Marty is the man for music, art and culture

If you’re a Peninsula resident and love live music, singer-songwriter Marty Williams needs no introduction. In addition to creating his own music with his band Cousin Leonard, Marty has long been an avid promoter of live music in our coastal and hinterland communities, particularly through Peninsula Songriders Club.

“I started Peninsula Songriders Club off the back of muso nights at the Heritage Tavern in Balnarring back in 2003 where I was looking to champion original songwriters on the Peninsula,” Marty says. “My whole musical connection to the Peninsula began there.”

These days Peninsula Songriders has grown into a monthly gig at Western Port Yacht Club featuring highcalibre singers, songwriters and musicians from around the world, as well as some of the best artists from the Peninsula, Melbourne and around Australia.

This month, Badloves frontman Michael Spiby takes to the stage, while last month Things of Stone and Wood played to a sold-out house. If you need more big names to impress, sold-out January shows featured Lior and Domini, and pianist Ben Waters, who’s played with the likes of The Rolling Stones, Chuck Berry and Jeff Beck.

Last month, Marty and his brother Tom, who make up Cousin Leonard, a contemporary alt-folk/soul-pop duo, played in New Zealand doing a benefit show with Ben Waters. “We’re working on the next Cousin Leonard album, which has been a long time in the realising. We’re hoping to have it finished by the end of the year and we’ll be ready for more gigs.”

The other hat Marty so capably wears is in his role as music, arts and culture director at Peninsula Hot Springs. “The space between arts, culture, the environment, wellness, and hot springs is where I’m most involved. It’s a really rich combination and we’re doing things with hot springs all over the world now, which is really exciting.” World Bathing Day on June 22 is a notable global gathering Marty is working on. It is a day that sees musicians perform at hot springs locations around the world and be filmed and shared.

A highlight for Marty this month will be seeing the Awaken festival come to life at Peninsula Hot Springs on March 26. “It’s taken a few years to be able to actually launch this inaugural thermal springs wellness gathering, a world first, and we invite all friends and family to join in this beautiful positive and inspirational experience.” There’ll be music from Mama Kin Spender with the Macapella Choir, Garrett Kato, Kyle Lionheart, and Edo Kahn, and wellness inspiration and yoga with worldrenowned Dr Bruce Lipton, Shiva Rea, and Peninsula yoga teacher Maggie Carr, to name a few. Visit the wellness dome village, or attend a workshop, or sound healing.

The next Peninsula Songriders Club gig at Western Port Yacht Club is Michael Spiby on Friday, March 31. For more information, go to www.facebook.com/ peninsulasongriders, and for more information or tickets to Awaken, go to www.awaken.net.au