We explore the city of Adelaide with songs... the good the bad and the ugly.. the State Bank Collapse, Hindley Street in all its glory, our unique festival season health epidemic… The Adelaide stobie poles... identities such as, George Duncan, Tim-Marcus Clark, Colonel William Light… Adelaide Songs is about them, you and us.
Adelaide Songs is a unique songwriting project ensuring one the world’s great cities is appropriately immortalised in song.
Starting as a small project of Hats Inc – a multi-award winning arts organisation Adelaide Songs has grown into regular appearances at festivals including the Adelaide Fringe, History Festival, Umbrella and more.
The team also produced a second project in 2019 – Songs of the Mid North, which was performed at regional venues during the History Festival in May 2019. Following a fourth successful Adelaide Fringe season, the Adelaide Songs team entered the studios at Wizard Tone to make their first CD and in 2021 celebrated with a packed Adelaide Town Hall concert for the Adelaide Fringe.
It’s our story
Presented in a variety of musical genres, the Adelaide songs team celebrates Celebrating our story – the people, places, identity and history of Adelaide, the Mid North and South Australia – in new, original song.
It’s our successes and follies and the famous people, places and events that form our story.
“We cover it all our not-so-romantic Pandas, the State Bank Collapse, Hindley Street in all its glory, our unique culturally-linked annual health epidemic… and more,” said Project Director, Keith Preston. “Stormy Summers, Tim-Marcus Clark, The Christmas Pageant, Dr George Duncan, Colonel William Light… Adelaide Songs is about them, you and us.”
With rave reviews from previous concerts the Adelaide Songs team invites you to immerse yourself in what it is to be a citizen of Adelaide and South Australia. Who are we, what is our story?
Alan Hartley
Alan Hartley has performed solo and as part of some 15 different musical groups over more than 60 years, including working with acclaimed children’s artist Peter Combe and groups such as Ferdan and Twa Corbies and a Lark. In latter years, Alan has become a prolific songwriter.
Keith Preston
Keith Preston has a long history in the arts and music, pioneering in the 1980s iconic theatre/music groups Bash Street Kids and Basement Theatre Band. He’s toured overseas with the Dya Singh group; directed various festivals and arts projects and jointly established Ruby Award-winning HATs Inc. He recently produced a new comic music cabaret ‘Saltbush Downs’.
Alan Hartley
Alan Hartley has performed solo and as part of some 15 different musical groups over more than 60 years, including working with acclaimed children’s artist Peter Combe and groups such as Ferdan and Twa Corbies and a Lark. In latter years, Alan has become a prolific songwriter.
Keith Preston
Keith Preston has a long history in the arts and music, pioneering in the 1980s iconic theatre/music groups Bash Street Kids and Basement Theatre Band. He’s toured overseas with the Dya Singh group; directed various festivals and arts projects and jointly established Ruby Award-winning HATs Inc. He recently produced a new comic music cabaret ‘Saltbush Downs’.
Paul Roberts
Paul Roberts started performing in the 1980s with Bash Street Kids and Basement Theatre Bands. He has appeared at national, state and regional music festivals performing his own original and award-winning material and hosts a monthly songwriters’ group that’s been meeting for more than ten years.
Jamie Lynn Webster
Jamie Lynn Webster, vocals/harp, is a fifth generation musical professional fusing classical training and her own American folk roots alongside world vocal traditions. Her multi-degreed background in music performance, education, music and folklore (MA 2003), musicology, and ethnomusicology (PhD 2009) has led her to performing, directing, conducting, and teaching experiences in California, Chicago Illinois, Wisconsin, Oregon, and now South Australia. She continues to lead ensembles internationally, and as an academic, is best known for her writings on staged musical folklore and the film music of Harry Potter.
Satomi Ohnishi
Satomi Ohnishi studied percussion in Japan, winning the Best player and Grand Prix awards at Asakusa Jazz contest (Tokyo). She has performed with many groups including touring Australia with “Take Five – the Dave Brubeck story” and “Swing – the beat that shook the world”.
Ashley Turner
Ashley Turner is a musicologist who has taught instrumental studies at CASAM Centre of Aboriginal Studies in Music and at the Elder Conservatorium. He has performed and recorded with orchestras, chamber groups, bands and as a soloist across classical, jazz, folk, country and improvisational styles.
Satomi Ohnishi
Satomi Ohnishi studied percussion in Japan, winning the Best player and Grand Prix awards at Asakusa Jazz contest (Tokyo). She has performed with many groups including touring Australia with “Take Five – the Dave Brubeck story” and “Swing – the beat that shook the world”.
Ashley Turner
Ashley Turner is a musicologist who has taught instrumental studies at CASAM Centre of Aboriginal Studies in Music and at the Elder Conservatorium. He has performed and recorded with orchestras, chamber groups, bands and as a soloist across classical, jazz, folk, country and improvisational styles.
Peter Franche
Peter Franche is an accomplished multi instrumentalist (piano accordion, guitar, bass, bouzouki). Peter has played in many bands crossing musical genres, from progressive rock to traditional music from Ireland, Scotland and England performing at festivals throughout UK, Europe and Australia. He plays in Celtic duo, Telenn Tri, with his wife Christine Morphett, an accomplished harpist. Peter is a recent addition to The Adelaide songs group.
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