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Issue: 1 August 2011
John Minte Channeling Davis
Krikee Dance Kids Play Along
Fine Eye Nicole Caslon’s Vision
Splendid Grass Ron Short
Building Bridges From Morpeth to Stroud
Colour & Sound Greg Ling’s Floyd Rig
Mixing with the Best social/life magazine newcastle
Trouble in Mind
features n music n sport n events n people n travel n food n you...
novembe
social/life magazine
a magazine 4U
contents
This is a magazine dedicated to the vitality and colour and personality of Newcastle and it’s people.
wild weatherman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page XX gavin morris shares his weekend adventures
Newcastle is a city that’s is putting itself on the world stage with research and industry leading the way on countless fronts. We’re a diverse place with arguably the widest choice of weekend activities and nightlife anywhere as well as a vast choice of culinary delights and ... of course.. shopping !!
a sense of place . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Page XX the art of nicole chaffey
portland - quirky city
We have a healthy music, theatre and entertainment industry that is becoming world reknown with talented Novicastrians showing up in film, music, fashion and theatre everywhere.
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spring carnival expose
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As the nation’s 7th largest city, Newcastle is every bit the capital with all that a coastal location can offer. Along with our famous beaches and mountains, riverland and townships... the Newcastle region holds no end of interest and is a magnet for Australians and visitors from across the globe.
vanessa swilks uncovers fashion gems at the races
We invite you to be part of this exiting new magazine and share the activities and events in your life with the rest of us. We’ll be sharing social pages and stories that could be a wedding or a city street fair or a corporate launch... you name it... we’ll bring the brightest and best to your pages every month. So stay it touch Newie ! ...
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Welcome to social/life magazine.
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david barett discovers 32 kinds of beer... and doughnuts
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social/life magazine
Tania Dunning Pilates - Fitness For Life
credits Creative Director: Steve Dunkley email:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sociallifesteved@exemail.com.au mobile: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0428
438 663
Belmont Studio 22 Patrick Street
Sales & Marketing Director: Steve James email:. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sociallifestevej@exemail.com.au mobile: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0439
732 559
contributors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tegan Hughes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Michael Blaxland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Graham Dunkley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steve Dunkley photography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Peta Wood . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Julie Wilson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tania Dunning
General Fitness Rehabilitation Pre/Post Natal
online website. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.wix.com/in575/sociallife email . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . sociallife@exemail.com.au Social/Life Magazine is published by SjdCreative, Newcastle, NSW. Submissions by readers and contributors do not neccessarily express the views of the publishers, staff and associates. No responsibility is offered or implied by social life media for views expressed by contributors. . . . . . . . . . . .
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© Copyright 2011 sjdcreative.
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Marshall by name, loud by nature...
Story: Liz Newton Pic: Nathan Ross
Marshal Owens brings a new slant on blues to the Shores Hotel. Hailing from Canberra, a city not traditionally known for it’s music industry, Marshall Owens maintains a vitality of vocal and guitar style that is seldome seen and heard especially as a blues artist.
Muddy Waters and Chillbone Blaze as his major influences but attributes his fresh style to years and tears of stage time.
“You can’t just get good practising in your room” “You just can’t get good sitting in your room practicing to the walls. I did that but eventually, really quickly, in fact, I had to get out of the house and play in a real band with real players,” he said.
Finest food in beautiful surroundings Ochre at Weavers Mill
Bold: Marshall Stack make a move to Oz
The Marshall Owens Blues Combo is a three-piece, sometime four-piece unit who’s music revolves around the output of Owens who also plays piano and classic Hammond Organ.
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Owens, 37, is a well-known exponent of the traditional form of blues found in the deep south of the USA. He sites great players such as
Jack Stanely on Bass and Phil Barter on Drums complete the band with Spike Jeffries joining them several times for harp and second guitar - Spike is their sound engineer. With all four grinding a few classics interwoven with the eight tracks from their current release, “Bakin’”, the energy is palpable and echoes the solid local blues scene of the 70’s. Sydney and Melbourne audiences have taken the bait and responded with record hits on the Owens website and itunes sales. Owens and Combo will appear at the Shores on Saturday, April 4th. with The Elements as support. ll
sleeping in the van Songs from the soul of a living musician
R
aised in the Southeast on barbecue and college ball, Andy Church combines heart, soul, and fine chops to create new music inspired by the innovative bands of the 60’s and 70’s. Originally from Lexington, North Carolina, and steeped in the rich combo music culture of Chapel Hill, Andy has spent a lifetime pursuing great songs from almost every angle... as a performer, session player, guitar dealer, studio organizer, instructor, enabler, handyman, avid listener, amateur scientist, and lab rat, He has collected a strong set of diverse skills and put them all to work in the making of this offering Sleeping In The Van. Thoughtful lyrics and bold melodies are set to a richly-textured blend of electric and acoustic guitars. Not exactly true to any specific genre, these songs reflect an honest approach that goes straight to the heart of what makes a boy pick up a guitar in the first place. And play.... he does....
Sleeping In The Van is not a concept album but the underlying theme that permeates its playlist is one of a living musician’s life; tales from the road and the occasional circumstances that lead to a roadside stop-over with nowhere else to sleep. It’s about a musician’s life. Any working musician can relate. Andy shares the intimate and silly, the nuanced mommentary detail of life as well as sweeping a few broad brush strokes of his life into view via glistening guitar tones. We get to know something, an emotional echo perhaps, of his surroundings such as the single track Linden Lane. To take note of the lyrics is to experience, perhaps, something of the life at Chapel Hill where Andy’s studio is situated and reflect on relationships, hopes, troubled times and dwelling on a sense of “place.” The ever hopefull, Stars Align is perhaps the most vulnerable of the tunes although it’s not the most heart-felt. That award lies with the title track - again the torn apart,
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working musician is revealed - Not always able to live the dream without giving up the road, the playing, the guitar... a curse and a blessing in one. Andy is one of thousands of musician songwriters who can be found selling CD’s online. But he’s realising the real-life dream of becomming a living musician. ll
Andy Church - Sleeping In The Van available from his website www.andychurch.com and itunes.
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fashion notes: melbourne fashion week It started off with China announcing a $600 billion fiscal stimulus plan effective from now until 2010, to be spent on infrastructure and social projects. Even this Asia powerhouse is not imperious to the global economic downturn, they are expecting growth to slow down to 8-9% as opposed to the double digit growth in the last 5 years. On the plus side, at least they’re able to and are doing something to increase the liquidity in their economy. Over in Europe, things are not so positive. Latvia a small European country, part of the former Soviet Union, just took over their second largest bank, Parex, last weekend. Are they going to be the next Iceland? Back in the US, American Express got approved to become a bank holding company on Tuesday (just like Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley). This way, they’ll have better access to capital both from deposits AND from the government, which is probably a good move since consumer loans is expected to hit next and Amex has a LOT of business in that (obviously). The latest bank in the spotlight is Citigroup. The good news is that on Tuesday, they joint the ranks of Bank of America and JP Morgan to refinance mortgages to
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help people stay in their homes. The bad news is that Citigroup will be laying off 10% of their workforce (which may add up to 40,000 layoffs!) and doing some serious cost cutting. People are also not very happy with their (relatively) new CEO Vikram
Pandit. He lost the Wachovia deal to Wells Fargo and the share price has gone down from $50 last year to $9 on Friday. The board is now questioning whether he’s up for the job after all (granted it really wasn’t his fault that Citi is in such deep trouble, he was just called in to fix Chuck Prince’s mess). He is expected to be making a huge speech about all this on Monday. On Wednesday, Paulson announced that they were changing their strategy for the use of the $700bn bailout- now known as the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds. Instead of buying up bad mortgage debt, they are now going to use the remainder of the funds to directly inject capital into financial institutions. They realized that given the current situation,
the original plan was becoming cumbersome and it was just easier and more efficient this way to directly inject capital in order to stabilize the financial system and get lending going, which right now they seem to have achieved (temporarily anyway). But then the question becomes, at which point do they stop giving capital injections to anyone who asks? This question is especially interesting with the current fiasco in the auto industry. The big 3 are now desperately lobbying for a $25 billion financial aid package to save them from filing for chapter 7 bankruptcy, which means liquidation and going out of business. This would potentially indirectly lead to millions of job losses, due to its huge supply chain. Obama and the democrats are all for it, but some of the Republicans are more reluctant. I can actually see where they are coming from. Bailing out the banking industry is one thing, since banks are a huge part of our economy and will still be around in 50 years time. The auto industry on the other hand, is a dying industry. American cars are simply not globally competitive enough to survive on the long term. They are not as luxurious as
European cars, they are not as cheap as Chinese cars and they are not as endurable and gimmicky as Japanese cars. They would slowly go out of business anyway. The current economic situation is just speeding up the process. I’d invest in a Chanel flap bag because I know that it will still be elegant and classic 20 years down the road, but I wouldn’t spend the same amount of money on a Coach bag, even if it is limited edition and super luxed up. But I guess the $25 billion will buy us more time to “prepare”, so it doesn’t add to oil to the current fire. They are also quibbling about where this money should be coming from. The Democrats want it to come out of the TARP money. (which makes sense, especially given the “new” strategy) and Bush wants to widen the budget deficit. I believe they’re hoping to approve the package this week in the lame-duck session, as I was, check it out e). check out... www. fashionicon. com.au ll
STORY: Steve James PHOTOS: Tony Moore
the big swell at teahupoo tahiti World champion surfer is no stranger to popularity. He is recognised everywhere he goes. So where does this seasoned traveller go to disappear? How many surfers have you seen get a shout out from Queen Latifa at the Teen Choice Awards? Hmmm...let me think.
People, and guitarist for “The Surfers”, Slater has broken the mold of the archetypical professional surfer.
Even if you are new to the surfing game, chances are that you have heard of Kelly Slater.
The “confines” of the pro tour contests were transcended early on, and Kelly moved his act to the world media arena.
Six-time world champion, former Pam Anderson Lee Rock’s love-slave, one of People Magazine’s Most Beautiful
While the magnitude of his success couldn’t have been predicted, it was obvious that the little kid from the surf-
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starved beaches of Cocoa Beach, Florida was destined for greatness. Intensive tutelage from some East Coast legends and extensive travelling turned his raw talent into something inhuman. Now with a biography on the market and a videogame in his likeness, it is difficult to say what’s next.
Even if you are new to the surfing game, chances are that you have heard of Kelly Slater. Six-time world champion, former Pam Anderson Lee Rock’s love-slave, one of People Magazine’s Most Beautiful People, and guitarist for “The Surfers,” Slater has broken the mold of the archetypical professional surfer.
Even if you are new to the surfing game, chances are that you have heard of Kelly Slater. Slater has broken the mold of the archetypical professional surfer. While the magnitude of his success couldn’t have been predicted, it was obvious that the little kid from the surfstarved beaches of Cocoa Beach, Florida was destined for greatness. ll
Avid thrill-seekers wait for their turn on the big swell at Teahupoo..
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Out door Gardens
Refreshing Communities through
Whether you live in an urban or rural area, gardening in the outdoors is something many people have in common, and we experience it in different ways - both big and small - from growing herbs on the back porch to perusing the community farmer’s market in town. But why not take it a step further and take action to make your community a little greener? Creating an outdoor oasis helps preserve green space, beautifies neighborhoods, and can also bring together the community through a shared cause. One way to do this is through a community gradening project such as NSW Open Gardens, which, through the input of people across the country, awards grants to projects, for both individuals and organisations, that do good for the community. As always, the challenging question is how can you upgrade your town with a new community garden? Go to www.refresheverything.com and give them your best answer, or click through the hundreds of other entries to vote on your favorite ideas to help ensure worthy organisations receive the funding they deserve. Since last year, U.S. citizens have chosen to award more than 20 million
dollars to community-supportive ideas that receive the greatest number of votes through a landmark fundraising effort organised by Pepsi. Take Central Elementary Gardens for example, started by teacher Christy Cuthbert, who used the $25,000 Pepsi Refresh Project grant to create an outdoor learning center and garden for her school. Students not only get their hands dirty in the garden, but also learn skills to promote and manage a community farmers market. There’s also the Brigit’s Bounty started by a Colorado resident, Brandi-Lynn Greig. She used her $25,000 grant to provide fencing, seeds, trees, and educational programming for a community garden, which provides fresh vegetables to over 200 families in need each month. Other ways to get involved are to join an already established community garden or farm in your area. From planting to managing sales, there are several ways you can contribute. Every action helps to create
major impact on communities, whether you choose to vote for your favorite idea or put your own idea into action. Even as the summer days start to shorten and we head back to school, Pepsi will continue to challenge Americans with the next question, asking, “How would you make learning fun?” No matter the season, ideas can always inspire change in communities and the Pepsi Refresh Project encourages just that. NSW Open Gardens continues to organise seasonal viewings of exceptional gradens from regions around the state. In Newcastle and Hunter Valley, the Project has more than 300 gardens listed for public viewing. Details can be found on their website: www.nswopengardenscheme.com.au
Cool Roofs take on Heated Cities
The summer heat has peaked, and blistering temperatures are especially noticeable on scorching city streets. Known as the “urban heat island effect,” this phenomenon labels the way urban environments trap more heat than nearby suburban and rural areas. As a result, increased energy demands and air pollution are often anticipated, yet unavoidable. “All the concrete and the blacktop warms up faster,” says Lauren Nash, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “So it keeps the city hotter and it stays hotter longer.” Costly energy bills target apartment and office buildings, condos, warehouses and other storage facilities. To combat the urban heat island effect, city managers across the nation are exploring the benefits of cool roofing systems. For example, New York City’s Department of Buildings started an initiative to paint 1 million square feet of roofs white last summer as a way of cutting the city’s energy costs – roofing
manufacturer GAF supplied the reflective coating for one of the many projects of the initiative, as well as materials and labor. Environmentally friendly and energyefficient roofing is growing and evolving with the advent of innovative technology like cool roofs and reflective shingles. For those unfamiliar with the concept, cool roofing has a reflective coating that blocks heat and emits the sun’s rays back into the sky. This reduces the levels of heat energy absorption that a roof must handle and then dissipate, not to mention keeping the building cooler inside. Years of 90-degree summers can take a serious toll on roofs with each expansion and contraction. With cool roof technology proving effective, combining green building technologies, such as cool roofs and solar panels, is logically the next step. Although it may seem counterintuitive, solar panels actually work better when cooler. They produce less energy with higher temperatures, sometimes reducing efficiency by as much as 12 percent. One
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of the more effective roofing technology accompaniments to solar panels designed to increase solar panel efficiency, GAF’s EverGuard Extreme TPO (thermoplastic polyolefin) membrane, has been developed with UV absorbers to achieve an unrivaled weathering performance. “Cool roofing is widely acknowledged to reduce energy consumption, which in turn reduces greenhouse gas emissions,” says Martin Grohman, GAF director of sustainability. “In fact, using published energy usage calculators, the installation of one billion square feet of reflective TPO roofing – in place of conventional darkcolored roofing in air conditioned buildings – avoids the emission of approximately 280,000 metric tons of CO2, or the annual equivalent of taking about 27,000 cars off the road.” To find out more about green roof technologies, visit www.gaf.com/Roofing/ Commercial/Green-Roof-Central/GreenRoof-Central.aspx or coolroofs.org.
a Pack of Fun puppy playgroups
A pair of dogs meet for the first time at popular Newcastle doggie spot, Horseshoe Beach
too much fun Brad (centre) plays Santa with JD (just dog)
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a family affair
Newcastle City Council’s designated doggie beach at Newcastle has been a favorite visiting spot for dog lovers for more than fifteen years. With more than one hundred thousand domestic dogs currently redident in the Newcastle area, calls have been made for the Council to add several other areas to the list of dog-friendly recreation areas.
a moment to catch some breath between runs
Lake Macquarie‘s most popular doggie playing area is Croudace Bay Park (between the two boat ramps) where the Croudace Bay Puppie Playgroup meets
croudace bay puppie playgroup has more than 400 active members
arcilines
definitive internal architecture simon geffen - architect - www.arci.com.au
every Saturday morning. Headed by founder Brad Moore, The Puppie Playgroup has more than 400 active members and holds official events every year totally selffunded. “We;ve been in conversation with Lake Macquarie Council for a long time to introduce bag dispensers for the little doggie “messages” but it’s been tough going. We hope to have them installed soon. It would make life so much better for everyone who used the park,” said Mr Moore. The Playgroup website is www.puppieplaygroup.com. au and contains all the event information for interested dog owners. ll
what a dish !
culinary legends love italian... Michael Tantoro Michael has heated up a Michelin star-studded venues from Spain to Tokyo and now he’s sharpening up his knives at the Batavia Emporium in Cheltenham. Known for his creative approach and an inate ability to source top-notch ingredients, Michael has assembled a dessert-inspired
dish as inventive as it is mouth-watering. On top you find Madagascar vanilla pods and diced eggplant topping pan-seared wild turbot with just a hint of luscious dark chocolate and silky egg plant puree. One bit and you’ll tates the clear fresh flavours of Italy with a culinary wink thrown in. We can’t help but be sweet on the genial chef.
Tony Zola “I really love comfort food,” Tony says as he introduces his sublime veal carpaccio. His signature dish is a riff on the traditional Italian classic. The carefully selected ingredients perfectly display his keep it simple approach toward cooking. Accompanying the mouthfuls of veal stuffed with impossibly creamy goat cheese is a side salad of artichokes, pea shoots
and paper-thin ribbons of red onion. At home in the kitchens of the Shanghai Hyatt, Tony’s distinguished career has included high point of South East Asia’s dining mecca’s but his eyes have been firmly locked into Shanghai where he considers home.
Chef: Michael Tantoro Batavia Emporium
Chef: Tony Zola Grand Hyatt, Shanghai
Dish: Pan-seared Wild Turbot with Madagascar vanilla, dark cocolate & eggplant puree
Dish: Rolled veal carpaccio with fresh goat cheese filling and hazelnut dressing
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Newcastle is well above average for cafe dwellers The concept of the cosmopolitan “Eat Street” has been a modern addition to town planning for many years. Certainly larger cities have areas that have grown, almost by osmosis to become clusters of various kinds of restaurants and cafes that offer a remarkable spectrum of flavours and aromas. Newcastle enjoys several enclaves of good food, wine and entertainment have emerged to fill
a growing need in our community. Novocastrians from all walks of life congrgate at favorite cafes for coffee, cake, desserts and snacks while meeting with friends several time a week on average. This is beyond the national average of once every ten days - but for some reason, in Newcastle, there are more cafes and they are frequented more often by patrons.
Newcastle Business Research Centre’s Daniel Crowley suggests that the reason is geographic. “Newcastle is a massive basin set below a low dividing range of hils,” he said, “This geography tends to pocket people into small areas - It makes sense that retails centres, including cafes, would exist in these areas to fill a needs for entertainment. ll
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social life 23
Brightwater’s famous
The residents of Brightwater south of Newcastle will know the home of former Melbourne Cup trainer, Lionel Garret. 85 year on, and the old place has been given a new lease on life. The land, which sits close to the Bottle Bay Inlet was once part of a larger property owned by the Scott family who arrived in Australia in the early 1700’s. Captain Aurley Marshall Scott was appointed Captain of the Governor’s Guard attachment for the region after coal was discovered in the area. Scott, a former military engineer was to play a part in the planning of
work, the new township of
to live there.”
Port Hunter and the capital of
With a little research, Eileen discovered that a more recent owner of the lake-side cottage was Lionel Garret who trained several successful racehorses including a Melbourne Cup champion and several other famous national races.
Eileen is a devote of living in harmony with nature. The grounds are flourishing with a variety of native trees. The house itself is filled with wood and naked surfaces showing the beautiful texture and grain of several different type of timber.
The property was designed by Garret as a refuge from the busy world of racing and the constant media attention.
“I’ve collected a few things on my travels. I get a lot of satisfaction in the organic and purely natural things.”
There are the remnants of stables at the far fence line of the back yard. “All that really remains of the Garret stables is a few foundation lines and a solid wall with some old brass hooks where the saddles and other rigging was stored.” Eileen said.
Eileen proudly indicates her hand-mad dining suite,creative from locally collected mangrove timber, and her collection of Indonesian statuettes dating from more than a century ago.
Sydney. The early rail line is gone now. Years of neglect, the weather and
the
harsh
Australian
elements have erased all that Scott and his men built. When Elileen Hanson retired from her working life as an interior decorator in Sydney,
The present owner has made her own mark on the place with a classic blue facade outside and natural materials within. Furniture is all natural fibre and wood with almost no sign of synthetics or plastic. heavy rail routes to Sydney. Only weeks after the work began on the railway, Scott realised that a permanent residence in the area would allow faster progress and almost eliminate the need to return to the capital. Along with almost one hundred other men, ranking officers and workers alike, a small village was planned and constructed. Land allocations became “owned” over time and the families remained seemingly happy with their proximity to
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the chance for a sea change was magnetic. Eileen found the locally famous Scott residence in a real estate brochure at a friend’s house one afternoon, “We had been talking about my plans and how everything depended on finding the right place,” said Eileen, “I didn’t want to be so far away that I would never see my friends again - It was funny that the brochure was sitting on the coffee table all that time, and perhaps several times before that. Once I saw the place, I knew I was going
On any given night, Eileen will enjoy sharing stories of travel, art and life by the warmth of her combustion fire with scented candles and a nice glass of red. As a new local resident, Eileen is happy here, “The best experiences are the ones we have at home with dear friends I think.” ll
“The chance of a seachange here was magnetic.”
Yourdream... Your home.
N EW HO
E CONCEPTS hunter valley
p: 5689 2356 w: www.newhomeconcepts.com.au
Flowers Say it all...
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ine dining & superb views with a unique spanish menu designed by our award-winning chef, Alfonso... dining out will be a totaly new experience for the senses.
Treat yourself... you know you want to... p: 02 4589 6632
KNOWLEDGE EXPERIENCE PROVEN RESULTS
Jenny’s fine f lorist
broadmeadow - p: 02 1155 9936
miller custom stone
PLANNING THE FUTURE
SINCE 1977 JOYCE BROS.
02 8998 6556
Beautiful walls & features for your home...
Gary Miller: 0428 599 632
g n o s n i n e m o w o t e t u b i r t lent
a t e h t e l trip
The hardest working songstresses in the industry: The Sheila Session, Kate Balantyne, Beccy Cole and Chris E. Thomas. Seasoned Artists in their own right, performing together while paying tribute to Women of Song.
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he Sheila Sessions are receiving rave reviews for their high-energy show and cleverly arranged songs. Fresh from a sell-out Tamworth performance, The Sheila Sessions are set to hit Victoria for the first time. When Beccy Cole decided to invite her talented friends Kate Balantyne and Chris E. Thomas to a jam session they had never met each other. Beccy expected musical magic to happen when the three played, she was not wrong! The Sheila Sessions is a concept developed by these 3 women that shows the strength in not only them but in the women they pay tribute to. “We take our favourite moments in the history of female songs and give them new and different arrangements” Beccy said,
“I’ve never had a more fun time in my life than when I get to play with these girls, their talent blows me away constantly!” When you look at The Sheila Session set list, a consistency springs to mind ‘strong women with something to say’ and the same can be said about the Sheilas themselves. Between the 3 of them, the girls have around 5 divorces, 4 children, 9 Golden Guitars, 2 Starmaker awards, 1 teaching degree and 3 glowing reputations of being fabulous and funny on stage! It all reads like a famous country tune... In between The Sheila Sessions, the girls are very active in their solo careers. Triple gold album selling Beccy is about to record album number 6 and tour with Adam Harvey. After being backing singer for the likes of Wendy Matthews, Tina
Arena, Brian Cadd and Adam Brand, Chris E Thomas has finally released her own first single “Let Go” and is receiving rave reviews and chart success. In a brave move, she shaved her head for Camp Quality in front of a capacity crowd at the Tamworth festival (and still looks incredible)! Award winning “Bella” beauty, Kate Ballantyne’s recent single “Ride” rode high and this Sheila is possibly the hardest working woman on the planet juggling motherhood, supestardom and primary school teaching. In short, 3 women on stools with guitars playing some very cool versions of some very cool songs, telling stories of early influences and adding originals that complete the stories. Top quality music from great girls. ll
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