DAVE'S DIARY - 14/1/2019 - PREVIEW OF EPISODE 7 - SERIES 38
FANNY, LEE & MELINDA HEADLINE NU COUNTRY TV
Australian artists Lee Kernaghan, Melinda Schneider and Fanny Lumsden headline Nu Country TV on Saturday January 19 at 9 pm on Channel 31/Digital 44, with anthemic video clips.
Expat Gippsland singer-songwriter Gord Bamford returns to the show repeated Wednesday 10.30 pm.
NSW singer-songwriters Jayne Denham, Troy Kemp and Imogen Clark also appear on the program filmed and edited by Laith Graham.
Nu Country TV is a highlight of C 31 streaming list on Digital 44.
Further info - https://www.c31.org.au/
FANNY LUMSDEN DROUGHT ANTHEM
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Victorian high country farm belle Fanny Lumsden explores human damage from drought in her new video.
Lumsden lives in the Upper Murray near the Snowy Mountains and frequently tours drought areas.
She was joined by Troy Cassar Daley, William Crichton, Pete Denahy and others in a collage of childhood memories and rural survivors.
Lumsden and husband-band-mate-business partner Dan Freeman witness drought trauma on their Under Our Hills Hoist small town tours.
Real Men Don't Cry (War On Pride ) is on her second album Real Class Act.
“My name is Edwina Lumsden, but most people call me Fanny,” Lumsden 32 and a recent mother revealed.
“I grew up on a farm in western NSW, the eldest of 4 siblings. I was brought up, like most people through that time where "she'll be right".
“You learn that you are meant to be tough and dare not show vulnerability. Man-up. Take it on the chin. Don't be a wuss. These were the rules and they crossed generations and demographics.
“It's a world as my Dad said in a poem he wrote about the millennial drought, where "you're okay on the surface, but deep down you know you've really had enough."
“A world where real men don't cry. Pride is a funny thing. It makes us stand up for things and it also makes us hide. However, it can become a wall that's prevents us asking for help, telling people we love them, letting loved ones know we are not okay, we need a little support, a little help. It prevents us showing our vulnerability.
“So, I call a war on pride. That type. The type that's preventing a father telling his son he has done a good job. The type that stops you asking for a hand. That prevents you from showing that vulnerability.
“Bob Hawke cried on the TV twice and didn't apologise, sparking a discussion about public display of vulnerability. So, I call bullshit. Real men do cry and showing that, is the toughest thing you can do. So, I declare a war on pride. Not the decent sort, but the kind. The kind that says real men don't cry.”
Further info - http://www.fannylumsden.net/
LEE KERNAGHAN INVICTUS ANTHEM
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Corryong born Lee Kernaghan, a powerful farmers and armed services benefactor, returns with his anthem for survivors.
The 2008 Australian of the year and OAM performs games anthem I Am Invictus .
Lee, 54 and father of two sons, wrote I Am Invictus with Garth Porter and Colin Buchanan for the After The War album and sang it at the Invictus games in Sydney in October.
The project was initiated by Australian War Memorial director Dr Brendan Nelson and recorded at Rancom St Studios in Sydney with Porter producing.
It commemorates and honours servicemen and women and coincided with the 100 year anniversary of the signing of the Armistice on November 11, 1918 - end of The Great War .
“ After the War is a stunning musical tribute to every Australian who has given their all for our nation in the uniform of Navy, Army and Airforce,” said Dr Nelson.
“From the Invictus Games Sydney 2018 single to the title track, these are songs of love, friendship, loyalty and triumph of the human spirit in the face of tough times. This is music to inspire, make us proud and remind us of what it means to be an Australian.”
The album spans Gallipoli and Passchendaele , to sinking of HMAS Canberra in 1942 off Savo Island , to the Battle of Long Tan in a rubber plantation in Vietnam , and blurred and dusty battles in Afghanistan.
After The War artists donated royalties to veteran services under direction of the Australian War Memorial to support initiatives, exhibitions and programs in support of young veterans and their families.
Those artists include Lee, Wes Carr, John Schumann, Glen Shorrock, Wolfe Brothers , Lance Corporal Elizabeth Smith, Darren Percival, Garth Porter, Royal Australian Navy Band, Sisters In Arms (three women from the Airforce, Navy and Army), Fred Smith and the Polyphony Choir .
Lee, winner of 36 Golden Guitars and guest Nu Country TV host, is touring to promote After The War, Spirit Of The Anzacs and his 25 th anniversary Boys From The Bush CD.
CLICK HERE for a Lee feature in The Diary on February 20, 2013.
MELINDA SCHNEIDER VICTIMS VOICE
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Sydney singer-songwriter-stage star and former Nu Country TV host Melinda Schneider returns with her anthem for bullying, domestic and sexual violence victims Peers - singer-songwriter-school teacher Luke O'Shea, Amber Lawrence, Damien Leith, Amanda Kellar and Jessica Rowe - unite in her My Voice video. My Voice is an anthem for anyone from any walk of life (men, women, teens, children), who have felt isolated or silenced, sexually or emotionally abused, bullied, battling mental health issues or victims of domestic violence. Song proceeds go to Now Australia foundation created by journalist Tracey Spicer as triage service to provide free counselling and legal advice to those affected by bullying or sexual harassment in the workplace. |
"Most of us have experienced something we've felt unable to speak about,” Melinda, 47, revealed.
“Twenty years ago, you just didn't discuss topics like sex abuse or mental health, they were strictly taboo. But today we live in enlightened times and there's no doubt the current social movements are changing our collective thinking.
“Women, men, teenagers and children are now encouraged to open up and share their stories without stigma or shame. It's much safer now for people to let their voices be heard, because the world is finally listening. If I can help empower one person to find that voice and use it, then that will make me so happy. Let the healing begin.”
Melinda has released 12 albums and starred in stage shows including Doris Day tribute Melinda Does Doris in her long career.
CLICK HERE for a Melinda feature from the Diary on July 26, 2008
GORD BAMFORD DIVE BAR
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Gippsland born balladeer Gord Bamford left his Traralgon home at the age of five with his singer mother Marilyn and sister Twila for the wilds of Alberta in Canada.
Gord, now 42, is back here on tour this month and solves his class war by choosing beer ahead of top shelf liqueurs in his Dive Bar video from ninth album Living On Summer Time.
Passion for his birthplace sparked tours including CMC Rocks Queensland and famed Village Green, Mulgrave with Kevin Bennett.
“I have been looking forward to getting back to Oz since I left,” Gord revealed.
“The industry and the country music fans have treated me so well and I believe it's a hidden gem of a market for country music. It is a great atmosphere and I just feel blessed to be able to come to the place I was born, play my music and reconnect with my father and family.”
Bamford joins Tasmanian Wolfe Brothers on their Country Heart tour with New Zealand Female Artist winner Jody Direen.
Gord plans to take The Wolfe Brothers to Canada on tour.
“This will be my second time to do some shows with The Wolfe Brothers in Australia ,” he says. “They have been very supportive of me here and I want to return the favour and take them on the road with me in Canada on my next album tour. They are a great band and I want to help them to break into the Canadian market.”
Further info - www.gordbamford.com
JAYNE DENHAM AND TROY KEMP
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Blue Mountains refugee and trucking troubadour Jayne Denham and Novocastrian Troy Kemp return with a little humour in their duet video Hung Up On You. Their phone phobia in Koutetsu Bar in Newcastle and the Woolworths Supermarket in Warabrook - a Newcastle suburb - was rescued by a meeting in a lift. Jayne moved from Hartley near Katoomba to the NSW Central Coast where she lives with husband Dave and is now touring with Troy to promote Hung Up that follows her fourth album Calamity. Troy hails from Newcastle and made three albums with McAlister Kemp before his 2017 solo album Against The Grain. |
CLICK HERE for a Jayne CD feature in The Diary on April 30, 2018.
CLICK HERE for a McAlister Kemp interview in the Diary on May 9, 201l.
IMOGEN CLARK BUSKS IN HOLLYWOOD
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Sydney singer Imogen Clark busked, slept and ate food scraps from tables on the mean streets of Hollywood in latest video Late Night Girl.
Video director Jeremy Dylan also filmed Imogen at Griffith Park Observatory (overlooking the Hollywood sign), Silver Lake , Sunset Junction on Sunset Boulevard and Hollywood Boulevard .
The video plot also featured her pawning her guitar to pay her air fare home
Her toils were worth it - she got to Leadbelly bar in Newtown.
“While I have performed in America before, I wasn't actually touring in America at the time we filmed this,” Imogen told Nu Country.
“Instead I was on a month-long writing trip, working with some amazing songwriters for 2 weeks in LA and 2 weeks in Nashville.”
Imogen, 23, is a busy songwriter - Late Night Girl is on her second album Collide.
Dylan - son of our late benefactor Rob Potts - directed her previous videos Your Anything At All , Drawing Hearts, Collide, You'll Only Break My Heart and Take Me For A Ride .
Further info - http://www.imogenclark.com.au/
HOW TO KEEP NU COUNTRY ON AIR
We need your support as we celebrate Nu Country TV's 38th series with Australian record companies and artists teaming to ensure our survival.
You can win Kip Moore's third album Slowheart , thanks to EMI promotions chief Dave Parker, and Blake Shelton's 12th CD If I'm Honest from Karen Black and Tony Midolo at Warner Music.
We also have other CDS by major artists you can win by becoming a Nu Country TV member or renewing membership.
They include Brad Paisley, Carrie Underwood, Gary Allan, Dierks Bentley, Eric Church and late larrikin legend A.P. Johnson.
CLICK HERE for our Membership Page for full details.