Big Thanks! ... to everyone who supported our campaign in 2014!
Friday 12th December, 2014
WE DID IT!
What an incredibly humbling experience this crowd-funding campaign has been! When we kicked this off a couple of months back, we had no idea of the breadth and depth of the support we have out there among our fans.
How wrong we’ve been on that mark! We reached our target and then some, despite some early jitters, and we couldn’t be more chuffed. You know, fundraising has always been a fraught part of the business we’re in. And until crowd-funding options were viable, it often involved endless paperwork merry-go-rounds with various governmental organisations in order to secure grants and the like.
We’re seriously excited about the future possibilities crowd-funding can bring to an arts organisation such as ours. The end result of this will means a great deal to us. As explained in the campaign blurb, it helps us get out there into regional areas and bridge that gap between the bedroom tinkering and the stage for talented singer-songwriters who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to showcase their talents.
The recent results in our Queensland Regional Song Contest shows the depth of talent out there, and we’ve already begun talking to local councils and organisations about the venues they can offer.
So, thank you, thank you and thank you again. Really, we mean that! The exciting work now starts and we hope to meet each and every one of you who generously pledged as we head off into the great expanse of regional Queensland.
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Mon 8th December, 2014
OH SO CLOSE
What an incredibly humbling experience this crowd-funding campaign has been! When we kicked this off a couple of months back, we had no idea of the breadth and depth of the support we have out there among our fans. How wrong we’ve been on that mark!
The end result of this will mean a great deal to us. As explained in the campaign blurb, it will help us get out there into regional areas and bridge that gap between the bedroom tinkering and the stage for talented singer-songwriters who otherwise wouldn’t have the opportunity to showcase their talents. The recent results in our Queensland Regional Song Contest shows the depth of talent out there, and we’ve already begun talking to local councils and organisations about the venues they can offer.
Crowd-funding is a terrific concept, but it comes with a rather large caveat: it’s all or nothing. If we don’t reach our target funding by the deadline, none of the money already kindly pledged will come our way. At the beginning, there were some misgivings in camp fRETfEST about the target of $6000 being a bit of a stretch, but my how we’ve been proven wrong!
We’re tantalisingly close, with just over $150 needed within the next three days. Can you help us get over the line?
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Tuesday 23rd November, 2014
TALENTED: Roma's Laura Lavelle has been named a finalist in a regional song-writing competition. By Tom Gillespie
ROMA teenage singer-songwriter Laura Lavelle had never finished a song before in her life. Now the 15-year-old girl has joined some of the brightest young country-based artists throughout Queensland after being named as a finalist in the fRETfEST Queensland Regional Song Contest. Laura was one of two winners from south-west Queensland after she entered her first completed song, 'Come Back to Me'.
She said the song came to her in a moment of inspiration. "I heard about it on the radio while I was doing work experience at 4ZR but I'd never finished a song before," Laura said. "I went home that night to write it and what I came up with was basically what we went with." The song, a love ballad in the style of Kasey Chambers or Taylor Swift, has thrown the talented singer into the spotlight of industry professionals.
While she was writing it, Laura said the themes were not based on her personally, but still contained a private message for the people around her. "It wasn't about me, but rather I just picked pieces of ideas from the lives of my friends and the people around me," she said.
"I draw inspiration from the world around me, like the people I know. "I didn't write full songs before and when I realised I'd made it past the first round I was running and the house was jumping." Laura plans to keep writing songs and performing so she can get a demo CD sent away to talent scouts.
She said her dream collaboration is a cliché, but still one she would like to one day achieve. "I'd work with Taylor Swift - a cliché I know, but I love her," she said.
To support Laura's aspirations go to http://www.pozible.com/fretfest
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Tuesday 18th November, 2014
GET A HAIRCUT & GET A REAL JOB
Achieving excellence at school, winning awards in the community and now winning the Queensland Regional Song Contest Winner, 17yo HARRY MARSHALL from Emerald in Central Queensland, is breaking the mould when it comes to your typical teen career moves.
The 2012 Young Citizen Of The Year was interviewed by his local newspaper and spoke on radio this week about his winning ways and future career aspirations:
* To help Harry stage a concert in his community, go to > www.pozible.com/fretfest now!
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Monday 10th November, 2014
GOLD COAST TEEN WINS fRETfEST GUITAR!
18yo Frank Swaby from Bonagin, west of Tallebudgera Valley, has won the Queensland-wide Regional Song Contest, guitar prize. A Maton acoustic, valued at over $1,600 and made of Queensland Maple, was presented to Swaby by Al Buchan, the founder and director of fRETfEST.
The MATON SRS60 guitar was supplied by GUITAR BROTHERS and Swaby quickly got accustomed to it before stepping on stage for the first time at fRETfEST to play one of his originals.
"This is a beautiful guitar and one that I really NEED.” said Swaby. Fortuitous for Frank, because he broke his own guitar recently. He’s been playing for about seven years now, mainly with mates, with whom he bounces around song ideas. Frank just graduated with a graphic arts diploma but is keen to pursue music as a career. His interest is in indie/alt genres, with some leanings to the odd pop song.
“I might do some freelance graphics work but music is my passion,” he said. “I look forward to learning from Al and other fRETfEST mentors as well as the others. I’m keen to mingle with like-minded peers.” Swaby hails from Benogin.
Look out for Frank at a fRETfEST gig, soon! Go to www.pozible.com/fretfest
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Monday 3rd November, 2014
WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?
As an organisation, fRETfEST is a really interesting beast. It’s one which straddles a curious mix of incubator, mentorship, community building and event promotion. At the crux of it is a really simple concept: help creative people make that crucial first step from the bedroom to the stage so they can show the world what they’ve got.
It’s about empowerment and support. In that process, which starts with a simple seed in someone’s head (“do I have what it takes”?) and most of the time ends at the beginning of a blossoming career in the music biz, we offer some real on-the-job nuts-and-bolts training and mentoring. From simple things such as how to set up an invoicing system to get paid, to how to put on a tour, record an EP, market yourself, etc. All the while, you’re on stage playing to real people, getting real feedback and actually doing the thing you love. It’s pretty exciting!
Through the years, the fRETfEST model has branched out and we’ve looked further afield to find as many opportunities as possible to get people heard. This has led us into a rather unique position of having the knack of talking to the bureaucracies and getting them to unlock the doors of idle community and civic centres and town halls. And they love it! Putting the life back into the community assets is a language they speak, and fRETfEST has been crucial in starting that conversation.
Want to read more? Head on over to our Facebook page or our current Pozible campaign to read the spark of ideas we’re currently sitting on. We’d love for you to get on board, too.
GO TO > www.pozible.com/fretfest
