| July Concert: Helen Dorothy |
Sunday 26 July, 8pmToi Poneke67 Abel Smith StHelen Dorothy and Guests
To be told that you are sandwiched between The Doors and Nick Drake on a CD shelf in Norway is bizarre to say the least! It was either there, or pressed up close to Roy Harper under the H’s; I think I prefer the former, but either seems a very great honour… It’s been almost a year now since I ventured into Braeburn Studio to begin work on ‘The Going Away’, a hobby that slowly began to spiral, not out of control, but in an uncontrollable direction! Back then, I had no idea what was going to eventually materialise, except that I knew it was not to be too complicated for a first attempt (for both musical and financial reasons!) and that I wanted it to capture the essence of where I was at musically around this time...a ‘musical photograph’. Nor would I have believed that I could pull off a full concert night in the company of some of Wellington’s finest musicians—I’ve never had an inclination to be a band leader, but this is effectively what I ended up doing at the CD launch! People ask where I see this all taking me - well it won’t be away from the Wellington scene that’s for sure, but into new musical territories, yes. I feel I have barely scratched the surface, and that there is a wealth of words, notes, and sounds waiting to be pieced together in various combinations, with different people. As anyone who has made an album of original songs will tell you, there is a certain vulnerability that takes a-hold now and then in the journey to set it free into the world. It can be overwhelming. It can make you wonder why you ever started out in the first place. Moving through and beyond that has been one of the biggest character-building exercises I have ever experienced. But it’s definitely given me the confidence to grab any opportunities that arise. For more information, see her website |
