The Scene - Local Entertainment News

Delta Duo

Guitarist Slim Pickens will be joined by Barry Ferrier at next Tuesday's blues night at Maggie Moores.

Local duo Slim Pickens and Barry Ferrier will perform a night of acoustic delta blues next Tuesday, July 30 at Maggie Moores' weekly blues night.

In this duo Slim Pickens plays dobro slide guitar and stomp box while Barry Ferrier plays zydeco squeeze box, however both musicians have made their mark individually.

Barry has been part of the local music scene for more than 20 years, and has won four Dolphin Awards along the way. Barry was once a member of the 1970s chart-topping group, The Ferretts, and was music director and guitarist for the legendary Eartha Kitt on her 1992 Australian tour.

Slim Pickens has been playing guitar for more than 30 years, however it wasn't until last year that he released his debut album Chicken Soup. The album features groovy blues, delta finger picking styles and smooth vocals, with the first track Everything I Need placing him second in the blues category at last year's Dolphin Awards.

A copy of the CD Chicken Soup will be given away at the gig.

The show starts at 8.30pm. Tickets are $7/5 at the door.

Freebie: The Echo has one double pass to giveaway to the gig. To go in the draw to win phone 6622 2888 between 11 & 11.10am on Monday, July 29 and tell us who hosts the annual Dolphin Awards in Lismore.

Mighty Close to Town

Vika and Linda Bull play the Great Northern this Sunday.

When you have two of the most powerful and striking voices on the Australian music scene, plus the respect and admiration of your peers, there are some great perks.

Vika and Linda Bull's new album Love is Mighty Close, features 12 tracks penned by some of country's finest songwriters, including Paul Kelly, Stephen Cummings, and Chris Wilson. The result is melancholic and country-tinged love songs that allow the Bull sisters to shine.

Their fifth album is produced by long-time Black Sorrows cohort Jeff Burstin, mixed by Jeremy Allom (Massive Attack), it's a rich, emotion-charged effort that suggests the siblings are comfortable with their craft - and pleased they have Friends In High Places to call on when it comes to getting a song to sing.

"We don't take for granted the fact that we can ring people and ask them for a song," Linda said.

"Sometimes they have a song that will suit us, others really put a lot into helping us. We rang up Paul [Kelly] and he said 'I wrote it just for you.' That's really special.

"No-one's ever said no - although they might when they hear us sing it," she laughed.

After close to two decades in music, the Bulls have an instinctual approach to working together and what they want. They applied it to Love is Mighty Close.

"It was very clear in our heads when people would listen to it," Linda said.

"We wanted to make a record we knew people would come home at the end of the day, pour a glass of wine and relax and wind down to, or listen to on the weekends".

You can relax over a glass of wine on the weekend and listen to Vika and Linda Bull in person when they play the Great Northern this Sunday. Tickets at the door.

Lyrical Locals on Show

Local singer/songwriter Elliane Salisbury (pictured) is one of a number of local acoustic musicians who will feature at the Wax Lyrical night next Thursday, August 1 at the Tatts Hotel.

The monthly Wax Lyrical event was developed by the Australian Songwriters Association to provide local, original acoustic musicians with a platform from which to showcase their talents. And with such an abundance of talent in the local area, the result is always a night of great live entertainment.

This month's Wax Lyrical features the exquisite vocals of local singer Elliane Salisbury, and local acts Dream wish, Fickle, Simplify and Nourish. Soloists Adrian Bruce and David Alien complete the line-up. Entry is $2 at the door. The night starts at 8pm.

Film Festival Entries Closing

Entries for Southern Cross University's Open Slather short film festival close next Wednesday, July 31.

Open Slather is the north coast's first regional short film festival, being an initiative of the Ballina Youth Service in association with SCU's Division of Arts.

Now in its second year, Open Slather particularly focuses on young people and there are thousands of dollars worth of prizes up for grabs including a five night Cairns holiday, a digital video camera, a DVD player and much more.

Entries must be short films (max of eight mins) in any genre or style and there are six categories - 18 and under, 24 and under, animation, open national (resident outside Northern NSW), open regional and people's choice.

The premier and awards night will be held on August 30 at SCU in Lismore.

More info, registration forms and other conditions of entry visit www.bdcsa.org/openslather or phone 6686 7776.

Video Editing Workshop

North Coast CAMERA presents a two day Video Editing Workshop with documentary maker Grant McGifford over the next two weekends - Saturday, July 27 and Saturday, August 3 at Lismore ACE, Magellan Street, from 9am-5pm each day.

Participants will learn how to edit more effectively on Adobe Premiere 6, with emphasis placed on the basics (capturing Prem 6, building the story on the timeline and audio), titles, different effects (motion filters, transitions, transparencies and layers), and also Premiere tools, short cuts and other tips.

The course is designed for people who have a basic understanding of windows and digital editing. People are advised to book early as there's only eight places available.

The cost $160 or $150 for North Coast CAMERA members. To book phone 6621 5444 on Wednesdays or Fridays.

New Publishing Company Dangerously Poetic

Dangerously Poetic Press editor Shé Hawke with the first book the company is publishing, Breathworks by Laura Shore.

Visiting poet Dorothy Porter will launch the first book published by a new Northern Rivers publishing company, Dangerously Poetic Press, at the Byron Bay Writers Festival.

Dangerously Poetic Press (DPP) is a collective of ten local poets who established themselves to help emerging poets get their work published, as this can often be difficult with major publishing houses.

The publishing company itself, auspiced by the Northern Rivers Writers Centre, will be launched this Saturday, July 27 at Persephone's Window Bookshop in Byron from 2pm. The first book published by DPP is Breathworks, written by DPP founder Laura Shore and edited by DPP members Shé Hawke and John Bird. Breathworks will be launched by Dorothy Porter on Saturday, August 3 from 10am at the Launching Pad, one of the venues at the Byron Bay Writers Festival.

Local filmmaker Denise Burch is now making a documentary about DPP. A three day pass to the festival is $135, a two-day pass is $99 and a single day pass is $55. A child's day ticket is $18, which includes four sessions in the kids' marquee, or $8 for one single session.

For information, programs and tickets go to Jetset in Marvel Street, Byron Bay, or phone 6685 6554. Alternatively you can go to www.byronbaywritersfestival.com.

Southern Cross stars shine

Southern Cross Soloists perform at Lismore City Hall next Friday night.

Musica Viva presents the next event in its concert series, a performance by Southern Cross Soloists, next Friday, August 2 at Lismore City Hall from 8pm.

Southern Cross Soloists was formed in 1995 as Winds of the Southern Cross, and is based in Brisbane. The ensemble is made up of six of Australia's finest musicians. Director and clarinet player Paul Dean and bassoonist Leesa Dean are both former principal players with the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Oboist Tania Frazer is currently on leave from the Israel Opera Orchestra. Soprano Margaret Schindler and French horn player Peter Luff are lecturers at Queensland's Griffith Conservatorium and pianist Kevin Power is chorus master of the Queensland State and Municipal Choir.

The group's unique combination of oboe, clarinet, horn, bassoon, piano and soprano allows them to perform a diverse repertoire in a wide range of musical genres. It ranges from Baroque cantatas to works by familiar names such as Bach, Mozart, Beethoven and Schubert. Their repertoire is further enlarged by their impressive list of arrangements including Mozart's Piano Concertos No 13 and No 15, Brahms' Haydn Variations and selection from Grieg's Peer Gynt.

Tickets to this very special concert are available from the Northern Rivers Ticket Centre on 6621 5600. Book now to secure a place, as the concert will undoubtedly be popular.

Opera at the Channon

Internationally-acclaimed soprano Judith Henley (pictured with Geoff Cawley and Rescue Helicopter crew members Luke Frost and Michelle Clough), who'll sing at Opera at the Channon, visited the Life Saver Rescue Helicopter base in Lismore earlier this week to see where the proceeds of this weekend's concert are going.

Judith will perform with a cast from the Queensland Opera, supported by a 50-voice choir, singing three scenes from the Verdi opera La Traviata and three scenes from Strauss' Der Fledermaus

"Opera at the Channon is one of the loveliest things you can imagine," Opera at the Channon committee member, Geoff Cawley, said. "The hills are literally alive with the sound of music... it just fills the whole valley."

The fifth annual Opera at the Channon is this Sunday, July 28, at the Channon Oval, and people can either enjoy the silver service luncheon from 11am or bring a picnic for the concert at 1.30pm. Tickets are $95 with lunch and $45 without, and everyone receives a complimentary glass of champagne. For those who want to enjoy a few more glasses of champagne and don't want to drive, buses will leave from Byron, Ballina and Lismore, and tickets are only $5 return.

To book tickets or a seat on the bus phone the Rescue Helicopter on 6621 4274.

Film Fundraiser

The Australian Breastfeeding Association's Lismore Group will host a film screening of the new movie About a Boy next Thursday, August 1 at the Lismore Cinema.

The film, rated M and starring Hugh Grant and Toni Collette, is based on the novel of the same name by Nick Hornsby. The film is about Will (Grant), a rich, child-free Londoner in his thirties who, in search of available women, invents himself a son and begins attending single parent meetings.

The film costs $10 and starts at 6.30pm. All proceeds go toward breastfeeding promotion and education. Tickets are available from Caddies in Lismore. For more information phone Jenni on 6621 4260 or Jan 6624 6491.

Love Against All Odds

Norpa presents the Bell Shakespeare Company's

The Taming of the Shrew

by William Shakespeare

Venue: Lismore City Hall
Dates: Fri, Aug 9 at 12pm & 8pm, Sat, Aug 10 at 8pm
Director: Des James
Bookings: 6621 5600

Norpa invites you to a small seaside town, where opportunists and hustlers mingle and women are bought and sold - until one woman roars.

The Bell Shakespeare Company bring to life Shakespeare's wild, black comedy of love against all odds, The Taming of the Shrew. As an early work, The Shrew reflects Shakespeare's youthful enthusiasm for comedy and desire to entertain a theatre audience. Its style, archetypical characters and comic situations are given their full measure and mirth by the Bell Shakespeare Company, albeit with a slightly modern twist.

As Australia's only touring Shakespeare Company, the Bell Shakespeare Company, have a broad mandate to educate as well as to entertain. While in Lismore Norpa and Bell Shakespeare are offering a number of benefits that include a fantastic competition and free workshops for students and a lively and informative adult discussion with Bell Shakespeare's education officer.

For more information on these benefits, call Norpa on 66220300 or visit the website at www.norpa.org.au

Bold and bright, The Taming of the Shrew showcases Shakespeare's energetic and robust humour and is a sparkling trip for anyone who's ever fallen in love and managed to survive it.

The matinee performance of The Taming of the Shrew has already sold out! For tickets to the evening shows contact the Northern Rivers Ticket Centre at 93 Molesworth Street Lismore, or phone 6621 5600. Don't forget to ask about our group booking discounts and student rush discounts. For more information on the Norpa 2002 Season visit www.norpa.org.au

Local support for The Taming Of The Shrew has been provided by Southern Cross University, Ten, The Northern Rivers Echo, Graphiti Design and Optus World Lismore.

Use the form below to search through the Northern Rivers Echo Newspaper web site.

Matt's Script Archive