Arts, Culture & Entertainment News – February 24

Two of indie pop’s newest darlings, Emmy Bryce and Kate Vigo, are embarking on a musical adventure in April. The Melbourne girls, who met in late 2011, thought it might be a nice idea to create a live music experience for their fans, fusing together two different sounds and meeting new friends and seeing new things every single day, and so, The Hunter and Gatherer Tour was born.

Throughout the April trek, Emmy and Kate will be engaging with their fans through social media, sharing ideas, images and stories of their travels. In turn, fans will be invited to connect directly with these unique artists and contribute to the whole touring experience.

"I approached Kate to join forces and tour because I loved the sound of her music (and her stunning voice) and could see she was kicking real goals with her career – she was serious," says Emmy. "It's inspiring for me to work with other independent artists who are putting their butts on the line for their dream."

Sounds like fun! Tickets are on sale now with shows starting at the Launceston Hotel on April 4 and winding up at the Thornbury Theatre in Melbourne. Check out the girls' websites (EmmyBryce.com; KateVigo.com) and Facebook pages (facebook.com/emmybryce; facebook.com/KateVigo) for more information.

While the girls are engaging with their fans, the ABC is reportedly getting more social, too. Asher Moses reports in The Sydney Morning Herald that Twitter and Facebook will be integrated with most ABC programming from June. "It's about allowing people to engage a little more than they have been able to in the past with what they're watching," said ABC manager of new media services, Chris Winter. "In the past we sit in the lounge room and talk to the person sitting next to us, in the future it will become easier and easier to engage with people who are not in the same room." But how will they be able to pass the remote/chips/dip?

Publisher Little, Brown has announced that it will publish JK Rowling's next novel... for grown ups. "Although I've enjoyed writing it just as much, my next novel will be very different from the Harry Potter series," reads a note on the author's website. "The freedom to explore new territory is a gift that Harry’s success has brought me," Rowling said in a statement. Over at The Australian, Christopher Farley asks, "Can J.K. Rowling work her magic with adults?". Regardless of her ability to entertain older readers, which must be a nervous adventure for Rowling, her ability to weather disappointment and failure, as communicated in her legendary Harvard Commencement speech, is one of her great triumphs of character.

A short film about a man and his grandfather who run a lemonade stand took out the top prize at Tropfest this week, but the best story is that of its director, Alethea Jones. It was a truly happy turn of fortunes Jones, who had applied for the dole just two weeks beforehand despite having previously won last year's Inside Film award for Best Short Film for When the Wind Changes and an Audience Choice award and Best Comedy at Flickerfest and St Kilda Festival (clearly, awards are great but do not pay). Lemonade Stand earned her $10,000 cash, a $6,000 camera and a trip to Los Angeles to meet film industry executives. Her film was selected from more than 700 entries with the 16 final films screened to audiences across the country.

The March issue of Country Style features a Victorian schoolhouse built in 1857 turned into a weekender, and a general store built in 1891 that is now a family home, art gallery and general store. Editor Victoria Carey writes in her editor's letter: "In 1977, Megan Trousdale was sent by this magazine to a small town in northern New South Wales to research some stories, and it proved to be a life-changing assignment. "As a journalist with Country Style I travelled to the country nearly every week and returned to our rented terrace, craving open space and natural beauty," she explains. This craving eventually prompted Megan and her husband Duncan to move to Nundle where they opened first an art gallery and now the Odgers & McClelland Exchange Stores. Their customers often ask: "What is this shop doing in the middle of nowhere?" Megan’s simple reply — "but this is our somewhere" — made me think how we often overcomplicate things in life; how home is really where and what we make it; and that everywhere is someone’s "somewhere"."

Two great new shows from the Harvest Rain Theatre Company: The Neverending Story (Cremorne Theatre, QPAC, April 28 to May 12), which will resonate with Gen-Y kids who remember Kevin Arnold from the Wonder Years played the part of Bastian, and You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (Mina Parade Warehouse, March 21 to 31), which will delight Gex-Xers with a trip to Peanutsville. The feel-good musical is a day-in-the-life of Charlie Brown with his faithful dog Snoopy, friends Linus, Schroeder and Lucy and little sister Sally.

The real Trevor Sykes c/o Allen & Unwin

"Readers of today's column are participating in a piece of literary history," writes Trevor Sykes in his Pierpoint column, 'Forty Years of Colourful Characters', in today's The Australian Financial Review. "We are celebrating the 40th anniversary of the first column Pierpoint quilled for this august journal. For the record, the initial column appeared on February 18, 1972. Pierpoint introduced himself as an old clubman enjoying a few gin and tonics with the chairman of the Australian Associated Stock Exchanges, Michael McAlister, a former secretary to the Duke of Windsor." To celebrate, Pierpoint has given readers a tongue-in-cheek tip on successful entrepreneurship from each of the past four decades, rounding out with 40 bottles of Grane Annee and a "Pip! Pip! Pierpoint." The Financial Review will have a new, less "sectionalised" look from Monday.

Girl With a Satchel