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Songs of the Mid West go live for home town at Queens Park Theatre tonight

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Lisa FavazzoGeraldton Guardian

A kaleidoscope of the Mid West’s best and brightest musicians will take centre stage at Queens Park Theatre tonight, showcasing what one industry insider calls “the best contemporary music scene in regional WA”.

Local musicians from across demographics and styles were featured on Sounds of the Mid West — a collaborative album produced by West Australian Music to give regional artists a chance to record their music in a studio.

Now, punters will get the chance to watch their favourite local acts perform live, celebrating their hard work.

It hasn’t been an easy year to produce and launch an album featuring 10 artists, but the turbulence of the pandemic and cyclone hasn’t slowed the momentum of the region’s original music scene.

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Warriyangga Warralgurniya, Gus McKay, Good Strife, Vince Jones, Carrum Mourambine, Nicky Robson, Jade Jackson, Ian Weggler, Theona Councillor and Alexia Parenzee were the lucky musos chosen for the project.

West Australian Music regional officer Nigel Bird said the toughest part of the project was deciding which the musicians to leave out.

“The thing that stuck out was the number of incredible artists we had to make the difficult decision to not include them,” he said.

Mr Bird could talk for hours about each talent featured on the album but thought it was particularly special to feature Warriyangga and Naaguja performers singing in language.

He also praised Parenzee, saying she “contributes so much behind the scenes” in Geraldton. Now, with her first recorded song, Creed and Colour, garnering national radio play, he’s excited to see where her music could take her.

He said the breadth of talent in the area was partially due to active mentorship, saying the Mid West Music Development program contributed a lot.

“It is really sowing the seeds of engagement for people to tell their stories through music,” he said.

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