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“It’s About Time” for Bronwyn Halley
“I just love music. I love listening to it. I love singing. I love writing it. I love seeing people in the audience singing back to me a song that I have written. I think that’s very cool,” so says up-and-coming singer/songwriter Bronwyn Halley. Bronwyn has been performing her brand of contemporary country music in New Zealand for some time now, but every occasion she stands up in front of that audience she declares, is always a new, yet exciting, challenge for her.
On stage Bronwyn is relaxed. One instinctively knows that the stage is her second home, her ‘happy place’, and that she is comfortable in this skin. She jokes easily with the audience, with her fellow band members: simple human connection. Her audience are willingly lured into her world – and they love her for it.
Last year the young performer determined to release her debut EP, “It’s About Time.” “It’s About Time” was a platform on which she could bring her original compositions to a wider audience. However, cutting a record is not a cheap process so, having visited our web site, Bronwyn approached Lodge St. Patrick for some financial assistance with the EP’s production costs. St. Patrick’s members rarely refuse requests to support deserving young talent in the region, nor to advance culture and the arts within our sphere of influence, thus we were pleased to help.
Bronwyn Halley plays a guitar with consummate skill; she is equally comfortable with a band or playing a solo acoustic number. When accompanied, she can draw on the undoubted expertise of performers such as John Denver look-alike, Bevan Gardiner or local legend, Dave Coleclough. (“Who they?” I hear you ask. Google both and prepare to be impressed.) Indeed, Bevan Gardiner alone is a one-man show. An accomplished guitar player, engaging vocalist, and solid drummer, all this talent appears even more impressive when one learns that Bevan has been almost blind since birth!
To be perhaps a little critical, one or two of the songs Bronwyn occasionally chooses for a gig, if in the low range, can tax her developing voice. Having said that, however, when she determines to belt out (and she certainly can) a number like her own “Too Far Gone” or Dixie Chicks’ “There’s Your Trouble,” then she can really wow the crowd.
Often Bronwyn is seen on stage with country singer, Robyn Johnston, whose vocal range is such that a high note from her can shatter glass at 50-metres. So, should you be in attendance at a Bronwyn Halley concert, I strongly advise that you protect your full glass of wine beneath a thick garment. Beware - No sane person should take unnecessary risks with wine!
In her own words, Bronwyn is “addicted to music.” She left Bayfield High School to study at MAINZ (the Music and Audio Institute of New Zealand) and told us, “Music can really speak to people and help them through tough times. Hearing that someone loves one of my songs, and that it means a lot to them, or maybe that it has helped them through a certain time in their life, gives me just the most amazing feeling.”
Bronwyn has recently been on tour in the South Island of New Zealand, over the past 12 months it has been an eye-opener to watch this young performer grow. Since her skills are undoubted, it will be very interesting to see where Bronwyn Halley is another year down the track.
JW-P
Useful Links
It’s About Time www.soundcloud.com/bronwyn_nz/tracks
About Freemasonry www.lodgestpatrick.co.nz/whatisfreemasonry.php