Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from 2011

Heaven & Nature Swing!

I do love Christmas time and all that it entails including Christmas Carols and being a singer you do tend to sing alot of them.  Christmas Eve will be the last carols I sing at and that will be 6 for this year but it is always fun and wouldn't feel like Christmas without it! Do you have a favourite Christmas album? I am gathering that many would say Mariah Carey's??  Our family never really got into that album but the album that has become a tradition in our house, to play when putting up the Christmas tree and on Christmas morning while opening presents is Phil Driscoll's 1993 "Heaven & Nature Swing" Christmas Album. Such a brilliant album of Christmas classics done in swing/jazz style and Phil both sings and plays trumpet on it! Another fave is Josh Groban's "Noel" and this year Michael Buble's "Christmas".  Music is such a crucial part of this season and spreads the message of the Miracle of Jesus' birth and the gift

Jingle Bells!!

Had a fabulous weekend just gone. My sisters and I flew over to Melbourne to sing at the Our Christmas Gift Concert at Melbourne Convention Centre.  Saturday we started with a rehearsal at 9:30am and ended the day at the concert that started at 7pm.  It was such a fabulous, beautiful concert. The other guest artists were Silvie Paladino (we love her!) Kane Alexander and Daniel Beasy.  We had a fab time and it was to 4500 people so that made it more fun! We then headed back to Adelaide on Sunday morning and then sang at Olivia's (one of my sisters) work Christmas Party and then headed back to Mount Barker to sing at the Community Carols.  This was fun although the sound guy was not very capable but we got through that and had a great show including our brother joining us for a version of Jingle Bells which went over so well! So it was a fabulous singing weekend, only a couple of gigs now before Christmas break!! Bec x

Christmas Carols!!

My sisters and I are really looking forward to this weekend, it promises to be a big and busy one but fun also! We leave tomorrow to go to Melbourne for the Salvation Army "Our Christmas Gift" Concert at the Convention Centre on Saturday Night. Along with Silvie Paladino, Kane Alexander and others the concert will be a fabulous night and I believe the tickets are sold out so even better! We fly back Sunday to sing at a work Christmas Party and then to finish the weekend off we are performing at the Mount Barker Christmas Carols alongside Peter Coombe and Brian Gilbertson.  Starting at 7:30pm, at Keith Stevenson Park it will be a fun night and we look forward to sharing with everyone.  There may even be a guest appearance by Alex Raymond, the Raymond brother with his sisters.  Well I need to get back to things, have a fabulous weekend! Bec x

Swinging to the Sounds of the Season!

This Saturday night at 7:30pm, the group I'm in Soul Factor Gospel Choir  will be performing their Christmas Concert at the Capri Theatre, Goodwood.  It is going to be a fabulous night with Special Quest Michael Harding About Michael Harding: Michael Harding is one of Australia’s best known and most respected musicians, as a sought-after concert accompanist. Michael has shared the stage with the cream of local and international stars, including: Shirley Bassey, Michael Crawford, Olivia Newton-John, Joan Rivers, Guy Sebastian, James Morrison, Thelma Houston, Judith Durham, The Seekers, The Three Tenors, Denis Walter, Silvie Paladino and has been a regular television performer. Michael’s intimate knowledge of all styles of music cements his position as one of Australia’s most in-demand accompanists and solo performers. We are thrilled to have Michael as our guest for this evening and KNOW you are in for a treat! Also performing that night is Andrew Crispe , a very talente

Wedding songs and Ice!

Well the past weekend has been crazy! My sister is getting married and so we had her Kitchen Tea and her Hen's Night on Saturday and it was a great time but wow a long day! We had a Garden Party for her Kitchen Tea and a dinner for the Hen's up at Mum & Dad's new farm. It was pretty and in the end lovely weather. I made little Paper Mache birds using music as name place cards, they were cute! On Sunday my sisters, The Raymond Sisters , and I had to sing at a Fundraising Concert, we did 5 songs including one with our Mum and were joined by other acts to raise money for Tim & Di Size to go to Salvation Army Training College next year. Another group I sing for is Ding Productions , one of the shows I am involved in is Ice Queens, ding's beautiful trio 'the ice queens' present fantastic harmonies and ethereal melodies in spectacular costumes. Yesterday we performed at the Adelaide Oval.  Set outside in one of the stands we performed 5 c

Living on a Prayer - filler songs!

You know those awkward moments when there is no conversation, when there's nothing to say or when everything is too quiet?? I have a habit of breaking out into song when this happens and often it is an unconcious thing, so I do it without thinking but I always sing the same song, Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer".  I don't know why this is but it just seems the right thing to sing especially starting with "oh we're halfway there..." anyway it fills the lull of conversation or noise. Do you have a filler song??

A Country Tune

On the weekend just past I headed up with Soul Factor Gospel Choir to Cobram in country Victoria.  This was a long long drive, over 10 hours to be precise, but we did have a great time.  We passed the time by watching movies, reading books and of course as choir's do singing.   The weekend was the Spring Celebration of the Salvation Army Northern Victorian Division (that's a mouthful I know!) and we were looked after very nicely plus it wasn't that full on which for a trip was a nice change.  We enjoyed great food, good company and shared our songs Saturday afternoon, Saturday night in a concert and then Sunday morning in the service.  The people seemed to thoroughly enjoy all that we presented and besides being exhausted from the Saturday night concert (hot weather mixed with huge songs, having to change and run up an down steps) it was nice to finish on a friendly high note. The trip back was a little more centred around sleep but we all got back safely and had plent

Songs of superheroes or maybe not...

There is a general feel of upheaval in our house at the moment as we are all about to move to different places thus breaking up our family unit that has been extremely close for a long time.  One thing I will miss is our silly songwriting sessions.  I have always been one to change the words of songs to fit what is happening at the moment and my brother and sisters are the same, so last night while cleaning our teeth we had an impromtu song fest going in regards to "Sunburn man" a new kind of super hero, this led to other product advertisement songs which had us all in tears of laughter and trying to keep quiet as it was late at night. I love that feeling that you can't breathe because you are laughing so hard.  The funniest thing is to wake up the next day and realise that maybe it wasn't as funny as your thought but you try to remember the moment anyway :) I will definately miss those times with my sisters and bro................

Catch up!

Why hello there...... So this is my first ever blog post and I hope it is not my last! So for a while I have thought I should be writing about the happenings in my life but have not gotten around to it but this last few months I have been studying Web Communications as part of my Bachelor in Fine Arts & Visual Culture and have been introduced again to the 'phenomenon' that is blogging and sharing your thoughts online.  So as part of our course we are to sign up to a blog platform and work on our online presence, so here I am. I have entitled this blog "A Song for Everything" because being a singer I tend to have a song for every situation and that follows through for all my family (we are all singers).  I thought that I would jot down thoughts about my singing trips and exploits and other things which bring music to mind. This happens often so you may see more than one post up! I do wish that I had started writing this earlier in the year as I have trav