Festival of Small Halls Reviewed
Festival of Small Halls 2020
Nunamara Tasmania
7 January
By Jim Jacob
Festival of Small Halls is a series of tours that takes the best folk and contemporary acoustic artists performing at the country’s largest festivals and sends them on the road to tiny halls in communities all over Australia.
It is produced by Woodfordia Inc in partnership with many other Australian festivals, regional partners and great lovers and supporters of folk and contemporary acoustic music.
There is a Summer and Winter edition and I was lucky enough to catch, as part of the ‘Cygnet to Illawara’ summer series, Siobhan Miller and Jack Carty and much more. The scene was Nunamarra, a tiny town (population 300) in Tasmania’s north-east, just twenty minutes out of the State’s regional capital of Launceston.
Before
Siobhan Miller
From Scotland, Siobhan Miller is an exceptional talent, both as a one-of-a-kind vocalist and gifted songwriter. Tonight her performance was delightful.
Growing up in a musical family, she was immersed in traditional song and learned from many of Scotland’s finest singers in her early years as a performer. Miller won the prestigious 2018 BBC Radio 2 Folk Award for Best Traditional Track, whilst also nominated for Folk Singer of the Year, and is the only ever three-time winner of Scots Singer of the Year at the BBC Alba Scots Trad Music Awards.
She has three well-received solo albums, with the latest being Mercury (2018), her first collection of entirely original material which was recorded in Glasgow with many of her frequent collaborators, including producer Euan Burton.
Mercury also features songs co-written with Kris Drever (of the seminal band Lau) and Admiral Fallow front man Louis Abbott. Both her earlier two releases were nominated for Album of the Year at the Scots Trad Awards.
Aside from that, she has a expanding CV, with a guest appearances with the National Theatre of Scotland, a season on Broadway, and a role on the popular television series Outlander. (NB Siobhan pronounced “Shi-vonne”)
Supporting Siobhan
Jack Carty
Australian songwriter Jack Carty has honed his songwriting skills as a by-product of his upbringing in the small, rural town of Bellingen in New South Wales. His presence is quiet, yet commanding.
Carty has toured extensively across the UK, Europe, North America, New Zealand and Australia since he first started recording and releasing original music in 2010.
Since then, he has released five full-length studio albums and two EPs along with constant touring, soundtrack contributions and other collaborations under his belt. He is also a recipient of the APRA Professional Development Award.
After
Thanks to Woodfordia Inc and Festival Producer Eleanor Rigden for bringing these artists to perfect, intimate settings and providing artistic access for locals that otherwise would not exist.
For more information about Festival of Small Halls and other tour dates, GO TO THE OFFICIAL SITE.
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Festival of Small Halls Reviewed
