Women, Wine & Song

Mar 04, 2014

Women, Wine & Song was a one-off Adelaide Fringe collaboration of three independent Australian female singer-songwriters performed in the beautiful Paradiso Spiegeltent in the Garden of Unearthly Delights.

The three very different performers – Martine Locke, Kelly Menhennett and Monique Brumby – share a common ground of musical talent, original songs, strong personal lyrics, conviction and tasty guitar playing.

ARIA-winning Tasmanian singer Brumby is lively and quirky with, at times, an intimate audience connection. Her voice is rich, raspy and versatile, with yodeling and even operatic tones, and her songs at last night’s show ranged from country to pop/rock and gypsy reggae.

Menhennett (2012 Telstra Road to Discovery national songwriting award winner) is cute and fun, with a beautiful, strong, Cher-like voice. She provided the rhythm and subtle percussion of many of the songs. Her bluesy, folk and, at times, jazzy songs were emotive, pretty and lush. Special mention to new number “Small Dreams”, with its many Adelaide references.

Locke (formerly one half of the duo The Velvet Janes) is a powerhouse singer; think Melissa Etheridge. Her songs are strong and melodic, and the lyrics clearly come from the heart. She commands attention with her story and emotion, with highlights being her mandolin solo in the final song and her own unique “Hallelujah”.

Even though these women are all strong individual artists, the performance worked best when they collaborated, especially in Locke’s final rousing number.

It just needed the wine.

Women, Wine & Song was a one-off Adelaide Fringe show but keep an eye out for upcoming gigs, with Menhennett playing an album pre-release show at the Jade Monkey later this month, Locke playing at Adelaide’s Music in the Lane on March 17, and Brumby touring nationally on the back of a new album.