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Hot off the Press...
Last updated: September 2007
This is where we'll announce the most recent
additions to our web site and links to recent media
coverage/reviews...
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![[New!]](images/smallnew.gif) Miranda
wins "Peoples Choice Award" in the 2007 SCALA Festival of Original Music Songwriting Competition
- SCALA's 2007 "FOOM" Competition saw Miranda's song "Hard
Wired" named as the winner of the "People's Choice Award" as voted by
the audience at the FOOM Final. Her prize is 8 hours recording time at
Pigs in Space Studios. For all the FOOM 2007 results, go to
http://www.scala.org.au/winf2007.htm
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- "unlikely
places" reviewed in Trad & Now Magazine (October - November 2006)
by Ian Dearden
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This duo, two women from South
Australia sounding at times like Bonnie Raitt in stereo, have produced a
superb album in this, their second album but their first studio effort (the
first album, released in 2001 was recorded “live in the studio”).
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Miranda Bradley and Sue Pratten are each,
in their own right, experienced singers, songwriters and instrumentalists
(guitar, piano, bass and mandolin), and have been together since 2000. Each brings significant skills and
experience to the duo, with Miranda having done time in the inimitable Fruit
(one of Australia’s most exciting live bands) and Sue coming from a lengthy
background in both performance and music education.
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All of the elements, have come together
beautifully in this package.
The songwriting is first class, the
singing and harmonies are to die for, the arrangements are spot-on, and the
performances that they have wrung out of their support musicians are
exceptional. I particularly enjoyed the blazing
electric lead guitar of James Meston on tracks such as “Empty Handed” and
“Ten O’clock Blues”, but it would be unfair to spotlight anyone of the
superb supporting cast because they are all, without exception, outstanding.
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This is a CD where it has all come
together beautifully. The recording quality is first class; the
original songs are very classy, the vocals (both lead and harmonies) jump
out and grab you by the throat, and the package works from beginning to end.
For a superb mix of folk, blues, rock and
roots, you need go no further.
And in a world riven by pain, sadness,
misery and despair, they have the guts to write (and sing with pure belief)
a song called “Peace Hope Faith Love”. It’s good enough for me, and it will be
for you.
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The good news is that Raw Honey has
managed to make their way onto the bills of leading folk festivals including
Woodford, Port Fairy and the National, not to mention a whole range of other
venues in South Australia and beyond. I’ve not seen them live, but if this CD
is a fair indication of their talent, they are not to be missed. You can find this CD and their previous
effort “Live At The Hive” on their website at
www.rawhoney.com.au
- Raw Honey's CD "Unlikely Places" now available through
iTunes
- Check out our listing at
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?playListId=199871375 where you can buy the CD
or individual tracks!
- Raw Honey's CD "Unlikely Places" now available through
CD BABY
- Check out our listing at
http://cdbaby.com/cd/rawhoney where you can not only buy the CD but
also submit your own review!
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- Sue & Miranda are joint
winners of the 2005 SCALA Festival of Original Music Songwriting Competition -
Live Section
- SCALA's 2005 "FOOM" Competition saw Miranda's song "That
Moment" and Sue's song "Holding On" named as joint winners for the Live
section. For all the details, go to
www.scala.org.au/winf2005.htm
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- "unlikely places"
reviewed in Blaze Magazine (Issue 85, 30 April 2004)
-
 Raw
Honey
Unlikely Places
Independent
Thoughtful and engaging lyrics, an eclectic range of musical styles and
solid musicianship are the hallmarks of this independent release from Sue
Pratten and Miranda Bradley aka Raw Honey. Contributions from guest artists
including James Meston, Libby O’Donovan & Melissa McCaig, Zoe Barry &
Belinda Gehlert amongst others, ensures a rich sound captured by the
production team of Catherine Oates, Kim Webster & Raw Honey. Local artists
make good. Very good, in fact. RH
- "unlikely places"
reviewed in SCALA News (Issue 98, April/May/June 2004)
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Raw Honey Unlikely Places -
Smooth and Sweet: An Album to Savour
It’s been almost three years since Raw Honey’s previous
effort, Live at the Hive, was released in September 2001, but the
wait has certainly been worth it. Some of the songs on Unlikely Places
have been heard around Adelaide and beyond for a while; it’s good to have
them on disc at last, so deliciously arranged and executed. For those
unfamiliar with the duo Raw Honey, they consist of Miranda Bradley, well
known to Adelaide audiences as a foundation member of Fruit, and relative
newcomer Sue Pratten, both of whom are accomplished songwriters, guitarists
and vocalists, while Bradley adds mandolin and bass on occasion. Recorded
and mixed at the Cheese Factory by Kim Webster between August and February,
the album shows the benefit of attention to detail. It’s excellent value
too – it’s at least an hour long including the bonus 13th track –
but it is always compelling.
While the style could be best described as contemporary folk,
each song has a completeness which draws the listener into its world. It’s
a journey through a range of emotions effectively realised in both lyrical
and musical form, the extended outros indicating how difficult the musicians
(and producer Catherine Oates, also formerly of Fruit) found it to let go of
the feeling of each song. In contrast to Bradley’s songs of longing and
transition are Pratten’s celebrations of life’s riches, while both
successfully negotiate that most difficult genre, the song of social
justice. While Pratten asks herself the big questions about worldwide
inequality in “World Gone Mad”, Bradley responds to current dilemmas such as
terrorism with the assertion of “Peace Hope Faith Love”, to be found “in
unlikely places and against all odds”. The grounding heartbeat is a nice
touch.
An impressive cast of local musicians supports the duo here.
The former Fruit connection continues with Jenna Bonavita’s bass lines,
which are particularly inventive on “Fickle”. She and Rob Eyers on drums
form a rock solid rhythm section that keeps every track tight and directed.
James Meston adds effortlessly fluid yet restrained electric and acoustic
guitar to most tracks. He’s finally allowed to let rip in Pratten’s
variation of the ‘I got the blues in the morning’ theme, “Ten O’Clock
Blues”, and the result is good rockin’ fun. Zoe Barry and Belinda Gehlert
add cello and violin respectively to several tracks, with lap steel guitar
from Andy Rasheed and keyboard from Kim Webster in occasion. Catherine
Oates adds tasteful piano accordion, backing vocals and percussion to
several tracks, and possibly ill-advised “ornamental trombone band” to the
end of the delightful “Do You Remember”, one of the best evocations of
childhood I have heard in a song.
Vocal performances are uniformly strong. While Bradley
sounds super smooth, those who have heard her live over the years may feel
that recording has sometimes stripped the distinctiveness from her voice,
though it comes through on the rockier “Fickle” and “Empty Handed”.
Pratten’s voice is much as it is live: strong, warm and characteristically
Australian. Libby O’Donovan and Melissa McCaig, known for cabaret (Flat on
Your Bacharach), jazz and other vocal work, really bring something special
to their backing vocals. Two of the finest tracks on the album feature
them. One of these is the finely crafted “The Ocean”, by Bradley, in which
the lyrical imagery perfectly serves the song’s overall theme of
mother/daughter relationship. Over strings, O’Donovan and McCaig combine
with Bradley and Pratten to lift the bridge the new heights. Their brief
section of a cappella work is one of the album’s finest moments.
Pratten’s “Heart Chart” makes simplicity its strength, and once again
features O’Donovan’s and McCaig’s subtle but utterly appropriate backing
lines. A heartfelt affirmation of a relationship, this song conveys a world
with the briefest of statements, such as the line: “Our journey keeps”.
The album and sleeve looks great too. Andy Rasheed’s
photography is a subtle revelation. This dose of honey comes with no sting
– if you want musical edginess, you won’t find it here – but if a smooth,
sweet flow is your style, then Unlikely Places will more than
satisfy. It’s as good an example of mature songwriting and assured
performance as you could hope to find; that fact that it has been produced
by independent part time performers indicates not only their dedication but
also their talent. Go out and buy it; it’ll stay in your CD player for
weeks!
Reviewer: Dr Mandy Treagus,
University of Adelaide
Thanks to SCALA News
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- Raw Honey's new CD
"unlikely places" was feature CD on Radio Adelaide 101.5FM (17
April 2004)
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