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Bridie O'Brien

An exciting new performer - singer, songwriter and guitarist. Sydney based.

Singing as gentle as a fresh summer breeze.

Launching her debut CD, "Soft Side of Dark". And all her original songs - Bridie performs as soloist or with her band.

Born and bred on a sheep farm in Western NSW, Bridie started playing guitar at 7 years of age. She then went on to playing in rock bands at 14 years of age until she received an academic scholarship to Sydney Boarding School at 15.

Bridie hung out in rock bars and jazz clubs, her eyes transfixed on the hands of guitarists. It was in 1997 when Bridie started gigging her own material, saving every cent to put towards a Maton Messiah semi-acoustic a year later.

Bridie has played many headline shows:

• The Basement - Sydney
• Support for -That One Guy (USA)
• Jeff Lang
• Claire Bowdich
• Bernie Hayes
• The Panics
• Zoe Vaughan
• Iota
• Fruit
• Jeff Duff
• and many more.

The band line up is:

• Hunter Brown: Keyboard / Piano  
  Hunter joined the sound collective early in 2005. Classically taught from an early age he was awarded an Associate Diploma of music when he was sixteen. His versatility through multiple musical genres and styles mixed with his unique improvisational skills create a delighting slice of the Sound Collective in the unfettered live arena. Hunter as a singer songwriter is one of the founder members of the Mongrel Bastards, and also plays with an outfit called the Little Creatures.
• Kenny Feather: Bass 
  Kenny arrived as he does, by surprise, and slipped into the Sound Collective in a moment. Kenny has jammed and played bass around Australia for over a decade. Along with playing bass for the Sound Collective he is currently recording his first solo album 'Ice Cream Smile' in the Bruiser Studio prior to touring with the Kenny Feather Band. Kenny is also a Tai Chi Master and profoundly respected ballet and improvisation dancer.
• Kate Adams: Cello 
  Kate performs and writes in equal measure, as a cellist she trained Classically under Svetlana Bogosalvjavich and latterly with Sandy Evans. Her debut album 'Naked Without my Cello' was released in 2004.  
  Kate joined Bridie in 2005 and recorded with her in 2006. Kate also plays and records with Tim Ireland, Paul Greene and The Waiters Tantrum Fantasy.  Kate is currently involved in writing her own style of classical music, focusing on chamber music for string instruments and writing for her newly formed band 'The Mongrel Bastards'. Developing the common range and use of the cello Kate has taken side projects into hip and punk with Wire MC and Morganics.
• Stuart West: Trumpet, Flugel Horn, Harmonicas. Stuart West is a talented multi-instrumentalist who brings atmosphere and
  energy to Bridie's songs through his innovative use of trumpet, flugel horn and harmonicas. Over the last 10 years Stuart has entertained crowds in venues from Noosa, Byron, Sydney, Port Douglas, Broken Hill and Queenstown.In Sydney Stuart has rocked such venues as The Basement, The Rose, The Landsdowne, The Annandale, The Strawberry Hills Hotel, The Harp, The Harbourside Brasserie, The Harbourview, The Elephant and Wheelbarrow, The Iguana Bar, The Sandringham and many corporate functions, festivals, restaurants, weddings and gallery openings.Stylistically, Stuart has worked with jazz combos, DJ's, horn sections, singer/songwriters and Latin bands; and you never know when he will pick up a harp and give a song that bluesy driving edge, or colour the mood of a  ballad with cool, clear lines of his muted trumpet.