Multiple Golden Guitar winner Melinda Schneider brings her Great Women of Country album concert to Laurieton on Saturday night.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
She says one of her musical influences growing up was Olivia Newton-John during her country period. But her favourite is the evergreen Dolly Parton. "Dolly has been a huge influence in my life. She is a most prolific songwriter, and an amazing business woman."
Dolly may be her favourite, but Schneider says all the wonderful women featured on the album she and Beccy Cole released in 2014, have been big influences on her career.
Schneider is a fan of big ballads and story songs. Her favourites on the album include Crazy, Blue Bayou, and Angel of the Morning. Parton, Tammy Wynette, Juice Newtown, Patsy Cline, feature strongly on the song list, with Linda Rondstadt, Bonnie Raitt, Newton-John and Reba McIntyre among the others. D.I.V.O.R.C.E., Love Hurts, I Will Always Love You and 9 to 5 are among the classics the audience will hear.
"The album was my idea. We both made our own lists, and a lot of the songs on both our lists crossed over so we pretty much agreed, except for Stand by Your Man, which Beccy didn't want to include, but it's great."
Cole is not with her on this tour but Schneider will perform all 22 songs, and says she will throw in a couple of hers at the end. She is bringing four of the musicians who played on the album with her, saying they are the "best in the country".
With accolades such as Female Vocalist Of The Year, APRA Song Of The Year and a swag of songwriting awards and Entertainer Of The Year awards to her name, when will she putting some of her own songs on a new album?
"You've got to pay the mortgage, but I've always been true to myself, and the messages I want to put out to the world. I could never just do something for the sake of it, that's torture.
"I've been in concept land for the last eight years, and had a baby. It was a massive life change for me at 41 to have a baby. I'm a better songwriter, have more empathy, and I'm more well-rounded, but it's the hardest job I've ever done," she says. "I had to wait until I met the right partner [Mark Dyball from Choirboys]. He's my best mate and the most kind and gentle man I've ever known. He's very hands on."
This will be her first original album in 10 years. Some of the songs have been up her sleeve for 15 years, while others are written from a new perspective as a mother, and woman in her 40s. "I've come into my own a lot more and worry less about what other people think. This album is the most authentic I've ever made, revealing stuff I haven't before about childhood and life. It might shock some, it's the things you start to think about when you're a parent."