Bertie Blackman: The New Festival Queen

If there's a festival on over the next few months that Bertie Blackman isn't performing at, it's probably not worth going to.

This girl is turning into our very own festival princess, playing everything from Parklife, where we interrupted her, to the One Movement Festival in Perth, The Valley Fiesta in Brisbane, Play Festival in Wollongong, Caloundra Festival, A Day In The Park in Sydney, the Queenscliff Music Festival and has recently been announced as being on the bill for The Falls Festival in Lorne. There may even be one or two more in the wind as well, but nothing she can tell us about just yet. "But I'm definately not playing Homebake" she declared.

Born Beatrice Blackman in 1984, she earned the nickname Bertie when she was just a little street rat roaming the streets of Paddington and Darlinghurst hiding in trees throwing rocks at the passers by. "My godmother just refused to call me Beatrice, and started calling me Bertie and it sort of stuck" Bertie shared.

Being the daughter of artist Charles Blackman, and growing up around Paddington, Darlinghurst and Bondi before they were trendy, in fact, when they did it bordered more on the seedy side. "We got robbed quite a few times" Bertie confided. "It definitely wasn't a sheltered upbringing."

This girl just never seems to stop. After her last national tour, which went phenomenally well, she's been busy doing PR, a lot of drawing and T-shirt design, working on her next musical creation and signing up for every festival worth going to in the next few months."Plus" she adds, "I moved down to Melbourne about five months ago, and since then it's just been work, work, work."

Bertie was also the guest of honour at the MAC Cosmetics launch of their new collection- Style Black- in September in Sydney. "I don't normally do corporate stuff," Bertie said, but she made an exception for these guys. Who could say no to a nice little goodie bag full of their wonderful creations?

At the end of October there's a small break in her festival schedule that takes in a few weeks. But, Bertie won't be hanging around, putting her feet up and relaxing on her down time. She's off to the UK; "I'll be doing some start up press," Bertie revealed. "We're looking at releasing the album over there early next year." There's also rumours of a secret show upon her return, so keep your eyes and ears open.

And in between it all, she's managed to shoot a video for Birds Of Prey which you can find up on her MySpace page and on her website.

Bertie's album Secrets and Lies came out in May ,and has had a very positive reception. Not only has it received great national airplay on both major and regional stations, and not just good old faithful Triple J, it seems the country just can't get enough of Miss Blackman's tunes. She recently also got an ARIA nomination for the album in the Best Independant Release category.

Bertie's style is ever evolving, changing with each album. Her earlier music was more rock based whereas Secrets and Lies has a more electronic feel to it. "I can't repeat something, it wouldn't be natural." Bertie confides. "Each album is a project in itself, an exploration of that time and place I'm in when it's created."

Triple J also asked Bertie to perform on their Like A Version, where she did an amazing rendition of Phil Collins In The Air Tonight.

Peforming is yet another avenue for her artistic expression. She loves playing live and interacting with the audience. "I just love it, it's exciting. I love when the audience is excited." Bertie shared. And she's always working on her show, restructuring it and changing bits and pieces so it's always new and different, and evolving with her.

But don't expect another solo tour too soon after the end of festival season. There may be a few special things, a few special gigs and surprises but not another full blown tour for a while. She doesn't want us getting tired of seeing and hearing her. "I don't want to exhaust the audience." Bertie stated.

With her current standing as darling of the Indie scene, Bertie Blackman entrances us with a unique look and chameleon like style that ebbs and flows with her creative energy. Her music is amazing. Her talent seems endless. Seriously Bertie, I don't think you really have anything to worry about. I can't see anyone getting exhausted by the mesmerising Miss Bertie Blackman in a hurry.

BERTIE BLACKMAN PLAYS:

17 Oct- One Movement Festival - Swan River Stage - Perth
24 Oct- Caloundra Festival - Queensland
24 Oct- The Valley Fiesta - Brisbane
14 Nov- A Day In The Park- Cronulla
20 Nov- The Prince Of Wales Hotel- Melbourne
22 Nov- Forum- Melbourne
28 Nov- Coffs Harbour Showgrounds - Coffs Harbour
29 Nov - Queenscliff Music Festival- Queenscliff
29 Dec - Peats Ridge Festival - Peats Ridge
6 Jan - Sunset Sounds Festival - Brisbane Botanic Gardens
9 Jan - Southbound Festival - Bussleton

Secrets and Lies is out now on Forum5/MGM.

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