{"id":8264,"date":"2012-08-09T22:05:40","date_gmt":"2012-08-09T12:05:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/?p=8264"},"modified":"2021-01-29T15:44:28","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T05:44:28","slug":"valeries-happiest-with-the-blues","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2012\/08\/09\/valeries-happiest-with-the-blues\/","title":{"rendered":"Val’s Happiest With The Blues"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Valerie Mathews … performing at the Maidenwell Hotel on Friday evening<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Valerie Mathews … blues, jazz and now country<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

August 9, 2012<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nanango singer Valerie Mathews<\/strong> loves the blues … in fact, she says she’s at her happiest when she sings the sad songs born in the American south.<\/p>\n

“There’s a melancholy part of me that connects with the sad songs. I was a melancholy child,” she said.<\/p>\n

But that doesn’t stop her also performing country and popular music. And her audience loves her for it.<\/p>\n

Valerie will be performing at the Maidenwell Hotel from 7:30pm on Friday evening (August 10), the latest in a series of local gigs since she officially launched her singing career earlier this year.<\/strong><\/p>\n

She has performed at the Boonara Homestead sesquicentenary, Wondai RSL, Murgon RSL and the recent Home-Based Business Expo at Kingaroy RSL.<\/p>\n

Valerie’s journey to becoming a vocalist has been an unusual one.<\/p>\n

Her resonance with blues music probably dates back to her childhood.\u00a0She is part of the Stolen Generation, a Gunggari woman born in Mitchell. Valerie and her six siblings were fostered out to different families.<\/p>\n

“There was a lot of sadness in those days. The family was disconnected,” she said.<\/p>\n

Eventually her family made contact again and it was her late sister, Linda, a musician, who first pointed Valerie in the direction of becoming a singer.<\/p>\n

“She said to me: ‘All you have to do is give yourself permission to sing’, and I did,” Valerie said.<\/p>\n

In May last year, Valerie attended a music workshop in Nanango organised in conjunction with the Boots’n’Bulldust country music festival.<\/p>\n

The facilitator, professional vocalist Bobby Ricks, recognised her hidden talent and offered to become her mentor. The pair then performed at gigs as a duo, “The Honky Tonks”.<\/p>\n

Darren Schmidt, lead vocalist of local band Blues Excuse, is a fan.<\/p>\n

“Valerie provided entertainment at our Relay For Life in September last year. Her vocal set was sensational,” he said.<\/p>\n

“She sings at the blues and jazz end of the spectrum, with a very warm and honest delivery and an obvious love for the music she\u2019s delivering.<\/p>\n

“Valerie’s show also has a very human element. She connects well with an audience and has a modesty and humility that\u2019s very appealing.”<\/p>\n

Valerie may enjoy singing the blues, but she’s now happy.<\/p>\n

“I’m happily married and I have made my home here. My husband Henry\u00a0is very supportive of what I am doing and has encouraged me along the way. \u00a0In fact, he’s become my roadie, and my cameraman.<\/p>\n

“And all the ‘chicks’ love him and want to dance with him at the gigs.”<\/p>\n

Valerie is now taking her musical career in a new direction as she is learning \u00a0to play the piano, a skill that she hopes to eventually work into her on-stage performances.<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Video:<\/b> A series of sound clips from Val’s repertoire that she’s posted on YouTube<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Valerie Mathews loves the blues … in fact, she’s at her happiest when she sings the blues<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":8274,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[23,30],"yoast_head":"\nVal's Happiest With The Blues - southburnett.com.au<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2012\/08\/09\/valeries-happiest-with-the-blues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Val's Happiest With The Blues - southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Valerie Mathews loves the blues ... in fact, she's at her happiest when she sings the blues\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2012\/08\/09\/valeries-happiest-with-the-blues\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"southburnett.com.au\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-08-09T12:05:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-29T05:44:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/valmatthews1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"620\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"414\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Anne Miller\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2012\/08\/09\/valeries-happiest-with-the-blues\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/southburnett.com.au\/news2\/2012\/08\/09\/valeries-happiest-with-the-blues\/\",\"name\":\"Val's Happiest With The Blues - 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