Upcoming female songwriters in Mount Isa have the opportunity to work with top Australian musicians in a new mentorship program.
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Songs That Made Me is a series of professional mentoring workshops and concerts designed to empower and support female musicians from regional areas with Megan Sarmardin named as Mount Isa mentor.
Queensland Music Festival’s Artistic Director Katie Noonan created the opportunity as a response to the low percentage of female singer-songwriters identified in membership statistics by APRA AMCOS.
Applications opened on International Women’s Day, March 8, at www.qmf.org.au and close on May 19.
In July one artist from each region will be selected to participate in a masterclass with Deborah Conway and Hannah Macklin.
They will then perform alongside Katie Noonan, Deborah Conway, Hannah Macklin, their local mentor and an all female rhythm section in a local concert.
Along the way, finalists receive guidance from their local mentor, including songwriting, performance and stage craft, and the business side of music.
Mount Isa mentor Megan Sarmardin began her career in the Spinifex Country Music Club, and has performed all over the country, gaining national recognition for her own QMF performances.
Ms Sarmardin has been in musical stage productions such as The Sapphires and Country Song, the fictionalised tale of Jimmy Little and other indigenous artists, including Aurieal Andrew from Mount Isa.
Ms Sarmardin encourages Mount Isa women of any age to submit their applications.
“It’s good that they picked Mount Isa, a good little regional centre,” Ms Sarmardin said.
“A lot of coastal areas get a lot of performing arts things, and these people have been gracious enough to recognise that there might be emerging female musicians here, and it’s important to nurture that,” Ms Sarmardin said.
“I had the Spinifex Country Music Club here, with some really good mentors and female musicians that I looked up to,” Ms Sarmardin said.
Ms Sarmardin sings in local band Bulldust, who have just recorded their debut EP in Melbourne and are set to headline Dirt ‘n’ Dust festival in Julia Creek next month.
Applicants for the program should upload a video entry of themselves performing one original song and a “song that made them”, perhaps one that inspired them to become a singer-songwriter.
The finalists will be announced at the QMF Festival Launch on 30 May.
Mentoring kicks off in June when finalists participate in a workshop in their hometown with Katie Noonan and highly experienced music teacher, Leigh Carriage.
