Melinda J Wells

As regional coordinator for the Australian Songwriters Association running original live music gigs around regional Queensland, every year we fly to Sydney to attend the annual songwriting awards night, coordinator meeting and our own ‘Wax Lyrical’ gig!  Here’s some happy snaps!

Keeping super busy at venues around Bundaberg and a quick trip to Dalby for a very early Christmas party with some little friends, Christmas songs and some balloon animals too

A lovely night singing original songs at this amazing community event….

Things got busy with gigs at the Waves Sports Club, Sugarland Tavern, Janda’s, Ricks Bargara and the Queensland Community Conference – all in Bundaberg!

September saw us performing most Sundays @ Janda’s Pizzeria and Wax Lyrical on the first Wednesday of the month!  Fun!!  Thanks Gar for sharing the music….

The best part of being a project manager and arts facilitator is working with amazing young people in regional Queensland.  Lyndon Hallows and I had a very intense, creative, rewarding and inspiring two weeks in the township of Winton in September exploring the talents and personalities of the many students who came along and made art and music with us….

Below is answers to a couple of questions about our Big Vision Project and exactly what they thought about the project and us!  Enjoy 🙂

Enjoy another original song I composed and taught to the Winton Wonders Glee Club, this song was also featured on ABC Western Queensland a few days before the festival began, thanks to Heather Hale and performed each day of the festival on stages and around the streets!

A big thank you to Robyn Stevens, Melissa Doyle, the Regional Arts Development Fund, Qld Government and the Winton Shire Council for taking such good care of us….

September saw my buddy Lyndon Hallows (artist extraordinaire) and I spend two whole weeks in Winton to work with local youth to create music and art for their biennial festival ‘The Winton Outback Festival’ with a theme of ‘Giants of the Outback’ for 2017.

Enjoy the original song I composed and taught to the Winton Wonders Glee Club, the song was also featured on ABC Western Queensland a few days before the festival began, thanks to Heather Hale and performed each day of the festival on stages and around the streets!

A big thank you to Robyn Stevens, Melissa Doyle, the Regional Arts Development Fund, Qld Government and the Winton Shire Council for taking such good care of us….

So in the morning I’ll be interviewed on ABC Wide Bay to share a collection of four songs that shaped my life…

1: Danny Boy – in memory of my father Jimmy Witt and the absolute love of music and singing that he instilled in his daughters. I’ll never forget standing around the pianola while he peddled away at his favourite songs, his eyes welling up with tears listening to his young daughters sing in harmony to him….

2: Time Warp (couldn’t really use Sweet Transvestite!) – in memory of my senior high school years (specifically one theatre assignment featuring RHPS) unleashing my weird obsessions onto unsuspecting high school teachers with a bunch of equally crazy friends

3:  What I Am – what I learned from a wise man before I knew he was wise, the song played at my father’s funeral in 1989 and the motto of his all too short life.  How I wish I had more time to absorb the beauty and gentleness of his spirit.  He once told me: You’re the one…. I’m still discovering what he meant…

4: Falling Slowly (from the movie Once) – when it dawned on me that the beauty that I witnessed during this song when I watched the movie was the very beauty that I knew I possessed within me: to be a troubadour upon this earth and to share my unique gift of song-writing to those who were meant to hear…

It’s that time again, where local songwriters gather to share their songs and their story, one of my favourite things in all the world.  It’s funny how such a seemingly small thing can have huge positive effects on a persons sense of purpose and esteem… I’ve had too many of these experiences to name, time after time realising that if we engage with others in an authentic way and create a safe space then magic happens…! 🙂