Court Yard Hounds, Kate Miller-Heidke and The Verses announced to join Sarah McLachlan on “A Taste of Lilith”

Fans of female singer/songwriters will have all heard about Lilith Fair – Sarah McLachlan’s touring Music Festival in the USA. She’s bringing a “taste” of the event down to Australia in October! And she’s bringing some familiar faces along for the ride…. here’s the press release:

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Chugg Entertainment, in conjunction with Nettwerk Music Group, is thrilled to announce that after much media speculation, multi Grammy Award winning singer/songwriter and original founder of Lilith Fair, Sarah McLachlan, is confirmed to return to Australia in October with “A Taste of Lilith.”

After a 10 year break, Lilith Fair returned to the United States this year for 23 shows and featured a veritable who’s who of solo artists and female-led bands.  Joining Sarah for “A Taste of Lilith” in Australia are songbirds Court Yard Hounds (Martie Maguire and Emily Robison of Dixie Chicks) and Australia’s own Kate Miller-Heidke and The Verses.

Michael Chugg from Chugg Entertainment said “Bringing the Lilith tour to Australia has been an ambition of ours for years and we’re thrilled to be able to host “A Taste of Lilith” in October using the best, intimate venues we could book. Anyone who has ever seen the beautiful Sarah McLachlan or members of Dixie Chicks (now with us as Court Yard Hounds) perform in intimate, small rooms will know exactly how magical they are live – they’re just sensational!  I travelled to attend a Lilith show in Vancouver and can say that our own Kate Miller-Heidke was one of the stars of the show and I’m thrilled that we have her on the Taste of Lilith line up”.

In June, 2010, Grammy Award–winning singer and songwriter, Sarah McLachlan, released Laws of Illusion, her first studio album of new material in seven years, since the double–platinum Afterglow in 2003, and its twelve songs rank among the most compelling work ever created by this gifted artist.  In the years between these two releases, Sarah has married, separated, and is raising two young daughters. These crucial life experiences have enriched her artistry and infused her new songs with the full range and complexity of adult emotions. Sarah McLachlan has sold over 40 million records worldwide since her recording career began in 1988 with her debut album Touch and Chugg Entertainment are thrilled to have her bringing “A Taste of Lilith” to Australia.

Strictly speaking, it’s only a few feet from stage left or stage right to the centre spotlight, but it took Martie Maguire and Emily Robison a couple of decades to move those couple of yards with Court Yard Hounds.  As the mainstays of the Dixie Chicks since they formed the group in 1989, the sisters have been familiar faces to many millions of fans. Their debut, self titled, album was recently released in Australia to rave reviews and fans can expect to see this rootsy alter-ego to the Dixie Chicks take shape in their anticipated appearance in Australia.  Featuring Robison on lead vocals, there will be no shortage of spine-tingling bluegrass tones and harmonies, acoustic ballads, banjo good-times, and some gorgeous guitar-and-fiddle folk songs.

A brilliantly tangled mix of exuberance and invention, fearlessness and fun, Kate Miller-Heidke released her sophomore album Curiouser last year which peaked at No. 2 on the ARIA Album charts. With extensive airplay on radio, her national Curiouser album launch tour sold out Australia-wide and its second single, Caught in the Crowd, has recently been announced as the grand prize-winner of the prestigious 2009 International Songwriting Competition. Kate’s track was chosen as the unanimous winner from over 17,000 entries across the world by a panel of judges including Tom Waits, Robert Smith, Neil Finn, Ray Davies, Jerry Lee Lewis, Rob Thomas, Black Francis, Weird Al Yankovic and Loretta Lynn.

The Verses is a stunning collaboration between contemporary singer/songwriter duo and siblings Ella and Jesse Hooper, formerly of multi-platinum recording act, Killing Heidi. Together they have spent the past four years crafting the recently released Seasons album; a mature, adventurous and personal record of warm roots rock and alt-country balladry that is inspired by the music they grew up with.

“The 2010 Lilith Tour isn’t just a celebration of women in music, but a celebration of diverse female voices across all genres” says co-founder Terry McBride. “We have had many international artists perform on Lilith, including many Australian Artists. It’s now time to spread Lilith internationally starting with one of our favourite places in the world, Australia”

For each ticket sold, A Taste of Lilith will donate $1.00 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation.  Liz Heliotis, Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation CEO & Co-Founder, said  “In Australia, one woman in Australia dies every 10 hours from ovarian cancer; an intolerable statistic that can only be changed through supporting research towards the development of an early detection test. Tragically, over 50% of the population incorrectly think that a pap smear detects ovarian cancer.

The ultimate aim of the Foundation is to develop a test that is non-invasive and cost effective for the entire community, becoming a habitual part of every woman’s regular health check up regimes along with mammograms and pap smears.
 
The Foundation applauds Lilith Fair’s ongoing commitment to the community; our alignment with this festival will raise the profile to prosper funds into early detection, the future will not change without a breakthrough in research – awareness in isolation is not enough. What we can achieve collaboratively will make a significant impact on the future of global women’s health.”

Artist Fan Club Pre-Sales will open on Monday 30 August, 2010.  General public tickets to all shows (excluding Perth) go on sale at 9.00am on Thursday, 2 September, 2010.

There will be two tiers of ticket prices available for all shows.  The standard ticket price is $149.00 and there will be a Platinum Reserved Ticket Package available for $249.00 which will include Premium reserved seating, limited edition tour poster and a limited edition tote bag.

Don’t miss the rare chance to see four incredible female talents on the one intimate stage this October.

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Monday 4 October, 2010
Enmore Theatre, Sydney
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849

 Friday 8 October, 2010
* One Movement for Music, by Twilight, Perth
* Tickets on sale at 9.00am, Friday, 27 August, 2010 from
www.moshtix.com.au or 1300 GET TIX
 
Sunday 10 October, 2010
Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849

Tuesday, 12 October, 2010
Palais Theatre, Melbourne
Tickets available from www.ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100

Saturday 16 October, 2010
Convention Centre, Brisbane
Tickets available from www.ticketek.com.au or 132 849

http://www.chuggentertainment.com/
http://www.lilithfair.com/

Larry Heath

Founding Editor and Publisher of the AU review. Currently based in Toronto, Canada. You can follow him on Twitter @larry_heath or on Instagram @larryheath.