Autumn is already here and I'm not really sure where the time goes but the clock is ticking so some serious time managment is required to keep me on track to achieve everything I have planned.

I've been performing consistently which is always great and have had heaps of fun working with my trio featuring Stax on slide, guitar, harps and didge and Zoltan Almady on percussion as well as enjoying the variety of playing with lots of different people and I'm looking forward to further collaborative projects this year.

The 'Alive & Gigging' Roadshow gigs that featured Tracey Roberts, Chloe Hall, Maria Forde, Christina Green, Stax the Didgeman and Neesy Smith have taken a back seat in the last few months while everyone has been busy with their own projects and touring but the first of what hopefully will be many of these gigs is planned for Friday April 20 at the Albert Park Yacht Club and apart from me will feature Maria, Tracey, Christina and Stax with Zoltan Almady joining the crew on percussion (further details on the Gigs Page).

I'm ecstatic to be included in such a talented line-up and look forward to many more occasions to play with this amazing group of artists.

I'm studying music this year majoring in composition as well as working on improving my skills on piano and bass and dabbling with the ukulele. I decided to dedicate this year to personal development so am also in the midst of setting up my first home studio. Having avoided it for far too long, the need for easier accessibility and in efforts to reduce the cost of making an album further, I have had to overcome my reluctance and delve into the realm of audio/midi interfaces, recording software, Firewire versus USB, monitors with ribbon tweeters or not, the benfits of 6" or 8" speakers etc. Talk about a major learning curve!

It has been a very difficult decision to make and with great deliberation I have had to postone next year's UK tour. The last two tours to the UK and US respectively were entirely self funded ($1000 raised by supporters for the US tour notwithstanding) and unfortunately I simply can't afford to do it again. While I'm aware of a number of Grants available, none of my previous submissions for these has been successful and as they require a major financial contribution with pre booked gigs as part of the submission, I couldn't in all honesty make commitments to venues without knowing I could keep them.

Being overseas brought me great joy and I'm very much looking forward to returning to the UK again. I never expected to feel so at home on the other side of the world and have been very happy to have had the chance to travel internationally and introduce my music to new audiences.

I've had the pleasure of playing with some phenomenal musicians & hope those opportunities continue to present themselves, so far so good so I guess we'll see.

Everything else is........

Michelle