WHAT A BRIGHT IDEA

MUSIC

LAUNCESTON

band The Embers are heading south to brighten up your weekend with songs from their longawaited debut album.

Currently featuring Michael Attard (guitar, vocals), Katy Humphries (sax, violin), Jai Larkman (drums), Kilty Salter (bass) and Miles Bender (keyboards), The Embers ( pictured) burst into the spotlight in 2006 when they won the National Campus Band Competition, adding their name to a list of previous winners that featured Eskimo Joe and Jebediah.

They spent the next few years cutting their teeth on the live scene and honing their sound, and their efforts were recognised with two wins — for Best Funk/Jazz/Soul and Best Roots — at the 2008 Amplified Tasmanian Music Awards.

After months of preproduction, and armed with a grant from Arts Tasmania and crowd-funded money from a Pozible campaign, last year the band linked up with producer Nicky Bomba and engineer Robin Mai and headed into Bomba’s Freeburgh Station studio to record 12 tracks over 12 days.

The result was their debut album Bright, an eclectic collection of songs that seamlessly meld elements of reggae, blues, rock and funk to take listeners on a musical journey through the roots spectrum.

With nearly a decade worth of songs to choose from for the album, The Embers selected more recent tracks and live favourites, and Attard feels Bright represents the band perfectly.

“Recording your first album as a band is just a dream come true, and a real validation of all the good times and hard work that we have shared,” he says.

“We are very much a live band and get a lot of our gigs based on having a good reputation live, so we really wanted to make sure that this shone through on the album.”

The Embers launch Bright with a show at The Homestead in North Hobart from 8.30pm on Saturday, supported by Sam Cole and Seth Henderson from The Mornings. Entry is free. SEVEN local acts — some of whom have strong connections to Nepal — will join forces tomorrow night to raise funds for people affected by the recent Nepal earthquakes. Quivers, James Parry, Violet Swells and Heart Beach will play in one of the Brisbane Hotel’s bars, with Unfolding Vostoks, Tantric Sax and Aon Stalp & The Out of Towners performing in the other. The Nepal Fundraiser gig is at the Brisbane Hotel from 8pm tomorrow. Tickets are $10 at the door, with all money raised donated to the earthquake relief appeal. ACCLAIMED US guitar guru Richard Smith is heading back to Hobart this week to again share his skills with young local musicians. Los Angeles-based Smith travels the world performing and educating others, and has tutored budding Hobart guitarists on previous visits to the city’s Rock Summer School. After teaming up with Greg Souter to perform at MONA on Sunday afternoon, Smith will be “in residence” at Claremont College from May 18-20 and Kingston High School on May 21-22, concluding with a public concert at Kingston High from 7pm on May 22. Go to

for more details. QUEENSLAND singersongwriters Phil Hancock and Holly Terrens ( will perform a free show in Hobart this weekend to promote their new singles and their collaborative song 3 Hearts. Brisbane singer, pianist and producer Hancock released

pictured)