Melanie Horsnell is a singer-songwriter from

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia. The song "Sometimes" was featured in the Canadian TV program ''Flashpoint'', being used in the Season 3 premiere episode titled "Unconditional Love". She has the distinction of being the only Australian to be featured in ''Flashpoint'' during its entire series run, the majority of artists featured on the program being from Canada or the USA.

Biography

Musical career

Horsnell first picked up a guitar at the age of five, learning the classical and

flamenco Flamenco (), in its strictest sense, is an art form based on the various folkloric music traditions of southern Spain, developed within the gitano subculture of the region of Andalusia, and also having historical presence in Extremadura and ...

styles of play, and began

busking Street performance or busking is the act of performing in public places for gratuities. In many countries, the rewards are generally in the form of money but other gratuities such as food, drink or gifts may be given. Street performance is pr ...

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at the age of ten. By her late teens, she still had not really thought of continuing her music career – she had her heart set on managing

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– until she won a spot on ''The Northern Composure'' CD and national songwriting competitions. From there she headed to London for a year, busking on a daily basis and working on her songwriting skills. Back home, Horsnell began her residency at the Excelsior Hotel in

Glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

in 2000 and became regarded as one driving forces behind Sydney's blossoming "NuFolk" movement. Over the years at the Excelsior, she performed with some remarkable artists including Paul Greene,

Andy Clockwise Andy Clockwise (born Andy Kelly) is an Australian-born musician, performer, writer, producer, and multi-instrumentalist currently residing in Los Angeles. Born in Sydney to an artistic family, Clockwise's music has been compared to LCD Soundsys ...

, Bertie Blackman, peregrine, Tim Ireland and Wesley Carr, while at the same time played host to many emerging artists, most notably

Laura Imbruglia Laura Imbruglia (born 15 June 1983) is an Australian indie rock singer-songwriter. Early life and family Imbruglia's father is an Italian of Sicilian heritage and her mother Anglo-Australian. She grew up on the Central Coast. Among four da ...

. Her residency continued for 4 years, but there were larger things afoot for the young songstress. In 2001, Horsnell independently released her first EP, ''Don't Know What to Say'', followed the next year her second EP ''Magic Mirror'' (produced by

Garth Porter Garth Ivan Richard Porter (born 24 September 1948) is a New Zealand-born Australian multi-instrumental musician, songwriter and record producer. He was a member, on keyboards and backing vocals, of the pop group, Sherbet (1970–84), and co-wr ...

), which was soon picked up by radio across the country and led to her signing with Shock Publishing worldwide. Soon after, Horsnell was approached to write songs for popular children's show

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and to score the soundtrack for the film ''Love in the First Degree''. In 2003, Horsnell began work on her debut album, ''The Adventures of...'', again with Garth Porter behind the desk. Its first single "Birds" earned her high rotation on the

Triple J Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...

network. In 2004, she signed to Rounder records in Europe, after a demo of ''The Adventures of...'' found its way into the hands of Bert Pijpers of Rounder Records. ''The Adventures Of...'' was released in The Netherlands, Germany and the UK – in February 2005, the album was released in rest of Europe. Horsnell even did a crash course in French to record the French version of the

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pop gem "I Just Want Some Love" which helped ''The Adventures Of…'' wind up as feature album on national radio in France that year. Having made no less than four tours of Europe over the years, she also played to a packed house at The Esplanade in Singapore in early 2005. Her Australian fans were satisfied when they finally saw the release of her album ''The Adventures of...'' in September 2005 through Inflatable Girlfriend Records/MGM. Horsnell has also managed many Australian tours, often with her band "the Inflatable Girlfriends" (ironically made up of male musicians), as support for

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Josh Pyke Joshua Jon Pyke (born 18 December 1977) is an Australian singer-songwriter, producer, musician and children's book author. Biography Josh Pyke is a prolific songwriter, with a successful and critically acclaimed career both domestically and ove ...

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(

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(Lamb) and

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. She has supplied vocals for several songs used in television commercials, including

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, '' Women's Weekly'',

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and

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(in the United States). In addition, Horsnell and Elliot Wheeler came together in the side project "Forever Thursday", with Horsnell as the lead singer on the song "How Can It Be", music for a

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advertisement shown during the 2007 Oscars. In 2008 Horsnell went back into the studio with producer Paul Mckercher (Augie March, Magic Dirt, Little Birdy, Eskimo Joe) to lay down 12 new tracks for her album ''Complicated Sweetheart''. The first single from the album features a track "Mary Mary" and two bonus songs, "Christmas in the suburbs" and The Saints song "Massacre", and was released in July 2008. "Mary Mary" received immediate airplay on National Youth Broadcaster Radio

and also

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, RRR and a number of other stations. The ''Cloud Appreciation Society'', released in 2013, shares heartbreaking songs of small town love and loss, glows with an acoustic stripped-back sound, and is intermingled with Horsnell's quintessential starry-eyed voice, lyrics to die for and a delicate but timeless presence, which has made her so adored on the scene. In 2017 Horsnell went on a six-week European tour with Blue Mountains-based singer-songwriter Steve Appel (also known as King Curly); their collaborative album, ''The World Has A Gentle Soul'', was released in 2018.

Personal life

Horsnell, a

Wiradjuri The Wiradjuri people (; ) are a group of Aboriginal Australian people from central New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , ...

woman, is the mother of two daughters. She currently lives in the tiny town of

Candelo, New South Wales Candelo is a town in south-eastern New South Wales, Australia. It is in the Bega Valley Shire local government area, south of the state capital, Sydney and north-west of the popular coastal holiday destination of Eden. In 2011, Candelo had a p ...

.Iain Shedden
"Musician hits high note in rural retreat"
''

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'', 25 May 2012.

Discography

Solo albums

*''The Adventures Of'' – 2004 (UK), 2005 (AUS) *''Complicated Sweetheart'' – 2008 *''The Cloud Appreciation Society'' – 2013 *''dans la mer aussi il y a des étoiles'' – 2014 *''Quatre Chemins'' – 2015 *''Songs To Sing on a Saturday Night'' – 2016

Collaborative album

*''The World Has A Gentle Soul'' (Melanie Horsnell & Steve Appel) – 2018

EPs

*''Don't Know What To Say'' – 2001 *''Magic Mirror'' – 2002 *''Birds'' – 2004 *''Kiss You Again'' – 2007 *''Mary Mary'' – 2008

Music video

*''How Can It Be'' (Forever Thursday) – 2007

References

External links

www.melaniehorsnell.comMelanie Horsnell on MyspaceForever Thursday on Myspace
{{DEFAULTSORT:Horsnell, Melanie Australian singer-songwriters Australian buskers Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Musicians from New South Wales Wiradjuri people Australian women singer-songwriters