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2006 NEWS below.....

 

DEC 2006

Lots of news to come in 2007 - in the meantime have a great festive period and may 2007 bring you and yours happiness and prosperity. Spread it around.

SEPT/OCT 2006

The buzz about award winning Australian based songwriter John Harley Weston just keeps getting louder....

Firstly, big welcome to hundreds of new numberonemusic.com fans from USA, Canada and Europe who have asked to be included on this mailing list. (From Knoxville Tennessee to Berlin, from Rome to Hamilton Ontario - welcome aboard. We're glad you like John Harley Weston's music.

FILM SOUNDTRACK WORK:
This month John was contacted by a major US based film music production house who feed music to television and films including shows such as CSI, MTV and movies. Contracts have been signed and songs have already been submitted to a movie. Listen out for John's music on these and other top rating shows.

RADIO SESSION:
Listen to ABC Coast FM this Friday 6th October between 9pm-10pm. John Harley Weston interview and live acoustic performance. Live to air on Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast. Tune in online at http://abc.net.au/sunshine

A NEW SONG:
John is midway through a new solo album due for release late 2006 early 2007. Click on links below to hear soundbytes off the current album 'Hope Harbour' as well as a sneak preview of the forthcoming album. This includes the somewhat controversial song 'Righteous Son' about Van Nugyen the Australian who was hanged in Singapore last year for carrying drugs....a socially aware and moving song that ponders Van Nugyen's final thoughts. Musically the song is stripped bare to acoustic guitar and haunting choir......direct and disarming. Looks like the new album will be even more essential. Listen to soundbytes and songs including 'Righteous Son' at

http://www.myspace.com/johnharleyweston (full song) http://www.johnharleyweston.com/soundbytes.htm (bytes of several songs from forthcoming album including Righteous Son)

You can pre order a copy of the new album by emailing info@johnharleyweston.com

A CHANCE TO GET TRIPLE J AIRPLAY:
For a chance to get serious airplay on Australia's cutting edge station Triple J, please 'rate' John song 'Last Days Of Summer' at http://www.triplejunearthed.com/JohnHarleyWeston

TALKING ABOUT NEW SONGS - NEW SINGLE OUT NOW:
After fans of Frontier (John's old band in the UK) demanded new songs, John Harley Weston and BJ Cunningham decided to collaborate again. Frontier were signed to the huge Phonogram Records alongside Texas, Wet Wet Wet, Dire Straits and Robert Plant. After recording with the legendary Steeley Dan producer (Gary Katz) amongst others Frontier toured stadiums with Wet Wet Wet and Gun. What makes this interesting is that Weston is in Australia and Cunningham is in Scotland. The new 2006 music sounds great. As we mentioned in the last newsletter Frontier were recently placed no#89 in the UK myspace charts...not bad for a band that haven't even seen each other for 10 years. The third member of Frontier, bass player, Alan 'Bud' Greenwood has now been located so expect more tunes from 'Frontier'.

To hear a soundbyte of the new song 'Be Careful What You Wish For' go to http://www.myspace.com/thebandfrontier The song is available to buy as a CD single or as an mp3 download via iTunes.

ACOUSTIC IN THE PARK:
The inaugral event on Sun 10th September at the magical Southbank Piazza in Brisbane definitely had the feel of a huge festival in the making. John Harley Weston performed with his long time guitarist buddy Pete Devine and the crowd were in rapture......

PHOTO:
From ABC612 radio session live from the Ekka Royal Brisbane Show

GIGS: John Harley Weston supporting Aussie legend 'Swanee' Fri 13th Oct....all gig info here.

AUG 2006

ACOUSTIC IN THE PARK - SOUTHBANK, BRISBANE - SEPTEMBER:
Southbank Corporation in Brisbane are hosting the inaugral 'Acoustic In The Park'....to be held at Southbank on the Brisbane River on Sun 10/9, Sun 19/9, Sun 26/9. John Harley Weston will be performing at the opening gig on Sun 10th September. Time TBA - check out gigs closer to the time.

TRIPLE J UNEARTHED:
Australia's cutting edge radio station Triple J is running a brand new online comp for unsigned/independent acts. Have a look at the link below. Once you sign in you can 'rate' John Harley Weston's song 'Last Days Of Summer'. The more ratings/reviews the more chance of hearing it on Triple J. Sadly for us penniless musicians we have to give the song away as a free download so here's your chance to get a copy of the song that won the Australian National Songwriting Contest 2005 (rock category) absolutely free. (For a short time only)

http://www.triplejunearthed.com/JohnHarleyWeston

MYSPACE - CHART SUCCESS:
Here's an interesting thing - John's old band in Scotland 'Frontier' are number 89 in the top artists charts in the UK on myspace.com There are currently thousands of bands on myspace from the UK. Not bad for a band that hasn't played together for 10 years. Check it out - click here. Frontier were signed to the huge Mercury Records (London) and recorded some great music with some big producers. A couple of singles were released but the album is still unreleased. The boys still own their publishing - wey hey! $$$! Due to thousands of fan requests John has recently been collaborating again with BJ Cunningham the Frontier guitarist and a new song 'Be Careful What You Wish For' will soon will available on myspace. Have a listen to some of the old stuff in the meantime - that late 80's early 90's rock is 'IT' right now. Don't forget to become a 'friend' while you're there so we can let you know when the new song is available. For future reference here's the Frontier site http://www.myspace.com/thebandfrontier

MORE MYSPACE:
We've just revamped John's myspace site - check it out http://www.myspace.com/johnharleyweston

AUG/SEPT GIGS: click here

PUBLIC REVOLUTION:
The coolest Australian based website for independent music - some amazing unsigned acts out there. John Harley Weston is currently being played on Public Revolution radio - top right of main page - flick through to track 14. You can also download mp3s from this site http://www.publicrevolution.com

RAW AUDIO:
Music lovers and bands should check out Raw Audio. Podcasting great independent music and video http://www.rawaudio.com.au

JULY 2006

Just can't stop the music.....

MORE AWARDS FOR JOHN HARLEY WESTON'S FIRST SOLO ALBUM 'HOPE HARBOUR':

While the winner of the current Australian National Songwriting contest is hard at work on new songs for another album the accolades keep pouring in for songs off his current album 'Hope Harbour'.....this time from the judges of Unisong International Songwriting Contest who gave birth to songwriters Burt Bacharach, Jimmy Buffet, Stewart Copeland, Mick Fleetwood, Indigo Girls, Glady's Knight, Peter Frampton, Lisa Loeb, Bonnie Raitt, Don Was and well, I'm sure you get the picture.....

John scored in the top 20.....no easy contest. The name Unisong may not mean much to some of you but this competition is run by serious songwriting professionals and judged by the likes of Desmond Child (Jimmy Barnes, Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Cher, Kiss, Robbie Williams, Hall and Oates, Ricky Martin, Kelly Clarkson) and Dianne Warren (Elton John, Tina Turner, Streisand, Aretha Franklin, Mary J Blige, Christine Aguilera).

John scored in the top 20 rock category with 'Last Days Of Summer' and also got a high honourable mention (top 15%) for 'Brothers And Sisters' in same category. Both songs on John's album 'Hope Harbour' which you can buy from here.

Make no mistake - when you're consistently getting national AND international songwriting awards you're doing something right. Seems the overseas market are really taking notice of John Harley Weston. Who's going to be the first major publisher/record company to put an offer on the table.....we'll let you know.

To recap on recent achievements - from 2005 to 2006

Winner current Australian National Songwriting Contest 2005 (rock)
Highest level Honourable Mention - Billboard World Songwriting Contst 2006
Top 20 - current Unisong World Songwriting Contest 2005.
Endorsement deals with Takamine Guitars and D'Addario Strings.
Voted in top 5 best vocalists in the independent music world by Dale Kawashima a heavy-weight U.S. Music Publisher who has handled the catelogues of major recording stars. (Sony ATV, Giant, Mercury).

Then of course there's the national and international press, radio play, record sales and digital downloads.....thank you to everyone who has contributed to our success so far.

RADIO: If you are a radio station or operate a podcast and would like to play these award winning songs please contact us.

PAUL RODGERS/FREE/BAD COMPANY - the fan website allrightnow.com
After reading a review that likened John Harley Weston to Paul Rodgers (who recently fronted 'Queen') the coordinator of Paul Rodgers fan website in the USA has just run a feature link to help promote John's album 'Hope Harbour'. Check out http://www.arnnewsheadlines.com/july.htm

GIGS - see Ric's Bar Brisbane gig Sun 13/8 - and more. Click here.

THE DIGITAL EXPLOSION:
John's album 'Hope Harbour' is now available to over 2400 physical CD stores in America and worldwide.

www.cdbaby.com is a website based in the USA. Independent artists send them a few copies and they sell our CDs to cdbaby customers. But it's much bigger than that. They not only sell hard copies of John Harley Weston's album Hope Harbour to people who order from cdbaby online, they have also distributed it digitally to the likes of iTunes and loads of other digital download sites. In addition to this you can now order a hard copy of the album at thousands of over the counter retailers in 24 countries through their unique Super D One Stop ordering process www.sdcd.com

APPLE iTUNES
Here's the direct link where you can buy 'Hope Harbour' songs/album on iTunes

ONLINE PUBLIC REVOLUTION:
A new revolution for music lovers. Australian based independent music sales on line. These guys are awesome. Check out John Harley Weston's page. Public Revolution.

MAY 2006

It just gets better and better....

BILLBOARD WORLD SONGWRITING CONTEST:
John Harley Weston's song, the humanitarian lament, 'Brothers & Sisters' has just received a top category Honorable Mention in the 13th Annual Billboard World Songwriting Contest. That's huge!

As if that's not enough 'Last Days of Summer' (the song that John won the current Australian National Songwriting Contest - rock category - with) received an Honourable Mention too. That's another nod of approval this time from overseas songwriting judges. Just goes to show that our Australian judges know what they're talking about.

The Billboard certificates received today recognise that this is a very high achievement for such a contest considering the quality of this year's entries and shows that John Harley Weston is writing at the highest level.

Wait until they hear the songs off the next album..... (it's under way)

We need more radio support for our winning songwriters so if you are a radio station why not give 'Brothers and Sisters' or 'Last Days of Summer' a spin right now or schedule them for your play list. 'Brothers and Sisters' was produced by Sandy Jones and Graham Duffin (Wet Wet Wet). 'Last Days Of Summer' was co-written with U.S. based drummer Tony Beard (Hall and Oates, Go West, Paul McCartney) and produced by Sandy Jones (Wet Wet Wet).

Both songs are featured on John's current album 'Hope Harbour'. To buy a copy click here or download from iTunes.

SONGWRITING :
It's a whisper at the moment but a handful of John's songs are in the hands of a very well known Australian performer who is currently in pre-production on a new album. At the performer's request John's songs are being pitched alongside works by the Finn Brothers (Crowded House), Don Walker (Cold Chisel) and other noted writers. We'll let you know the outcome.

MYSPACE.COM
If you are on myspace.com you can now talk to John at http://www.myspace.com/johnharleyweston

At myspace you can also view a video of John's Channel 9 television interview. The video features an impromptu jam with legendary Aussie singer John 'Swanee' Swan and acclaimed Canadian slide guitarist Kirk Lorange.

FRONTIER:
Frontier was John's old band in the UK signed to Phonogram Records. Many of you have asked if you can get a hold of Frontier CDs. Here's a link where you can buy 2 singles. 'Lonely Heart' is an original song written by the 3 Frontier writers (John Harley Weston, BJ Cunningham and Alan Greenwood) produced by the legendary Steeley Dan producer Gary Katz and 'The Sun Is Gonna Shine Again' was a cover of the old Graham Parker song produced by Texas producer Kenny McDonald. John's voice was a little higher then....must have been the tight jeans. Here's the link http://www.musicstack.com/search/frontier

John Harley Weston is endorsed by TAKAMINE guitars AND D'ADDARIO guitar strings.

See what the critics are saying - click on link on left of page.

APRIL 2006

Hi everyone - more great news

For gig info including great support slots to John 'Swanee' Swan and Future Native both this coming weekend 21st-23rd April click here.

ANOTHER ENDORSEMENT DEAL:
We would like to thank D'Addario guitar strings who are now endorsing John Harley Weston. D'Addario strings are used by the likes of Ben Harper, Keith Urban, David Gray, Sheryl Crow, Lenny Kravitz, The Offspring....

You may remember in our January newsletter that John also scored a prestigious Takamine Guitars endorsement putting his name alongside artists such as Jon Bon Bovi, Springsteen, Troy Cassar-Daley, Linkin Park, Simple Plan, Eagles, Garth Brooks.

Difficult to obtain, endorsement deals not only help artists financially but they are a serious nod of approval from the big hitters in the music industry.

CO-WRITING:
John has rekindled a writing collaboration with BJ Cunningham (UK guitarist from John's old band 'Frontier' who were signed to Phongram Records UK). And I've got to tell you - the creative sparks are flying. In the years since John and BJ last worked together BJ has been involved in post production on some big projects with the likes of Robbie Williams, Oasis, Madonna, U2. BJ Cunningham's website is http://www.cunninghamsongs.com For those who are interested there is a very early Frontier video (1992) featured at http://www.myspace.com/thebandfrontier. A song produced by the great Gary Katz (Steeley Dan). Video directed by an Australian, Warren Manelly. For musicians; BJ also runs the website http://www.audioandrecording.com where you can get some great recording tips used by top producers.

IT'S EASIER THAN EVER TO BUY A COPY OF THE ALBUM HOPE HARBOUR:
Buying a copy of 'Hope Harbour' from John Harley Weston just got easier. On this website we now offer 2 payment methods - '2Checkout' and 'Paypal'. '2Checkout' takes about 2 minutes. It's just as easy as buying from a major online store. 'Paypal' is generally for those people who have a Paypal account or want to set one up. Remember 'Hope Harbour' contains the song 'Last Days Of Summer' which won the Australian National Songwriting Contest 2005. (A little piece of Australian history). You can also download the album from the likes of iTunes or Wal Mart from as little as 88 cents a song. For more details click here.

Check out http://www.publicrevolution.com a new revolution in independent music sales and artist info. John is a featured artist at the moment. It's free to sign up and these guys know what they are doing http://www.publicrevolution.com/johnharleyweston

INTERNATIONAL SONGWRITING CONTEST UPDATE:
Two of John's songs scored high in the notoriously difficult International Songwriting Contest. We got through to the 2nd round with 'Last Days Of Summer' (the song that won the Australian National Songwriting Contest) and made it into the 3rd round with 'Brothers and Sisters'. There's no disputing the fact that these songs are awesome. (Would someone tell commercial radio. It seems that without the muscle of a major record label behind you it's damn near impossible to get serious radio play....but with your help we can do it...see below).

BILLBOARD SONGWRITING CONTEST:
We're waiting to hear the results.

A NEW BOOK:
A good friend of mine in the film industry has just written a new book. The book is called 'The Assistant' by J.D. Forbes. It's an action thriller. JD has years of film making experience so I'm sure the book will be a best seller. At the moment you can get it at Dymocks at Pacific Fair, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. I'll add a link as soon as I have one.

RADIO PLAY:
Thanks to you guys and my PR team we've been getting some great radio play but it would be great to keep the rock rolling as they say. Make a radio play request for a song from 'Hope Harbour'. Perhaps 'Brothers and Sisters' or 'Beautiful Day In The City'. Here are a few Australian radio station numbers:

VEGA FM - MELBOURNE
Net request at http://www.vega915.com.au/music/netrequest.aspx
Tel: 132510 or Reception: 03 9425 2915
SMS: 19955915

VEGA FM - SYDNEY
Net request at http://www.vega953.com.au/music/netrequest.aspx
Tel: 132510 or Reception: 02 8569 7953
SMS 19955953

4ZZZ - 07 3252 1555
4KQ - 07 3394 0693
ABC COAST FM - 07 5595 2900 (Gold Coast)
ABC COAST FM - 07 3377 5222 (Brisbane)
ABC 612 - 07 3377 5222
B105 Brisbane - 07 3837 1053
BAY FM - 07 3821 0022
FBI- 02 8332 2900 -
HOPE ISLAND RADIO, Gold Coast - 07 5577 9999
HOT TOMATO, Gold Coast - 07 5571 1029/5519 2200
NOVA FM, national - 1339693
Radio National - TBA
RRRR - 03 9419 2066
SAFM - 08 9380 3380
SEA FM - national 07 5591 5000/1902 220 330
TRIPLE J - national 1800 055 536 or make a Super Request on the net http://www.triplej.abc.net.au/requests/
TRIPLE M - http://www.mrock.com.au OR
TRIPLE M - brisbane/national 07 3361 0104/02 9367 1000

JANUARY 2006

Before I start with the music nonsense I’d like to stop for a second…..

When you get to my age you don’t really have ‘fans’ as such. You have people that really like your music. I met John & Sue Williams from Canungra, Queensland (originally from England) when I was playing at Brunelli’s on Tamborine Mountain last year – they came to see me play on several occasions and we just clicked, we had things in common being from the ‘auld country’. Sadly I was told the other night that Sue was one of the 5 who died in the free fall aircraft accident on 2nd January 2006. An effervescent personality that this world is colder without. My thoughts are with you John and your family, extended family and friends.

Music news..........

INTERNATIONAL SONGWRITING CONTEST: News from the U.S.A received today - two of John Harley Weston's songs 'Last Days Of Summer' and 'Brothers And Sisters' (off John's current album 'Hope Harbour') just advanced onto the second round of judging for the 2005 INTERNATIONAL SONGWRITING CONTEST. Well known for being difficult to crack, the comp, based in Nashville, has over 15,000 entries from all over the world. Judges include artists such as Tom Waits, Macy Gray, Joss Stone and industry pros from every major record label and publishing company. As most of you already know John won the Australian National Songwriting Contest 2005 (rock category) with his song 'Last Days Of Summer'. To receive another accolade from an international songwriting body is a great achievement. Final winners announced end March. http://www.songwritingcompetition.com

TAKAMINE GUITARS: We are proud to announce that John has just secured an endorsement deal with Takamine Guitars. Other world-class artists who have endorsement deals with Takamine include Jon Bon Bovi, Springsteen, Troy Cassar-Daley, Linkin Park, Simple Plan, Eagles, Garth Brooks. Thank you Takamine - your guitars are inspirational - especially their new Cool Tube Guitars - guitarists have a look at this http://www.takamine.com

MAJOR RADIO PLAYLIST ROTATION: More great news... 'Last Days Of Summer' has just been added to the playlist at Vega 91.5 Melbourne and Vega 95.3 Sydney. Vega is part of huge DMG Radio group. Playlist inclusion at a major commercial station means your song gets played a couple of times a day for a given period. It's a hard slog for an independent artist to get included on any major radio stations playlists (even after winning the Aust Nat Songwriting Contest) so thanks again to all at Vega/DMG. Your support is sincerely appreciated.

Fans/friends - the amount of calls/requests Vega get will determine how long the song remains on the playlist. Please, please take the time to send a request for 'Last Days Of Summer' by calling the station(s) or sending a web request from their web page(s). Details below:

http://www.vega953.com.au
Tel: 132510
SMS 19955953
Reception: 02 8569 7953

http://www.vega915.com.au
Visit the site to make a net request
Tel: 132510
SMS: 19955915
Reception: 03 9425 2915

Don't stop calling your own favourite radio station to request 'Last Days Of Summer' - all the major stations have a copy of the album (Hope Harbour) and there's only a month and a half left of summer.

PRESS FEATURES: John will have a full feature in the next issue of the Australian Songwriters Association magazine. For those of you who don't know John is currently featured in Rolling Stone owned 'Australian Guitar' magazine. Look out for an upcoming feature article in The Gold Coast Bulletin Paradise Magazine.hn's invitation to come along and sample some world class songs. Stories have appeared in The Gold Coast Bulletin, The Sunday Mail and will appear soon in Life Magazine, Tamborine Times, The GC Sun, Tweed Times and Daily News, The Gold Coast Music Ind Assoc newsletter...........there will be others. John is also talking to ABC Coast FM, B105, Hot Tomato, Sea FM, Triple J, 612..........the list is endless....keep your ears open.