Applications for a female songwriting mentorship program by Queensland Music Festival are closing soon.
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Upcoming female songwriters in Mount Isa should apply online at qmf.org.au by May 19 to be considered for Songs That Made Me.
Songs That Made Me is designed to empower and support female musicians from regional areas.
Megan Sarmardin has been selected as the Mount Isa mentor.
Finalists will have the opportunity to work with top Australian musicians in a series of professional mentoring workshops and concerts.
Applicants for the program should upload a video entry of themselves performing one original song and a “song that made them”.
QMF Senior Project Manager Jean Smith said she wants women of all ages to apply.
“While we’ve had some great entries from across the regions so far, we'd love to encourage as many emerging singer-songwriters as possible to enter for the chance to participate in this life-changing mentorship program,” Ms Smith said.
Queensland Music Festival’s Artistic Director Katie Noonan created the opportunity as a response to the low percentage of female singer-songwriters identified in statistics by APRA AMCOS.
Applications opened on International Women’s Day, March 8 and close on May 19.
Finalists will be announced at the QMF Festival Launch on 30 May.
In July all artists will do a masterclass with Deborah Conway, Clare Bowditch and Hannah Macklin.
They will then perform alongside these signature artists, 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 headlined Julia Creek’s Dirt ‘n’ Dust festival in April.
Mentoring kicks off in June when finalists participate in a workshop in their hometown with Katie Noonan and highly experienced music teacher, Leigh Carriage.
