THE next step for a Ballarat familial music duo is on the horizon with the pair awarded for their recent performance at Newstead Live Music Festival.<\/p>\n
Taking part in the event with four sets, father-daughter act Freya and Tom McGowan were acknowledged with the Encouragement Award for Best Young Talent.<\/p>\n
“I was really happy to receive it,” said Freya.<\/p>\n
“I thought it was special to be recognised as a kid at a music festival in particular because when dad and I play, often people think my mum is me or they don’t consider us for certain gigs because I’m a kid.”<\/p>\n
A highlight for the pair was their 15-minute set at The Troubadour.<\/p>\n
“It was on Australia Day so one of the songs we played was Solid Rock,” Tom said.<\/p>\n
“We also played a folk version of Xanadu, also Moon River. It was a good eclectic mix of songs that worked well on that day.<\/p>\n
“It was the biggest venue we played.”<\/p>\n
With prize money through the Troubadour Foundation to accompany their award, the cash will be used to record Freya and Tom’s first studio effort.<\/p>\n
Tom anticipated recording will take place from September with the view to release in late 2024 or early 2025.<\/p>\n
“We predominantly play live and other people’s songs whereas with recording we can flip that around with mostly our songs,” he said.<\/p>\n
“It’s great to do song writing with Freya. Because of her age, she brings completely different ideas to what I’m used to.”<\/p>\n
The release will be Freya’s first major studio effort apart from a recording with the Ballarat Centre of Music and the Arts.<\/p>\n
She said she’s excited to channel her ideas through the studio experience.<\/p>\n
“We’ve been working on a song Airmail which is about a pen pal I had in Finland,” she said. “A lot of the songs will be about relationships, and I want to explore other aspects you wouldn’t think to write songs about.<\/p>\n
“I’m excited about adding harmonies and exploring different layers, and just the idea of releasing an album. It’s a next step.”<\/p>\n
Freya and Tom will be performing at CresFest on 6 and 7 April followed by a gig at Castlemaine Fringe’s Fantastico Variety Show, and market appearances at Clunes and Creswick that same month.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE next step for a Ballarat familial music duo is on the horizon with the pair awarded for their recent performance at Newstead Live Music Festival. Taking part in the event with four sets, father-daughter act Freya and Tom McGowan were acknowledged with the Encouragement Award for Best Young Talent. “I was really happy to […]<\/p>\n