Country songstress Beccy Cole has delighted Australian listeners and concertgoers for more than 20 years.

The Adelaide-born star’s glowing warmth, honeyed voice, bawdy sense of humour and perpetual smile have helped make Beccy one of the nation’s best-loved and most celebrated artists.

With nine Golden Guitars to her name (including four for Female Vocalist of the Year), as well as multiple ARIA Top 10 Country and Top 40 Mainstream albums, a Top 10 DVD ,three gold-certified releases, and more than a dozen No. 1 Australian country singles, Beccy Cole is one of Australia’s most successful singer-songwriters.

Since 1997,Beccy has piloted a succession of stellar releases, including most recent ARIA-nominated studio effort Songs & Pictures (2011), featuring the Golden Guitar-winning hits Waitress and Millionaires (with Kasey Chambers).Sweet Rebecca follows hot on the heels of Beccy’s phenomenal collaboration with Melinda Schneider, Great Women of Country (2014).

Among the most important experiences of Beccy’s career, though, was her watershed tour of military bases in Iraq and the Middle East in December 2005, where Beccy performed for Australian service personnel as part of the Tour de Force program. In early 2006, in response to a letter penned by an erstwhile fan critical of what he perceived as Beccy’s tacit support for the war in Iraq, Beccy penned one of her best-loved tunes, the triple Golden Guitar-winning Poster Girl. The song earned Beccy admiration across the globe.

Twilight by the Lagoon with Beccy Cole and the Australian Army Band Kapooka will be on Friday, March 3.  You can bring a picnic, or purchase something delicious from the food vendors on the night.

This is a free community event and the performance will kick off at 7pm.

I RETURNED to work from holidays this week.  While I was on leave I did some camping, ate some great food, did a bit more hiking than my fitness level enjoyed and read a lot of books; but always in the back of mind was a gentle hum of “I wonder how the subscription season is selling”.

Well the short answer is: Season//17 is selling better than I had hoped for and if you don’t act quickly there is a very real possibility you might miss out on a couple of the shows. The Song Company will perform at the Wagga Wagga Art Gallery on Friday, February 10 and there are less than 20 tickets remaining. 

Their show The Arrow of Song will capture the fascinating history of unaccompanied vocal music in a unique and entertaining way. You’ll enjoy a concert that covers early chant to contemporary a cappella.

Vocalisation is all about the sound and the story. The Song Company is Australia’s leading vocal ensemble, singing music of all times and places.  Since the beginning of history, the human voice and the act of singing have been intrinsically linked with storytelling and the acquisition of culture. The Song Company’s repertoire covers vocal music from the 10th century to contemporary works, and is unique in its stylistic diversity.

The James Morrison Academy Jazz Orchestra performance in September is also filling fast, as well as the performance of Hello, Goodbye & Happy Birthday which will take place at The Riverina Playhouse.

To become a subscriber you need to select four of the 12 shows on offer.  All the information is on the theatre’s website www.civictheatre.com.au, drop into the Civic Theatre to collect a booklet or phone 6926 9688 to have the information mailed to you.