April 2008 - Australian Music

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The Reef Hotel Casino is bringing a little Vegas action to North Queensland! The Duelin Pianos forge an incomparable battle of music, using only their wit and consummate musical skill. You can be forgiven for thinking you’ve stepped inside a showroom in Vegas, the two pianists capture the excitement and thrill of the bright city’s lights while giving an intimate experience reminiscent of the good ole time jazz and blues bars found in New Orleans. An evening with the Duelin Pianos is like a trip down musical memory lane.

Dubbed as a two man, four handed piano thumping live act, the Duelin Pianos is a portrayal of some of the most impressive songs of our time brought to life through the piano. With a repertoire of more than 350 songs, some rehearsed and others played off the cuff, the journey encompasses all genres and eras. Not only that, but the battle is happy to bring in requests – an apt demonstration of the skill of the musicians at the forefront of the duel. These two men, dressed in swanky suits reserved for a Vegas showroom, swing like a well-oiled gate, and play songs as diverse as Sinatra and the Rat Pack to Prince, Moby, Ella Fitzgerald, Hank Williams and U2. No genre remains untouched.

Bucko and Hughie – the faces behind the duelin' are impressive musicians and have worked with some of the biggest names in the business. These relaxed fun-filled entertainers joust through music, playing your favourite 'sing a long' songs with style. With ample experience touring the country and playing to some of the harshest audiences and critics around the world, the battling duo has won acclaim for their extensive song choice and musical mastership. They literally do battle through musical – taking audiences on a journey through an eclectic range of songs as they belt them out using the ivories as their weapons of choice.

The duo toured as ‘Hughie and The Schwing Thing’ in the late 1990s, traversing the breadth of America and playing in some of New Orleans' more iconic venues. It was this experience, and the jamming sessions after with just two pianos as the instruments of choice, that inspired the two to launch Duelin Pianos. The theory was to have fun with music – and it is something they’ve managed to perfect! Both musicians have extensive histories and fame in their own right, but joining together as a duo gives them a chance to expand their musical horizons and experiences.
Bucko is a founding member of the Yee Haa Boys and was drummer for pub rock outfit The Radiators. During his time with the Radiators, the band achieved three platinum and two gold records. He’s also played on the same bill as the likes of Santana, Earth Wind and Fire, Smokey Robinson, George Thorogood and Foreigner to name a few. With the Yee Haa Boys, Bucko is regularly on tour and recently wrote two songs that charted in the Top 20 of the Australian Country Music charts.
Hughie is an accomplished songwriter with tracks appearing on the latest up and coming INXS album and co-compositions with the likes of Keith Urban, Bob Welch from Fleetwood Mac and The Angel’s Doc Neeson. He’s co-written with four Grammy award winning artists and has also recorded an album of his own material in Nashville which is due for release in May. Hughie lives part of his time in Nashville and consequently gets the chance to play with some of the best in the business. His album alone was recorded with the likes of Steve Bowman (Counting Crows), Bones Hillman (Midnight Oil), Eric Fritsch (Sheryl Crow’s band) and well reputed producer Mark Moffatt. In the past year he’s also written and produced the soundtrack for a BBC documentary. Not only did it air to great acclaim on the Discovery Channel, but was also voted Top Three in the BBC International Viewer’s Choice Awards.
Duelin’ Pianos is a musical excursion of hits on the piano reminiscent of and smoky jazz and blues bar. It is a Las Vegas experience in Far North Queensland performed by two of the country’s most premier musicians, recognised internationally as a stellar show.
Duelin Pianos perform at Vertigo Bar in The Reef Hotel Casino from 1-4 May at 9pm nightly.

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Posted By: MusicJourno - Category: Rock

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Hi-5 (one for the kiddies)

April 6th 2008 08:10

DON’T BE fooled, an experience with Hi-5 is not all for the little ones - it is something for the entire family.
Gone are the days where children’s entertainment had to be like the proverbial of pulling teeth for the parents, thanks to an enigmatic cast and intelligent songs, Hi-5 have managed to transition kids’ entertainment over into the contemporary adult spectrum.
One of the five presenters beloved by children around the globe, Nathan Foley isn’t surprised by the influx of teenagers and adults he sees at shows.
“I have always called this show, not just a kids’ show, but a family show,” he enthuses.
“It is something for everybody, even the grandparents can come along and enjoy – it is like a mini rock concert really – so the kids can get down in the little mini ‘mosh’ pit and have fun down the front as well.”
He is right when he says Hi-5 has lifted and set the benchmark for children’s entertainment.
The result is an interactive program that appeals to a cross section and utilises Top 40 style music but with viable lyrical content applicable to children.
“It has got to always change, you’ve got to move with the times or you will be left behind,” Nathan says of the constant evolving cycle of songs and dance routines the Hi-5 team embrace.
“I think the must is just more acceptable, we’ve got a huge teenage following as well who love the show.
“The thing with Hi-5 is it is such a broad show for everybody – even older people I have met have loved the show, and they don’t have children or grandchildren of their own.
“They’ve watched it because it is clean, it is fun.”
And it certainly must be fun because Nathan himself has been part of Hi-5 for a decade.
The 28-year-old, who has been performing since he was young, initially went to an audition for the show without a great deal of knowledge of kids’ entertainment.
It was an eye-opening experience for him, and one he wouldn’t swap for the world.
“This is my 10th year, so it is my life,” he says.
“It is what I have done for most of my life in the entertainment industry.
“The guess the main thing, I can look back when I get older and I won’t be doing this anymore and I can go, I was a role model and I actually helped raise children from around the world – influence them in some way and be positive in their life.
“I have been a big brother to them for the last 10 years and that is a really important role, not many people in this country can actually say that.”
Likewise, he acknowledges he has learned things along the way, namely from the kids he meets through Hi-5.
And one of the most important things in his opinion is never to underestimate kids – and to not pigeonhole them as just being children either.
Nathan says with the amount of outward influences, such as the internet, kids know so much nowadays and children’s entertainment has had to mould to those changes.
“I never underestimate kids,” he says.
“Getting in there has been amazing, it is really fun to work with children, they are so smart.
“If they don’t like what you are doing on stage, they will tell you – but luckily, we don’t get that a lot.
“They are very honest and I think that is a hard audience, but it is very challenging as well.
“I think a lot of entertainers and a lot of people in the country go ‘oh, you are working with children’s entertainment, it must be easy, half an hour a day’.
“It is actually not, a lot of work goes into working and performing for them.”
In fact, it is a phenomenal amount of work on the behalf of the five presenters in Hi-5 that goes in every day to make sure each and every show is a hit.
Nathan admits about 14-15 hours a day, six-days-a-week is dedicated to rehearsal – and that’s not counting the days on the live circuit when the group is on tour.
“Live days are absolutely full on,” he raves enthusiastically.
“It is like you are doing two aerobic classes a day and being able to sing as well.
“With performing, it is long hours, a lot of work goes into it and a lot of respect goes into it as well.”
Hi-5 itself is a highly interactive show – it is all about audience participation – getting kids and even the adults involved in the excitement.
One of the queries he gets constantly is how, when kids grow up, they too can have an entertainment career like him - and in this circumstance his advice is pretty clear.
“First and foremost if you wanted to be a performer or entertainer, do not think of fame first,” he says seriously.
“A lot of kids out there and teenagers who want to get into the arts go, I can’t wait to be famous.
“That is not the right way to look at it - it is not the right attitude.
“You have got to go into it and say I love what I do, I am in this job because I want to sing, I want to dance, I want to act, I want to do it because of that - and everything will follow.
“Anyone can be famous for even the worse things in this world, but if you love what you do, that’s the main thing to aspire to.
“If you don’t love what you do and you just want to be famous, there is no point doing it at all.”
And it is immediately evident that Nathan thoroughly loves his life.
Performing for Hi-5 isn’t so much a job for him as a lifestyle and he says he could never compare the memories he takes away from each show to anything else he could ever have done.
Hi-5 are touring nationally and bringing their ‘Party Street’ tour to regional areas for a series of select dates during the April school holidays.