Tahlia Matheson

Music at the Rails

Music is back, in full swing, at the Rails every night of the week. The Leigh James Band play on Thursday, a surprise is in store is on Friday, and Tim Stokes will keep things stoked on Saturday night.

Sunday sees Craig Atkins step up, with Monday’s music being delivered by Simon Meola. Tahlia Matheson cranks the tunes on Tuesday, and Wednesday it’s Jock Barnes.

Sit down, have a beer, and enjoy your socially distanced freedom. Be glad you don’t live in Melbourne.

Bruno Kortenhorst Boundlessness

Seeking Artists for 2021

Northern Rivers Community Gallery (NRCG) is currently inviting exhibition applications across all art forms from artists, artist groups and curators for the 2021 exhibition program. NRCG provides a unique opportunity for artists to present works to new and diverse audiences in a beautiful heritage space. Complete your application online – visit www.nrcgballina.com.au and go to Apply to Exhibit. Applications close Sunday 30 August 2020.

On the Walls

Northern Rivers Community Gallery (NRCG) Ballina is launching four exciting new exhibitions in August. Unconditional Stories is the visual exploration of the impact of illness and injury as experienced by patients and their caregivers recently discharged from Ballina District Hospital. Students from Lismore TAFE Creative Design and Ideation Faculty collaborated with patients to produce a range of artworks that reflect unique and personal stories of sickness and healing.

Bruno Kortenhorst presents Boundlessness, a collection of photographs that explore the boundaries between inner and outer worlds, and are informed by Kortenhorst’s lifelong interest in meditation. Created while on retreat in the desert at Uluru and Kata Tjuta, Kortenhorst uses an analogue pinhole camera that does not have a viewfinder. The process is intuitive and experimental, and the results have a dreamlike quality.

Artist and art history lecturer Geoff Tolchard presents a series of drawings completed during lockdown. Tolchard uses animals as a metaphor for tolerance and hope. With the increasing depletion of nature, and the call for more conservation, his drawings can be seen as ‘single frame stories’.

Artist, designer and photographer Michael Stiegler, recently returned here, after living and working in New York uses unconventional mixed media works to comment on excess in contemporary culture; portraying vulnerability, desire, anxiety and lust for consumption in a modern world. In On Orchard, ugliness and beauty coexist in his work, as they do in reality. His works combine art, fashion and photography with an energetic street appeal.

All exhibitions open Wednesday 12 August 2020 and continue until Sunday 18 October 2020. For further information contact the Gallery on 6681 0530 or visit www.nrcgballina.com.au

Garrett Kato

Permanently Kato

Garrett Kato had a huge 2019; playing sold-out shows with folk singer-songwriter Damien Rice, his first co-headline tour of Europe and the UK with Riley Pearce, and a tour of North America with household name Ziggy Alberts. So when this platinum award winning Byron Bay-based producer went into iso, it was the perfect time to record some new tunes.

The Canadian born Garrett Kato – who was busking five gigs a week in Byron, before having his songs become box office hits after being picked up for the soundtrack of Bad Moms, has just released his new track Permanently.

It’s a bit of a sonic evolution for Garrett with glimmers of lo-fi RnB threaded throughout his signature song writing rooted in folk. It was self-written, recorded, produced and mixed at Garrett’s home studio in Byron Bay. The song is available everywhere today via Nettwerk Music.

Garrett remains hopeful about the easing of restrictions internationally, and recently announced an upcoming UK and Europe tour with Pierce Brothers, in Jan / Feb 2021. The news comes following Garrett signing with London-based Paul Boswell, at Free Trade Agency, earlier in 2020. You can find all the dates on his website www.garrettkatomusic.com.

Du East

The Beach Hotel

Live music continues every night at Byron’s iconic Beach Hotel. Find yourself a comfy seat and pull up a chair! Thursday sees Du East at 7pm and Tuffy plays Friday at 3pm with Animal Ventura at 8pm. Still no dancing, but that doesn’t mean you can’t still soak up the good vibes of a damn good show. Beats Zoom any day.

The 2020 Australian Poetry Slam (APS)

The Write Revolution!

The 2020 Australian Poetry Slam (APS) is calling on Byron poets to take the virtual stage on Saturday, and awe the audience with their words.

Performing writers have two minutes to inspire judges randomly selected from the Zoom audience with their original lyrics, stories, raps or whatever they do with words.

The two highest-scoring slammers from the Byron Slam Heat, hosted by Byron Writers Festival, will compete at the 2020 APS NSW Final, slamming it out for the chance to represent their state at the 2020 APS National Final.

Last year, Wāni Le Frère was crowned the APS National Champion, saying poetry slams ‘hit straight to the heart in ways that other mediums can’t.’

Each year, over one thousand spoken word artists perform in over 60 APS Heats for anaudience of over 20 000 across the Asia-Pacific. From s mall towns to major metropolises, local libraries to street soirées, APS hands the mic to the best spoken word talent in the country.

Join the 2020 APS Byron Slam Heat and witness Australia’s finest wordsmiths as they write a revolution.

Register for the Byron Slam Heat on byronwritersfestival.com or email [email protected]

Multi-award-winning screen directors Daina Reid (The Handmaid’s Tale, Romper Stomper)

Finding Your Direction

Multi-award-winning screen directors Daina Reid (The Handmaid’s Tale, Romper Stomper) and Kay Pavlou (Race to London, Who Do You Think You Are?) will be the special guest presenters for Screenworks’ 2020 Online Directing Intensive, presented in partnership with the Australian Directors Guild. Applications are now open for early-career screen directors living in regional Australia to apply for the opportunity to attend the online intensive workshop, which will include individual one-on-one tutoring sessions. The deadline for applications is 17 August.

Up to 18 early-career screen directors from across regional Australia will be selected for this opportunity. This is a significant increase from similar workshops delivered by Screenworks in the past (previously up to 12 were selected) and will provide increased access for emerging directors from across all of regional Australia.

Running over two days, on 8 September Daina Reid will present a 3-hour online intensive on skills and techniques for directing drama, and on 9 September, Kay Pavlou will deliver a 3-hour workshop focused on point of view documentary storytelling. Both guest speakers will provide advice and guidance about screen industry career opportunities and pathways during their workshops.

One of the most valuable parts of the workshops will be the opportunity to receive a half-hour one-on-one consultation with one of the guest speakers to receive advice on projects, skills development, and careers.

To be eligible for Screenworks’ Directing Intensive, applicants must be living in regional Australia, have some experience in screen directing and have a demonstrated commitment to their practice.

For more information and to apply, visit the Screenworks website: screenworks.com.au.

French Film Festival

French Correction

Somehow I made a bit of a boo boo with the date last week of the French Film Festival showing at The Palace in Byron. I think the correct thing to say is, ‘Pardon, j’avais tort’. Or is it, ‘Je me suis trompe?’ I don’t know. But regardless, if you love a good French film, there’s no better time to get to The Palace to see some of the best on offer. The French Film Festival is on at the Palace until Tuesday. The cinema is operating within the guidelines of social distancing – to see what’s on go to palacecinemas.com.au.