Saturday 3 June 10am-12pm
Venue: Newstead Arts Hub, 8A Tivey Street, Newstead 3462 (the old Newstead Railway Station)
Tickets on sale now
$20 + booking fee
Learn songwriting skills with Fred Smith
A rare chance to learn how to build songs that tell stories, drawing on the great Australian narrative song writing tradition that stretches from Lawson to Kev Carmody to Paul Kelly. Lead by Fred Smith, a master of this song form.
This songwriting workshop is for students in Year 9 upwards – and adults. Maximum of 20 participants. BOOK NOW! Your place in the workshop will be confirmed on Monday 29 May: if the workshop is oversubscribed, we will refund the fee for those who miss out on a place.
Brought to you by the Newstead Arts Hub and Newstead Live. This project is proudly supported by the Australian Government through the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund, by the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria and through Regional Arts Victoria.
About Fred Smith
‘Fred Smith is simply the best folk/country musician working in this country…beyond writing some of the finest songs about Australians at war, he has created a repertoire that is wry, literate, witty, powerfully emotional and insightful.’ (Bruce Elder, SMH).
Fred Smith’s songs get you laughing, thinking and feeling. Supported by Australia’s most sensitive accompanists, he consistently offers performances rich in humour and depth. His song-cycles have become important historical documents bringing to life the human complexities of the countries he has worked in: PNG, the US and most recently Afghanistan.
Fred is the subject of an Australian Story documentary about his work in Afghanistan and on peace keeping operations in the war-torn islands of the South Pacific. The title track from his acclaimed album, Dust of Uruzgan, was covered by country music star Lee Kernaghan.
His book, The Dust of Uruzgan, published by Allen and Unwin in 2016, was described by Channel 10 Political Editor Hugh Riminton as ‘as convincing a picture as we will ever have of the tragedy, hope, oddness and courage of Australia’s Uruzgan enterprise… an astonishingly vibrant piece of reportage from the heart of our longest war.’
