NOT many people in the Australian music industry know the name Zia Jade as yet, but you get the sense that's all about to change.
The 23-year-old Lake Macquarie R&B and pop artist is one of a host of Hunter musicians that have been selected to unveil their talents at Brisbane's BigSound from September 5 to 8.
Joining Jade in Fortitude Valley will be Newcastle bands Raave Tapes, Camino Gold, Rum Jungle, local indie singer-songwriter Teddie and former Hunter alt-country locals Tori Forsyth and Melody Moko.
BigSound is the largest music conference and industry event in the southern hemisphere, and this year's festival will feature 150 acts.
"It's such a big event and there's going to be so many people from all over the place," Jade said from a Newcastle building site, where she was working as a hoist driver.
"It presents a lot of opportunities. I'm very excited to perform with everyone there."
The 23-year-old, whose real name is Jade Nwokedi, has been creating waves since the release of her singles High and Busy in March.
The former featured a collaboration with Brisbane rapper Nerve and was produced by acclaimed Newcastle DJ Jayteehazard (Hilltop Hoods, A.B. Original, BARKAA, Kobie Dee).
Jade grew up at Marks Point and was constantly surrounded by music due to her step-father, Andrew Taylor, who plays in the pub-rock band The Versions.
"I've been basically singing since I could talk," she said. "I've known since I was six that this is what I wanted to do."
It was a chance meeting with Newcastle R&B artist Samson Gabriel in 2019 that kicked off Jade's pathway into the music industry.
"I don't know how he heard of me to be honest, probably through Instagram, but he reached out to me to feature on a song [Remember That]," she said.
"I said, 'yes, why not'. Then I got introduced to Jayteehazard who is a DJ from Newcastle.
"It all happened from there really quickly. He's introduced me to people and we've starting working on a lot of music."
Jade released her first single 24 in 2020, but it mostly went unnoticed. However, the release of High in March attracted the attention of Triple J.
"High is going pretty well and better than I ever expected," Jade said. "I get excited over one listen, to be honest.
"I think it's at 60k on the moment, which is crazy.
"I can't believe Nerve said yes to it either. He's already doing his thing and the fact he took the time to do that with me I'm in awe. It was very lovely."
Following her debut at BigSound, Jade plans to focus more on developing her live performance. She's performed regularly in Sydney, but has had limited opportunities to play her R&B and pop material in her traditionally more rock-orientated home town.
"I definitely plan to do more shows," she said. "Shows are where I thrive.
"I think the main goal would be to do a big festival. That would be incredible."
WHITE-HOT RETURN
IT turns out music fans can't get enough of classic '60s and '70s rock albums being performed by Australian '90s artists.
In recent years we've seen ARC, which features Kram (Spiderbait), Davey Lane (You Am I), Mark Wilson (Jet) and Darren Middleton (Powderfinger) - perform The Beatles' Abbey Road and Let It Be and Neil Young's Harvest and Pink Floyd's Dark Side Of The Moon.
You Am I are also gearing up to perform The Who's rock-opera Tommy in full at the Civic Theatre on August 2.
Another one classic rock fans should write in the diary is the return of The Beatles' White Album Concert to the Civic Theatre on September 15, performed by Tim Rogers (You Am I), Phil Jamieson (Grinspoon), Chris Cheney (The Living End) and Josh Pyke.
The foursome have toured the show three times previously and most recently performed The Fab Four's 1968 double-album at the Civic Theatre in 2018.
GUITAR MASTER
CZECH classical guitarist Petra Polackova is bringing her wizardry to Australia for the first time, which includes a recital at Newcastle's Royal Exchange on Friday, August 4.
Polackova's acclaimed music is performed on a 1923 historical guitar and a unique nine-string romantic guitar made by Jan Tulek.
The latter guitar was used by Polackova when she recorded the music of German composer Silvius Leopold Weiss for her debut album in 2020.
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