Source: Kate Ryan, Javelin Australia

telstra road to discovery south aussie winner!!

Updated: 25 January 2012

Massive congratulations to South Australia's Kelly Menhennett, who last night won the Songwriter category of The Telstra Road to Discovery Competition 2012!

QLD's Andrew Redford took out the Performer category, and each receive a 12-month music industry mentorship prize package designed to elevate their careers.  The prize includes a trip to “global music city” Nashville, USA, songwriting and recording opportunities and domestic and international performances to help take their music to the masses.

Kelly was announced as the winning songwriter after performing two original tracks from her impressive repertoire titled “Fly in a Web” and “World Of Mine”. Kelly, the final songwriter contestant of the night, drew in the audience with her soulful performance. To borrow lyrics from her final track, she truly had the “courage to step and the strength to survive” earning her the winning title.

Born and bred in South Australia, Kelly is a professional winemaker by trade, but is now a full-time working musician. This win tops off an incredibly successful year, which featured a performance at the iconic Woodford Folk Festival in December 2011. Kelly’s honest and convincing performance had the judges marveling at her distinctive sound and unique songwriting ability.

“Honestly, everyone deserved to win. You come into these programs expecting artists with similar sounds, but there was such a strong and diverse range of talent. I’m very blessed to be standing here, but please give a round of applause to my fellow songwriters,” Kelly said.

Telstra Road to Discovery is a national music development program formerly known as the Telstra Road to Tamworth. The program’s new name reflects the discovery of up and coming musicians from across  Australia, and now embraces independent artists from a more diverse range of musical genres including blues and roots, folk, country and alt country.

Telstra’s Regional Sales and Service Director, NSW and ACT, Brett Riley, presented Andrew and Kelly with the major prize and praised the diversity of talent in this year’s Telstra Road program. “Telstra Road has unearthed an impressive range of emerging talent in this year’s program and tonight’s show was nothing short of extraordinary.” “Telstra developed this program nine years ago to create opportunities for independent musicians to share their talent with a wider audience across the nation and abroad.  This year, during the Tamworth Festival’s 40th year, we’re proud to shine the spotlight on two stand-out artists who are part of the next generation of enthusiastic and talented Australian musicians,” Mr Riley said.

Adding to the spectacular line-up of live music on the night was the surprise performance from multi-award winning artist Kasey Chambers joined by her father Bill Chambers and special guest Ashleigh Dallas, who charmed the audience and said the Telstra Road to Discovery was her favourite event of the festival.

Former Telstra Road alumni include inaugural winner Jessica Mauboy, as well as Aleyce Simmonds, Nick Kingswell, Kirsty-Lee Akers, Morgan Evans, Briana Lee, Jasmine Rae, Mark Wells, Peter McWhirter, Corey Colum, Luke Webb, Tenielle, Harry Hookey and David Garnham.


Kelly's Songwriter Prize:

    Return airfare to Nashville, USA with living and accommodation expenses;
    Songwriting appointments with leading Nashville songwriters;
    The opportunity to record a professional demonstration track in a US or Australian studio;
    The opportunity to perform as part of a showcase in Nashville;
    Media training and professional music industry career guidance;
    Music marketing, promotional support and songwriting guidance from Mushroom Marketing and Mushroom Music
    Two tickets to a leading American Music Festival in Nashville;
    Performance opportunities throughout the 2012 Telstra Road to Discovery heat series;
    National publicity and exposure through their association with the Telstra Road to Discovery;
    Admission into the CMAA Academy of Country Music; and
    Telstra products and services to the value of $1,000.

To learn more about the Telstra Road to Discovery please visit:  www.telstra.com/trtd

Source: Kate Ryan, Javelin Australia

countdown to telstra road to discovery 

Updated: 18 January 2012

The countdown is on to the Telstra Road To Discovery Final…

Who will take out the title?

Three South Australian musicians, Melody Feder, 23, from Vista; Kelly Menhennett, 30 from Barmera; and Christy Wallace, 36 from Mt Gambier are among ten of Australia’s most promising music artists to beat hundreds of hopefuls from across the nation to become a finalist in the Telstra Road to Discovery national talent development program.
 
Melody, Kelly and Christy will each compete in the Final and be in the running to win the prize of a lifetime!
 
When:  Tuesday 24 January 2012 from 7pm
 
Where:  Jayco Theatre, Tamworth Regional Entertainment Centre, Greg Norman Drive, Tamworth
 
Who: 10 of Australia’s hottest independent musicians hit the stage in one of the best live music showcases on offer during this year’s 40th Tamworth Country Music Festival
 
PLUS
 
Headline Artists:  ARIA-award winning artists The McClymonts plus surprise special guests!  Supported by current winners Harry Hookey and David Garnham who will hand over their titles to the new 2012 winners.
 
Two major prize packages are on offer for the winning PERFORMER and winning SONGWRITER including mentorship from industry experts, studio recording and co-writing opportunities, gigs in Australia, New Zealand and the experience of a lifetime in global “music city” Nashville, USA.

Good luck gals and GO SOUTH AUSSIES!

The Top 10 Finalists are:

For more details of the Telstra Road to Discovery visit www.telstra.com/trtd

about telstra road to discovery

Updated: 12 October 2011

The Telstra Road to Discovery presents a valuable opportunity for local songwriters and performers from a wide range of music genres, including blues and roots, folk and country, to showcase their talent with industry experts. 

A 12-month music mentoring prize is on offer including a return trip to Nashville and attendance at the world-renowned Americana Festival.  Musicians will also be connected with a network of music industry professionals who can help guide their career onto the right track.

Aspiring songwriters can enter the songwriter category while performers can enter the digital heat of the Telstra Road to Discovery, for the opportunity to progress through to the next stage of the competition.

The winning digital heat performer and four best songwriters will be flown to Sydney to join 12 other heat winners to take part in Boot Camp; a three day music mentoring workshop across all facets of the industry – from song construction through to publishing, touring, publicity and performance.

Artists will then compete in the Semi-Finals as part of the Sydney Telstra 500 V8 Supercars event entertainment line-up on Saturday 3 December, 2011.

The Top 10 artists will be chosen to progress through to the Final held during the annual Tamworth Country Music Festival in January 2012 where one winning performer and songwriter will be announced.

The Telstra Road to Discovery winning songwriter and performer will each receive a return trip to “global music city” Nashville as part of a 12-month tailored prize package which may also include a studio recording session, domestic and international gigs, co-writing appointments, digital marketing, video production and more.

See the official site for details.