Nik Hamby

My latest release, "The Greater Prize - An Australian Olympic Story", came out on 19 June.  It's up on Spotify and all the usual platforms.   I've already played it live a few times.  Twice at Banshee's this month - at the Open Mic on the eve of it's release and then again on 22 June, when I stepped up to fill a spot after another artist was unable to perform.  I got the last slot and played 13 songs to an appreciative audience.  Made some new friends.  Great night! Mudgeeraba Show goers also heard the new song and some other favourites, cos I played a short session there over the weekend.  Have a listen to "The Greater Prize ..."  

I started the month with an Open Mic performance at Banshee's - and did another one around the 15th.  It was fun playing with Logan, the local drummer.  I'm sure there'll be other collaborations. After a three-year break, I re-enrolled in the online "I Heart Songwriting Club" and I’ve already written a few songs.   My previous enrolment yielded so many songs and I'm looking forward to crafting more this time around.   I've released two songs already this year and am preparing to release a third in June.  It's about Peter Norman, so fits well with the upcoming Olympics.  I'll post a link when it's up and running.  Hah!

Lots of good stuff happening behind the scenes.  Banshees hosted two Music Industry Development sessions, facilitated by our local Council in conjunction with QMusic.  I was on night-shift for both of those but Rebecca went along in March and again in April.  She enjoyed all the presentations, took notes to share with me - and chatted to a few local artists.  (I've since joined QMusic, though was already on their mailing list as I attended one of their songwriting events last year). Quite a lot went on in April!  We both went to the APRA/AMCOS "Made by Music" event, held at The Triffid on a Saturday morning (with beautiful brunch catering).  I've been to a few of these but it was a first for Rebecca.  There was some excellent info presented, so we had lots to talk about afterwards - and some things to follow up on.   Our local library put on a Rhyme, Rhythm and Reason session, "a celebration of spoken word, songwriting and lyricism".  The night was MCed by @

February was busy!  "Money Talks" released on the 4th -  though had already played on 4ZZZ as a pre-release in late January.   "How Much You Mean to Me" (a 2021 release) was again included on Valentines playlists.  That song has been included on more playlists than any other of my others. It's also had the most exposure world-wide, particularly through the USA.  I entered two songs into the 2023 Needle in the Hay vinyl competition.  It was hard to choose but I went with "Breathe, Miss Sunshine" (which was a Top 30 finalist in the 2020 Australian Songwriting Competition) and one that I play regularly.   "You Draw Blood" was my other entry.  It's a very recent release, which I've performed regularly in open mics around Brisbane.  Every performance has created strong positive reactions from all sorts of crowds - and it's been getting some airplay, too.   Let's see what happens!

I released "The Sun Sets" on 31 December and then "You Draw Blood" on January 21. "The Sun Sets" has been played on 5 Triple Z in South Australia and both songs have been receiving airplay on Brisbane's 4ZZZ. A great start to the New Year!  "You Draw Blood" has been performed regularly in open mics around Brisbane, since about June. I also played it my Live and Local spot at Banshees in October. Every performance has created strong positive reactions from all sorts of crowds, so I decided to enter the song into the ASA Songwriting Contest 2023 (along with "She Calls Me Back - The Mountain" and "No Place to Go").  Let's see what happens. Stevie T from Radio Logan played "Burn" the other Monday night.  The man has good taste - that song was a finalist in the 2020 ASA Contest!   

So much happened this year, it's hard to keep track of everything.  The last couple of months blurred together a bit, so you might have noticed there was no monthly update since October.   There were a couple of open mics at new-to-me venues in November.  Brewski in Brisane and a cafe in Tin Can Bay.  In total, I performed at 42 open mic events through the year. That tally included several visits to The Triffid (owned by former Powderfinger bassist, John Collins), the Tin Can Bay café and a morning busking stint at Byron Bay.  “My main motivation for attending open mic events is to get reactions to how I’m performing - as well as responses to the songs themselves”.  Although this year’s focus was on performing, another two songs were released. “Christmas Morning” came out in late November and “The Sun Sets” in late December. "Christmas Morning" received airplay in Shepparton, soon after release! Stevie T from Radio Logan played other tracks a few times during his Songwrit