Festival of Voices, Tasmania 2021 // Tasmanian Music Project Appearance Backing Monique Brumby on New Collaboration

The 2021 Festival of Voices in Tasmanian will premiere a new collaboration between Monique Brumby (vocals and guitar) and Steve on piano. Thursday 8th July, at Princes Wharf, will be the venue for some moving expressions of what Tasmania means to each performer in the showcase event titled the Tasmanian Music Project. For example, Shane Howard’s “Let the Franklin Flow” will be a highlight and sure to have the audience singing along. The TMP, which will be ongoing, aims to explore songs that define Tasmania and the stories those songs tell. The intention is to amplify the legacy of Tasmanian songs and songwriters that are part of the Tassie cultural soundscape and history. Steve and Monique will be performing a special new arrangement of the title track from Steve’s most recent CD “Unbroken”. On the new version of the opening track “Unbroken (Lake Pedder)” Monique has added lyrics, re-creating Steve’s piece with a more explicit poetical focus and images that prod at one’s conscience about how we are losing what Nature has given us all, and how we need to take responsibility to fix things before it’s too late.

Lake Pedder (now an impoundment) is in the heart of the World Heritage area and in many peoples’ hearts as, in this UN Decade of Ecosystem Restoration, there’s a campaign for the original lake to be restored. In 1971 Steve had the opportunity to travel to Tasmania and walk on the original pink quartz beach during the last summer before it was flooded, as over 1,000 people did, but never made it, generating a sense of loss almost as deep as if he had trod those shores. Now Hobart is his home, Steve happened to hear Christine Milne talk about how restoring the lake is definitely possible, with the beach and dunes still intact, so he asked if she was interested in some music he felt inspired to create for the campaign. A warm ‘Yes’ led to the piece “Unbroken (Lake Pedder)” being put to a video of historic moving images and stills, played at the opening of an Art exhibition in Salamanca in late 2019. And now, to be performed live, with evocative lyrics and a stage band. Tasmania is an amazing place for musicians, artists, actors and all the things people make happen around any type of performance - Steve and Monique are grateful to the Festival, friends and supporters for another chance to perform for them.