Songs and Stories: The Blog of Ange Takats

An adventure in central Victoria

2012-02-06T08:28:00.000+10:00

Hand puppets, bonsai trees, mosaic hearts, a horse head, a rusty old car, music (sweet music) and a plate full of soggy nacho chips ... just a few things that feature in this video blog about my very memorable weekend in central Victoria at the Newstead Live Music Festival!

A simple Christmas

2011-12-25T17:44:00.000+10:00

My Christmas Day began with feet.... my feet. I decided to dance my way to merry-ness in my apartment. My heels and toes then carried me to the beach ... where it soon became clear that Mother Nature had been dipping her brush into the Christmas palette. In the cool sand, as the storm clouds parted for the sun, I welcomed the 25th of December 2011... not a soul in sight. My hands reached down

A Christmas gift for you(tube)

2011-12-23T11:46:00.000+10:00

I first heard this song in Singapore. A Thai musician had told me to buy myself a Bonnie Raitt CD after he heard me sing in a Bangkok bar. "You need to get her early stuff - from the 70's. She's the only woman I know who can balance strength with sweetness. You could learn a lot from her," he'd said. On a lonely afternoon in Singapore, where I'd been sent to work for a month, I decided to take

Ode to Matthew McConaughey

2011-11-29T09:33:00.000+10:00

I blame 'chick flicks' for this next song. Have you noticed how easily 'love' happens in a Hollywood romance movie? Like, there's a girl who gets on a plane and happens to sit next to some hunk who happens to, over the course of the 10 hour flight, fall madly in love with her. Easy, right?This song is about wanting random men to fall in love with me. Well, not only random men, but also a

'Life can be suck'

2011-11-24T06:07:00.000+10:00

I wrote this editorial piece for my local newspaper in response to the Sunshine Coast Regional Council's decision to shut down the long running Peregian Originals concert series event. This free community music event takes place in a park in Peregian by the seaside and has been held bi-monthly for the past ten years.For me, the beauty of Peregian Originals began when I moved

A gig in a country town

2009-10-29T11:08:00.000+10:00

“What? Are you serious? You can’t stay there! We call that place the ‘blood and guts’ hotel!” Not exactly the words I was hoping to hear twenty minutes before my gig was to begin in this cute Queensland country town. I’d booked into the local hotel to avoid a three and something hour drive after my performance back to the Sunshine Coast. Obviously I had no idea that it was

Q Song, Yeppoon and the Happy Sun

2009-08-17T15:45:00.000+10:00

There’s nothing like celebrating the end of a fabulous festival weekend with an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet dinner at the Happy Sun restaurant in Yeppoon.I’m not sure what convinced my best friend and I to dine at this particular eatery on the Capricorn Coast. Maybe it was the ornate Asian-style awning hanging over the front door or possibly the tennis-court fake grass at the entrance or just

Dreams and schemes and nectarines...Tassie tour

2009-07-09T14:39:00.000+10:00

3 February, 2009Sometimes control-freaks need to let go. I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions, but I had decided before flying down to Tassie that I would not book accommodation between the two festivals I had to play down there, even though the control-freak within was rather traumatized at the idea of rocking up to a new town without a place to stay.You see, I used to be good at the whole “

On the road with Tété

2009-07-09T14:37:00.000+10:00

14 October, 2008Now, I'm not a religious person, but I can tell you that as I flapped around like an interpretive dance-bird inside the Mullumbimby Civic Hall on the final night of this mini tour, I think I may have seen the light, or at least had a 'moment' with the universe.Maybe it was the fact the hall was church-like in its interior design, maybe it was because it was full of fellow music

The Pope, a tiny baby, a winter tour

2009-07-09T14:30:00.000+10:00

August 1, 2008To say my mini tour was a memorable one would be an understatement. I managed, with great skill, to time my tour to coincide with not only the coldest time of year in Melbourne but also the largest gathering in Sydney since the 2000 Olympic Games…World Youth Day.With my eight dollar pure wool, fully lined, knee length jacket from Vinnies – I felt quite prepared for the cold of