The Tasmanian Songbook: Volume IV

Scott Targett is a multi-instrumentalist, producer and musical director living in Hobart, Tasmania. Scott has been professionally playing music most of his life. In 2007, his Melbourne-band, Dukes of Windsor, signed with Island/Universal records and made their way to the top of the Australian charts while also undertaking extensive tours of Australia and Europe, sharing stages with The Presets, Pnau, Sneaky Soundsystem, The Music, The Vines and scoring an ARIA nomination along the way.

As a musical director, Scott has curated shows for Festivals and worked alongside iconic Australian artists such as Shane Howard (Goanna), Mike Noga (The Drones), The Wolfe Brothers and Glenn Richards (Augie March). Scott’s work as a recording session musician has seen him work on a variety of records ranging in style from Afro-beat, Lo-fi-Instrumental, Electronic, Folk, Country and Soul.

Scott is also the driving force behind synth-pop act Robotikus, a member of Tasmanian indie-rock band Lennon Wells and a touring member of multiple Golden Guitar winning band the Wolfe Brothers.

It has been an amazing 12 year ride for The Wolfe Brothers. They first found fame on Australia’s Got Talent, and after placing second they were signed to a management company, followed by a recording contract and then were hired by Lee Kernaghan to open all of his shows and also to play in his band, a working relationship that lasted 10 years. After what the brothers describe as the best possible apprenticeship any band could have and learning so much from Lee The Wolfe Brothers have achieved over their career four #1 and two #2 ARIA Country Albums that have delivered 19 #1 singles on the National Country Music Chart. With nine Golden Guitars under their belt and 4 ARIA nominations they are now Australia’s most awarded country rock duo in history. After being nominated for 6 Golden Guitars at the 2024 Country Music Awards the duo took home 3 of the coveted Golden statues. The brothers from Tasmania have travelled countless road miles in Australia, USA and Canada. 2023 saw The Wolfe Brothers take their Livin’ The Dream Tour all around Australia igniting audiences with their high energy live show that never fails to impress. 2024 will see new music and plenty of what they love doing the most - playing live all around Australia.

Helen makes the kind of radio that feels like a great dinner party — the music's on, the guests are interesting, the conversation flows and no topic is off limits!

Starting out as an actor and MC, she found her way to the wireless in 2003, first in community broadcasting then graduating from the Australian Film Television and Radio School and joining the ABC. Helen hosts the evening show at ABC Hobart, and has been MCing The Tasmanian Songbook since 2022.

Making waves across Tasmania, Grace Chia is a multidisciplinary artist with a force to be reckoned with. Grace uses her roots in spoken word poetry to influence her hard hitting bars with a twist of soulful RnB melodies backed with old school boom-bap beats. She uses the stage as a platform to speak on political and social issues not normally discussed in mainstream hip-hop and media. Driven with her passion to inspire change Grace empowers those who feel alone and voiceless. You can expect deep-thought lyricism, soulful melodies and raw performances with her heart worn proudly on her sleeve.

Grace performs regularly at local hip-hop, queer allied and female-led gigs around Hobart's live music venues including The Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) and is a headline artist for this year’s MONA FOMA. Grace has supported a range of national and international hip-hop and electronic music acts including Drapht, Allday, Manaz Ill, Jaycee, K+Lab and Grouch in Dub and poets Alok Vaid-Menon (US), Luka Lesson and Harry Baker (UK). She has recently been working with the all female and non-binary band FFLORA in a collaboration that has recomposed her songs to be performed live with the band. As well as performing, Grace organises and promotes local hip-hop gigs, open mic nights and works with interstate artists to facilitate the Tassie legs of their tours. Last year Grace was awarded the Young Achiever’s People’s Choice Award, was nominated for Best Live Act for the National Live Music Awards 2023 and was named in The Push’s 25 under 25 ‘Best Emerging Artists’. She has recently been selected to be this year’s “Nick Balcombe ‘Live Your Dream’ Grant” recipient.

Storyteller and multi-instrumentalist Christopher Coleman spins epic tales about the intricacies and intimacies of Australian life. The songwriting journeyman’s enthralling poetics of suburban discomfort, self-deprecating Aussie larrikinism, and deeply personal accounts of living with bipolar disorder have been praised by the likes of Rolling Stone, triple j and The Age.

Coleman’s debut studio album Christopher Coleman Collective was released in 2014 via his own label Oscar Treehouse Records after winning the triple j unearthed competition, and the Telstra Road To Discovery.

Coleman toured the record extensively throughout the US, UK, New Zealand and Australia and two years later, dropped his well received follow up Ah, Winter but due to ongoing health complexities, he was unable to continue touring. Coleman released his notably heavier four-track EP Weak Month at Dark Mofo 2018.

That same winter Christopher Coleman formed his outfit The Great Escape with members of Augie March, The Drones, EWAH and The Stitch, and shared their debut single ‘Jesse’ in May 2019. The single introduced the central character of The Great Escape’s upcoming album, The Great Tasmanian Escape.

The album was tracked at Sing Sing Studios Melbourne in 2018 with Glenn Richards, the late and much lamented Mike Noga, along with Stu Hollingsworth and Kelly Ottaway. Coleman then expanded the lineup to which he says “grew into a Springsteen-esque Australiana rock thing nodding at The Go-Betweens, Midnight Oil and Paul Kelly”. Made possible through the patronage of Kirsha Kaechele (MONA), the record was released in 2022.

Coleman released Soft Knee Recordings, his first self produced effort on 3 February 2024. He declares “it is born from the freedom and naivety that comes from making something you don’t intend to share. It is both careless and considered; these are some kind of my subconscious mantras”.

Image credit: Jacob Collings

EWAH brings universality to the personal, traversing ethereal to visceral with guitar and voice as her mainstay instruments.

EWAH is the moniker for Emma Waters, and is possibly best known as frontperson in EWAH & The Vision of Paradise. She is an award-winning musician and filmmaker and has completed two esteemed residencies in lutruwita/Tasmania with The Unconformity (2022) and Assembly 197 (2023).

Her practice crosses discipline from acting and writing to filmmaking and she is now moving into scoring for screen. In 2023, she was the recipient of the APRA Screenworks Screen Composer Mentorship.

EWAH has played at many festivals including A Festival Called Panama, Festival of Voices, Mona Foma, Dark Mofo, BIGSOUND, Party in the Paddock, Lightwave and Melbourne Fringe Festival.

More music releases are in the works.