For the second year running, Mount Gambier singer and songwriter Alison Newman has been named as a finalist for the SA Music Awards People’s Choice Folk Artist.
Ms Newman told The SE Voice she felt very fortunate to be considered for the award and she was excited to be in the running again.
“I couldn’t achieve this without everyone’s support so I am very grateful for that,” she said.
Ms Newman said winning the award would be a great opportunity to get her name out there so more people could hear her music.
“I’m no more deserving of anyone else to win, I think everybody does. I’m just super excited to be up for this award and would be blown away to win,” she said.
Voting closes October 2 at 9am with the top five revealed shortly after and the overall winner to be announced Tuesday, November 3.
Ms Newman said Mount Gambier punk band Chelsea Manor was also in the running for the accolade.
Ms Newman made it into the top five finalists last year and said she would be so grateful to make it again this year.
The SA Music Awards will be held in Adelaide and Ms Newman said she was keen to attend no matter her result. She said last year was an amazing experience to share with like-minded musicians who performed many genres and styles of music.
Ms Newman said her music was wholeheartedly her, which was what set it apart from the competition. She said her songs drew on personal experiences with lots of storytelling, and her music was honest and truthful to who she was.
In 2019, Ms Newman released her first album of original songs, titled Heart Songs. She described the songs as folk, folk pop and a bit of blues. Ms Newman titled the album Heart Songs because the songs reflected her experiences during life.
Now, Ms Newman is working on her second album, which she hopes to release next year. The singer said the songs would still tell her stories and have a much darker sound, which she described as “dark pop”.
Ms Newman has also been working on a project of cover songs called ‘Circa Aurora,’ where she takes songs that would usually be pop or rock and turns them into beautiful acoustic ballads.
So far, she has released six covers, including ‘Break My Stride,’ which held the #5 spot in the Top 10 regional AMRAP charts for two weeks. She has five more covers ready to release each Friday.
You can vote for Ms Newman by visiting www.themusic.com.au, clicking the link for South Australian Music Awards Voting and following the links.
