Mardi Lumsden is a singer–songwriter from Brisbane, Australia.
Lumsden's alt-folk style is simple, truthful and tells stories. She likes telling stories using instruments like the melodica or banjo-mandolin that she has picked up on her travels.
Fresh from recording their long-awaited second EP with ARIA award winning producer Magoo at his Applewood studio, the Brisbane 5-piece are releasing a cassingle at the Brisbane Powerhouse on Sunday 25 April, 2010.
Yes, you read correctly … the single, Wherever you go, there you are, will only be released only on cassette, complete with an exclusive recording as the B-side.
So Mardi Lumsden & the Rising Seas are attempting to start a cassingle revival!
The EP, also called Wherever you go, there you are, will be launched at Queensland’s Old Museum concert hall on 29 May, 2010.
Soon after the group will launch the video for the song Pieces of the story, filmed by India-based cinematographer Mark Lapwood.
Lumsden’s debut EP Going is Finding (2007) received rave reviews with one critic describing it as ‘a cute little package of folk, acoustic and pop telling life stories through the eyes of a child... but with the mature, sorrowful voice of Mardi Lumsden’. (Rave Magazine).
Live Lumsden has been described as, "a sanguine and superb songbird" (lifemusicmedia.com 12 July 2009).
"Her voice has a delightful, whimsical lilt, as do her lyrics, which are about intimate, urbane experiences of late twenty-somethings. Her songs would complement, as a soundtrack, any Nick Earls or Rebecca Sparrow books (or cloud gazing from a hilltop picnic on a sunny Sunday afternoon)."
Lumsden was one of twenty songwriters chosen to participate in the 2008 Songs of Applewood retreat and recording project / documentary run by musician Tylea and renowned producers Magoo and Jeff Lovejoy.
The song she co-wrote with Cameron McKenzie (Let it Go) was listed by Rolling Stone Australia (December 2008) as a key track on the Songs of Applewood album.
In 2008 she performed in London and Dublin. Since then Lumsden has completed two Australian East Coast tours.
Mardi Lumsden and the Rising Seas have also performed as part of the illustrious Picasso Up Late series at Brisbane’s Gallery of Modern Art, the 2008 and 2009 Fete de la Musique in Brisbane, and the Brisbane Powerhouse.
In October 2008 the band teamed up with internationally acclaimed vocal ensemble The Australian Voices and the 2008 International Marimba Competition champion Paul Lin, in an intimate concert series that blurred the boundaries of popular, contemporary music.
The Rising Seas comprises Andrew Pennay on banjo, banjo-mandolin, piano, melodica, and backing vocals, David Callanan on lead and slide guitar, glockenspiel, and mandolin, Jane McEniery on double bass and bass, and Joachim Alfheim on drums.
A lover of live music, Lumsden is also a journalist, has written a university thesis on the workings of the music street press in Australia, taught gymnastics for 15 years, and currently presents a segment on local Brisbane music on ABC radio.
Lumsden co-owns indie record label Wallflower Records with Catriona MacIvor.
Links:
www.mardilumsden.com
www.myspace.com/mardilumsdenmusic
For more information:
email hello@mardilumsden.com
or phone +61 412 818 377
Instrumentation
Mardi Lumsden writes, sings and plays acoustic guitar and toy piano.
The Rising Seas include:
Andrew Pennay on banjo, banjo-mandolin, piano, melodica, and backing vocals.
David Callanan on lead and slide guitar, glockenspiel, and mandolin.
Jane McEniery on double bass and bass.
Joachim Alfheim on drums.
Discography
Going is Finding (EP) 2007
Songs of Applewood (compilation album, track 'Let it Go' by Cameron McKenzie and Mardi Lumsden) 2008
Wherever you go, there you are (cassingle) released 25 April 2010
Wherever you go, there you are (EP) released 29 May 2010
