Jesse Morris and the Shakedown
‘This Life’ is the first single off Jesse Morris and the Shakedown’s forthcoming and first ever vinyl release titled The Children of the Sun.
Featuring the all star 7-piece Shakedown lineup. Mixed by Lord Tanuki himself – Paulie B of Yama Nui Studios. Mastered by ‘Blakey’ at 12th and Vine Post Studios.
Jesse Morris and the Shakedown will be hitting the road throughout Spring and Summer 2021 with a string of shows and festivals across the country.
They are kicking off their tour by celebrating their single release at two local shows this weekend: Friday at new venue Kiki on Byron from 7pm, and Sunday at the Beach Hotel from 9pm, before they begin their tour with a journey north to celebrate their vinyl release at Palm Creek Folk Festival in June.
Get the good oil at jessemorrisband.com
Songbirds Autumn Leaves Concert
The Songbirds are delighted to invite you to celebrate autumn with them in an afternoon tea concert at the Ocean Shores Community Centre on Sunday at 3pm.
There will be a range of songs in different styles; some relaxing, ethereal and touching, and some more lively or cheeky, all with the Songbirds signature harmonies. Tickets are $20 at the door, and this includes afternoon tea! There will be chairs, but feel free to bring pillows or rugs if you would like to lie down for part of the show.
Ocean Shores Community Centre on Sunday at 3pm.
Tragedy and comedy
Sometimes you’ve just gotta accept where you are from. And who you are. And, who your parents are. Or do you?
Am I who I say I am? is a comedic memoir about one father and four surnames. After a successful season at the Sydney Comedy Festival, and Sydney Greek Festival, winner of the Kit Denton Fellowship for courage and excellence in performance writing, George Catsi presents his own personal odyssey as he navigates a wayward father, his multiple names and his hopeless attempts at being Greek. In true Greek storytelling tradition, it is both tragedy and comedy.
George Catsi is at heart a satirist. 1/3 of Sydney’s cult comedy trio, God’s Cowboys, back in the ‘90s, George later turned towards academia, completing his PhD in Persuasive Performance, focusing on evangelism. George has a natural curiosity and an instinct for story that leads him to share this ripping yarn about his father – but also about the son. He chases down an identity pulled together by multiple Greek diasporas, upheavals and revolutions, balancing the absurdity with pathos and a crate of Blue Stratos.
The narrative journeys from Crete to Cairo, from Detroit to Sydney. George brings this powerful story of a father and son, traversing the paternal disconnection, old school masculinity and withering cultural identity of an Australian-born Greek boy who ends up in a Baptist church.
Am I Who I Say I Am? starring George Catsi – tickets on mandynolan.com.au
The Federal Show is where we go THE FULL GREEK – and George’s show will feature a vego Greek feast by Ilias the Greek… and maybe even a little dancing with plate smashing!
17 June, Federal Hall, 6pm $50.
18 June, The Citadel, Murwillumbah 7.30pm $30.
19 June, Bangalow Bowlo, 7.30pm $30.
Finding out what makes artists tick
Murwillumbah has built a name for itself as the creative cultural hub for the Tweed Valley – it is here that the Tweed’s artistic community really thrives. The town is known for its art deco architecture, glorious antiques, and thriving arts community. Every May Murwillumbah’s arts community hosts an art trail (Murwillumbah Arts Trail); a celebration of all things contemporary art in northern NSW. Studios, galleries and creative spaces will open their doors for MAT21 in the Tweed region again this May.
MAT21 is your opportunity to visit artists in their studios and shared spaces, meet the makers, learn about their stories and techniques and enjoy some exceptional art.
There are a total of 27 studios, galleries and bespoke locations on the trail, and almost 100 artists exhibiting within the Murwillumbah CBD, at the centre of the trail.
An exciting addition to the trail are the workshops artists have put together so you can participate in the creative process yourself and try out some new techniques. Facilitated by talented artists in their own studios, the workshops happen throughout the MAT period.
Join the artists and makers, the crafters, musicians, poets, storytellers and many other creatives on the 6th Annual Murwillumbah Arts Trail over the weekend of the 29–30 May 2021.
For further information, an interactive map, and artist bios visit murwillumbahartstrail.com.au
Jake Hunt is a man of peace
…Until the war he thought was over reignites around him.
Local author, Jed Hart has come a long way from Kellerberrin in the sixties to Byron Bay in the twenties; via Singapore, Taipei, Lima, London and many points in between. In his first book in the Jake Hunt series Without Warning he draws on his corporate and wartime experiences for an adventure that explores themes of love, honour and intrigue against a backdrop of terrorist violence. In his new release, which was published by Feather Knight Books, war veteran Jed Hart tells the story of Jake Hunt, who, like himself, is a pilot who flew combat assaults in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War. Like war veterans before him, Hunt locks that side of his life away, along with the training that taught him to kill total strangers. But the skills and capabilities remain.
Reflecting on the anachronisms of war, Hart says, ‘Men and women return from war. They become the guy or girl next door or the one you love; expert and experienced killers living among us.’ For the protagonist, Jake Hunt, that ability, and the fury that drives it, are released when a kidnap and a terrorist attack fragment a routine assignment in Brunei. Hunt is a man with a civilised shell around a savage core, and he won’t charm his way out of these circumstances.
Jed Hart will launch Without Warning at 5.30pm for a 6pm start at Marvell Hall, Byron Bay on Friday 28 May. Renowned radio interviewer, Mick O’Regan will host the conversation on behalf of Friends of the Library. $10 entry includes drinks and nibbles on arrival and there will be a lucky door prize.
Bookings Essential.
www.byronbayfol.com
Switzerland at the Drill
Joanna Murray-Smith’s brilliant play Switzerland is the second production in the Drill Hall Theatre Company’s all-Australian 2021 season. Arguably the nations most successful playwright, Murray-Smith has written a play about the grande dame of best-selling crime literature, Patricia Highsmith.
Highsmith lives with an impressive collection of books, and a somewhat sinister collection of guns and knives. The novelist finds solace in her seclusion, her whisky and cigarettes, until the hapless Mr. Edward Ridgeway appears – sent as an emissary by her publishing company in New York.
Murray-Smith makes no bones about Highsmith’s tendency to abuse. She is seen, towards the end of her life, as a rancorous loner railing at the New York literary establishment. She is prone to racist rants and has a vicious smackdown for every occasion, which challenges her visitor who has come to beg her to write one more book in The Ripley Series.
The director, Toni Scanlan says that ‘this Drill Hall production is a perfect platform for Liz Chance’s amazing skill as an actor, while we will witness the rise of an emerging talent in Charlie Burton.’
A noted actor herself, the director informs us that ‘Liz plays the famous writer, Highsmith, as an eccentric lesbian, homophobic, racist, hard drinking, brilliant would-be psychopath with excellent taste in soft furnishings. While Charlie, who shows enormous promise, plays the mysterious and ambiguous intruder, Edward Ridgeway.’
Switzerland opens at the Drill Hall Theatre, Mullumbimby 18 June, and plays to 4 July.
Bookings at the drillhalltheatre.org.au
Delphi Goes Bassooning
Janet Swain’s first solo show, Delphi Goes Bassooning, played to a full house earlier this year at Brunswick Picture House. If you missed out, she is taking Delphi out for another spin this Wednesday 19 May, and next Wednesday 26 May at the Drill Hall in Mullumbimby, before she takes the show to Melbourne in June.
Delphi Goes Bassooning is a tiny 55 minute musical, and tells the story of how Janet, as a 14 year old, was ‘encouraged’ to play the bassoon when her mother bought one for $50 at a railway auction. It’s a show for anyone who still has a flute, clarinet, oboe or even a bassoon, hiding in their garage, and anyone who has a mother! It’s funny, warm, poignant and a little bit sad, and you’ll pick up some interesting titbits about the bassoon.
Drill Hall, Mullumbimby
Wednesday 19 May, and
Wednesday 26 May
Tickets available via songdynastymusic.com
German Film Fest coming to The Palace
Presented by Palace Cinemas, the German Film Festival’s full 2021 programme boasts a spectacular selection of 30 films; the best and latest in German cinema, a number of which are screening for the first time outside of Germany.
The Festival, in collaboration with German Films, opens with the eagerly anticipated feature debut of actor Daniel Brühl (Good Bye Lenin!) who directs and stars in Next Door (Nebenan), fresh from its world premiere at Berlinale. In this darkly comic skewering of celebrity and privilege, Brühl plays a famous actor whose day gets completely railroaded by a stranger with ulterior motives.
Tickets are now on sale at germanfilmfestival.com.au
Byron Bay: 4–20 June, Palace, Byron Bay.
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