I received an email in October to say one of my songs had been Shortlisted by the judges of this year’s Australian Songwriting Contest.

"It took a long time for the decisions to be made, due to an extraordinarily high standard and a huge number of entries. In such a situation, you should be extremely proud to have achieved such a result."

The Top 30 Finalists have been announced on the ASA Website, and I'm extremely  excited to announce that "Strangers", a song I wrote with Michael Tan made Top 30 in the Country Category of the 36th National Songwriting Awards!
I'm so excited, and extremely honoured to be on the list among some very well respected names in the Australian industry.
 
The Top 10 Finalists will be announced at the National Songwriting Awards, which will be held in Sydney on Wednesday 14 December.
 
This year a glamorous new location has been booked for the Awards – The Orion ‘Theatre of the Stars’ –  in Campsie, NSW, where  an incredible Wurlitzer Pipe Organ is housed within the Art Deco grandeur of the Great Room. The INXS songwriting team of Andrew Farriss and the late Michael Hutchence will be inducted into the Australian Songwriters Hall of Fame, with Jon Stevens (Noiseworks) performing 2 songs in their honour. Michael’s sister Christina will be flying out from LA to accept the award on his behalf, and Glenn A Baker will do the induction speech.
After the Top 10 results of all Categories in the 36th Australian Songwriting Contest are revealed on the night, all successful contestants will be honoured on stage and the 1st Place Winners will perform.
A successful Special Guest Artist will be interviewed about their songwriting experience, and perform live.
The APRA/ASA Songwriter of the Year  will be awarded $3,000 courtesy of APRA. One ASA Member will also receive a coveted Maton Guitar for outstanding work. With a bunch of Celebrities and Music Industry personnel attending and presenting the awards, the evening will be full of fun, interest, wonderful networking and priceless memory-making opportunities! 

They say third time is a charm, but in the case of Natalie Pearson it only took a couple to get the job done. After making the long trip from Western Australia to Sydney for the the second time as a finalist in the Australian Independent Music Awards (AIMA's) she went home with the big prize of AIMA Best Country Artist in addition to top 5 finalist nods for other categories Music Video and Female Artist. Pearson has carved out a successful career around the Perth live music scene over the last decade and is now focused on growing her opportunities further afield within Australia and internationally.

"I guess if I have learned anything from this it's that I just have to stick to my guns and be persistent. It is lovely to be noticed and rewarded for the many years of hard work, but this is just one of the first big steps in my career and I realise that."
- Natalie Pearson

Pearson will be making the even longer pilgrimage from Perth to Tamworth in January where she is slated to perform at events including Festival favorite 'Country Music Cocktails' as one of the event's 'Future Stars'.

With the latest single 'Chance At Love' helping her secure the AIMA the horizon is now clear for the release of her next single and her first EP entitled 'Long Time Coming' in February 2017.

"I'm very mindful of the momentum that is building and it is definitely time for the record to see the light of day. After Tamworth when the dust settles, I'll finally get to share it with the world. I can't wait!" - Stated Pearson.