Brothers Angels and Demons

Today I am inspired by a gig I attended on Saturday night: Brothers Angels and Demons.

It’s probably best I give you a little bit of background. I am a huge fan of the rock band The Angels. The first of their concerts I attended was in February 1981, the last time I saw them was in 2010.

Their lead singer was Doc Neeson. A charasmatic, mad Irishman who was the best front man ever (IMHO)! He left The Angels in 2010 to be replaced by singer Dave Gleeson, a singer I have never been a big fan of, hence why I haven’t seen the band in recent times. Sadly in 2014 Doc passed away after fighting brain cancer for 17 months.

The Angels were formed by Doc and the Brewster brothers, John and Rick. They had great chemistry on stage and wrote brilliant songs including this one.

 

John and Rick are the third generation of professional musicians in the Brewster family, however the first to play rock music! John’s son Sam is now a member of The Angels. So basically there are four generations of the family celebrating and enjoying music in the professional arena.

Because this band have always  inpsired me and given me much music pleasure I wanted to see this show. It has toured in Adelaide (their home town) and Sydney several times but only one other time to Melbourne. On that occassion I couldn’t attend. This time around I was determined not to miss the show.

Brothers Angels and Demons is the story of the Brewster family’s musical journey. With an MC to ask questions and prompt story telling, John and Rick share stories about their grandfather and father, about learning classical music and discovering Bob Dylan. Stories about writing songs with Doc, about nearly giving up on a music career and the highs of success. All of it very inspiring. They also share music.  The music includes a classical piece written by their grandfather, improvised music from their first professional band The Moonshine Jug and String Band, songs they co-wrote for The Angels and for their Brewster Brothers CD and songs that have inspired them.

Performing in this brilliant show with John and Rick are John’s three sons Sam, Tom and Harry. An inspirational show of a talented family who clearly not only enjoy music but appreciate what a great opportunity it has given them. If you are a fan of The Angels or simply Australian rock music, then see this show. It will inform. It will inspire. You will enjoy.

 

Autism and Music

Today I am inspired by a podcast I listened to yesterday. The podcast was from the Only Human series. It was the topic and those involved in the research that was inspiring.

A doctor in America had an idea that the methods used by Opera singers to control their voice could help Autistic people who stutter. Luckily she has a friend who is an opera singer and was prepared to assist with the research.

The results were amazing. A young man who had struggled throughout life to make friends, to be confident and to find a job, had his life changed due to this research. The opera singer spent months with this young man teaching him how to control his voice and breathing using the same methods opera singers use. It did not involve singing, simply the breathing method.

On this particular podcast you can hear this young man struggle with his stutter before he started this project and then hear him speak  6 months and then 18 months later. It was inspirational. The young man’s self esteem has escalated, simply because he can now speak normally.

I found his determination and motivation inspirational. I found the doctor inspirational. She had an idea, a vision and turned that into something very positive and life changing. Due to this research there are now other autistic people benefitting from this project.

 

Vale David Bowie

Like many music fans across the world today I am in shock by the death of the inspirational musician David Bowie.

His music, his movies, his art, his filmclips and his fashion have all inspired people for decades.

I don’t have a large collection of Bowie music on my ipod. I am very familiar with his hits. I enjoy singing along to the tunes. When I was a teenager I had the Space Oddity LP on vinyl. These days I have his greatest hits on my ipod.

Yet he is one of those musicians that inspires me. He was a genius. He was talented. He was incrediable. He is someone you could not ignore.

Last year I had the privilege of visiting the David Bowie exhibition in Melbourne (Australia). An exhibit of his costumes, music, clips and movies. An exhibit that was inspirational.

I read the following social media post yesterday  “There will never be another David Bowie. There will be another Justin Beiber.”

So true. Today’s musicians may have been inspired by the greats such as Bowie, Lennon, Elvis and Jagger but will any of them ever make it to the greatness of these inspirational geniuses.

Today music fans mourn the passing of another inspirational musician. R.I.P. David Bowie 1947-2016

ONCE

What inspires me today is the musical ONCE.

The story and the music are inspirational. I left the theater with a warm feeling in my heart.

A young Irishman who writes beautiful songs is on the brink of giving the music away when he meets a beautiful Czech girl who inspires him to not only finish his songs but record them.

This is not an ordinary musical. The cast do not  break into a song for the sake of a song. The songs are not corny and cheesy. The songs are a character in the story. The songs are just as important as the characters and plot. The songs are beautiful. The songs are inspiring.