need to be rescheduled while the singer recuperates. The concert, with Urban hosting, was set to feature Vince Gill, Allison Krauss, Rascal Flatts and a host of other Country Music stars.
Keith, who is married to Nicole Kidman, recently notched his 13th Number One single on the country charts with "Long Hot Summer." Until his surgery – an outpatient procedure described as "minor" – he will honor a few upcoming appearances that require him to sing just one song. He will now reschedule all other dates.
In 1996 Marie took to the stage and the rest is history!
Her newly released album, Bitterweeds, is a compendium of bluegrass, traditional country, honky tonk and contemporary sounds. In the album, Marie also performs in duets with Doug Bruce and Rose Carleo. Introduced at The Pub in Tamworth in October, Bitterweeds is produced by Jason Roller from Nashville, Tennessee, and promises to be a huge sucess for Marie Hodson.
Marie Hodson packs gigantic singing talent into her small frame. She was born in Dunedin, New Zealand before moving to Australia in 1988. Her life has had its ups and downs which, together with her talent, has led many to be reminded of Loretta Lynn's. She raised seven children and started singing professionally in 1996, after her children were a bit older. It was only fitting that Marie, whose mother is Irish, has performed with Irish musicians Daniel O'Donnell and the duo of Mick Foster and Tony Allen after launching her maiden album, “Just About Now”. Two singles from the album made it to the Top 20 in the Top 50 Hot Country charts. The first single made it to No. 1 in the USA on the Cashbox Magazine Independent Country Music chart.
In 2006, Marie was a finalist for Top Female Country Vocalist in the 2006 South Australia Champion of Champions competition. In 2008, Marie formed a band, Deep River, which extensively toured South Australia. That same year, she went to Nashville where she produced her second album, “Read Between the Lies”. The first single from the album went to the Top 40 in the European Country charts. It also shot up to the Australian Country Music Radio Top 30 charts and gave her a first Top 10 single.
Marie has moved to Werris Creek in New South Wales and has formed a new band, Riverbender. She performs with Donella Waters in the Dolly/Reba Show and has appeared at the major country music festivals the Gympie Muster, Bunyip Festival, Riverland Country Music Festival, Barham Festival, Mildura Country Music Festival and Tamworth. For the 2012 Tamworth Country Music Festival, Marie has put together a show, Friends of the Opry, built around the iconic Grand Ole Opry.
In November, Marie heads for the Mud Bulls & Music rodeo+4x4+country festival in Queensland. December and January 2012 will see Marie and her band at different venues in Tamworth where they will be joined by Merle Haggard's guitarist Redd Volkaert.
Keep an eye on the gig guide to find where Marie will be playing next.
Sunday January 8, Red Hill Recreation Reserve, Arthur's Seat Road. For a small community, Red Hill, South of Melbourne puts on a big show. The annual Red Hill Country Music Festival turns the area into a place filled with great music, hot rods, utes and line dancing. The festival features performances by popular artists from the area and around the country. The festival has featured many artists including the Sunny Cowgirls, Doug Bruce, Amber Joy Poulton, the Bona Fide Travellers, Tim Farren and many more.
Red Hill, with a population of a little over 1,000 people gets its name from the red clay that has given this area a special agricultural importance since it was first settled by European immigrants in the mid-19th century. Part of the Old World remains to this day so that games like Pétanque are still played and traditional Australian foods like meat pies and jam donuts are sold in shops. Many streets like Sheehan, McIlroy, Arkwell and Callanan are still named after the people who founded the town.
The climate of the Mornington Peninsula where Red Hill is located led to the establishment of vineyards for grapes like pinot noir, When in season; strawberries, chestnuts and apples can be bought at the farm gate. The smell of roasting chestnuts still permeates the air at a community market held every month from September to May.
Artists included in the 2012 Festival include
- Marcus Meier
- Jayne Denham
- Amber Joy Poulton
- Peter Baylor's Roadhouse Romeos
- Roughcut
- ....stay in touch to hear who else is appearing at the festival
Staged at the Red Hill Showgrounds Reserve, the festival also conducts a Young Talent Segment. This part of the festival showcases up-and-coming young singers and bands giving them a chance to break into the country music scene. The festival also gives fans a chance to meet and greet the artists, buy their CDs in the many booths on the festival grounds and just have a general all-around good time with family and friends.
The Red Hill Country Music Festival is a charity event put on by the Mt. Eliza Lions Club with assistance from Lions on the Mornington Peninsula and Frankston area. Organizers of the event have promised free parking space for Hot Rods and Utes and a Wet - weather alternative should it rain. Guests 14 years old and under are admitted free of charge. Proceeds from the festival are donated to health care services in the area.
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