Jodi Murtha

As a young aspiring songwriter and musician growing up in Mackay, I always dreamt of being a professional performer one day despite being extremely shy. Gazing from my bedroom window and playing guitar (quite badly then!), I thought a town as small as Mackay would never offer any exciting musical opportunities and I couldn't wait to escape to the "big city" down south. 

Yet only a few years after I left home, an amazing music festival formed just down the road from where I'd lived and attended school. Sadly I didn't discover this until many songs later, but after twenty years Wintermoon Festival is still going strong and I'm completely hooked now. I wish I hadn't stayed away for so long. The beautiful people, the incredible music, the stunning location ... so much to love. These days I can't wait to escape FROM the city!

This year will be my third time at Wintermoon, second time as a booked performer, and first time performing solo.

But every time it feels like coming home.

Wintermoon Festival |  4 - 7 May 2018 | Brodies Rd, Mount Charlton QLD 4741

Happy new year everyone!

I hope 2018 has started on a positive note for you all. December certainly wrapped up a good year for me. It was a busy month, firstly performing at a lovely beach wedding in New Zealand with Rangitoto Island in the background, followed by a few weeks of exploring the stunning countryside across the North and South Islands. It was a few glorious weeks of hiking, nature photography, cruising, forests, bubbling mud, hobbit homes, waterfalls, fur seals and even a couple of rare penguins. 

Back home again and I celebrated a good friend and fellow musician's 50th birthday with a fabulous concert at the Retro Bar, shared the stage with Sue Wighton and friends at the BUg and serenaded the friendly diners each week at Trattoria Italiana.  

Loads to look forward to this year ... most exciting so far is getting a solo spot at this year's Wintermoon Festival in Mackay. Can't wait to make the trip north to the tropics again in May to be a part of such an incredible festival and connect with more amazing people. Until then, I've got a few local gigs coming up including more collaborations with some of my favourite musicians. More details coming soon ... so keep an eye on my gig guide and come and say hello sometime! 

Spring music festivals are now over for another year and this season was spectacular with four festivals across three weekends. Probably the highlight for me was performing solo for the first time at Neurum Creek Music Festival. I've been performing at Neurum Creek as a bassist for the past five years with a different group each year, so it was wonderful to share some of my songs for the first time. A few "retro classics" (my specialty) were added to the mix too ... because a bit of spontaneous dancing and an eighties singalong is always good fun. I also shared the stage with some fantastic musicians at three other festivals - Maleny Music Festival, RedFest and Coast Acoustics - performing with Lovely Bones featuring Canadian singer/songwriter Carolyna Lovely, Angela Toohey Trio and a new collaboration of talented musicians/sound engineers called "We Suffer for Our Art" featuring Mark Smith, Rob Stewart and Dave Parnell. Hopefully you will see more of this collaboration in the future, it was a blast working with them!

Up next is another bass gig, performing with David Truong and Ambition Road at Undercover Artist Festival. Presented by Access Arts, it's a multi-arts festival showcasing the talents of performing artists with a disability. I'm honoured to be supporting my friend and blind keyboard player and songwriter David Truong and a festival that believes the arts is for everyone. I agree completely. Check out David's story in a recent ABC interview here: Ambition Road: After a life of sport, blind singer-songwriter David Truong returns to music.

Then I'm off to New Zealand in November to sing at a wedding ... followed by a few weeks of road tripping around the North and Sound Island to soak up the beautiful scenery, hike around mountains and take thousands of wildlife photos. Hopefully there will be some new songs and videos created along the way. Travel is always inspiring. 

Hope to see you at a gig sometime. 

Jodi.

And so 2017 begins ...  with a road trip south, a house concert and folk festival .... and that was just January! 

What better way to start a new year than load up the guitars and camping gear and head to the Illawarra Folk Festival in lovely Bulli NSW. On the way I visited my mate Scott Thomson and his wife Jenny (from The Thomsons) who hosted a beautiful concert at their lakeside property in Morisset. 

I've done a few of these before, but always with bands playing other musicians' songs. So this was a first time as a soloist performing my own material and a couple of my favourite covers. I was a little nervous at first, but it was soon easy to relax and connect with such a friendly audience and Scott kindly backed me on bass. It was a real treat performing to a room full of people sitting quietly and listening to the music, a very uplifting experience. Must do more house concerts this year!

Next stop was Illawarra Folk Festival, again a first time experience. It was a fantastic festival and I'm sure I lost a few kilos running from stage to stage each day with a serious case of FOMB (fear of missing bands). It was a fun few days, catching up with all the Brisbane musicians there and discovering new favourites. My campsite even survived occasional cyclonic winds - BONUS. 

Back home in Brisbane now and my gig guide is slowly filling up. Lots of spots at my regular venues, and a few exciting shows coming up at the funky Retro Bar in Kenmore and some other nice surprises in the works too. Once again I've made a promise to myself to focus more energy on my own songwriting and other creative pursuits this year, although I'll still be playing my bass for various bands from time to time. I'm easily distracted.

Hope to see you at a gig sometime soon.
x Jodi

A few years ago I set myself a goal to record my first CD. Despite many years of performing and recording for other musicians and producing a couple of singles, I'd never actually produced an entire collection of my own work ... until now!

In July last year, I started recording with Michael Whiticker at the Sound Space. The end result is a diverse collection of some of my favourite songs.  It really has been an amazing process creating something I can be proud of and share with the beautiful people who support what I do. 

These boxes of shiny new CDs arrived today. I'd almost forgotten they were coming and wondered who the delivery van outside was for. I think these photos capture my initial reaction of immense joy perfectly. I'm not sure why I shoved my head in the box but it seemed strangely appropriate at the time.

The online shop via the MUSIC/STORE tab is now OPEN or come and grab a copy at one of my live performances.