Tamara Stewart has long been one of my favourites. It only took the rest of the world (bar a few cult followers like myself) way too long to find out. One of the craziest, yet saddest things came with an ironic twist….On The Voice Australia’s first season, Tamara appeared, then disappeared without being added to any of the coaches’ teams. To be fair to them, most of them had run out of spaces in their teams or had just one spot left. Keith Urban kicked himself for missing out on her. He knew her of course, when he turned around. She sang a Paul Kelly song that was not in her usual bag of tricks, because you couldn’t sing originals in the first round.
Tamara was a well established singer/songwriter in Australian Country Music when she entered the contest last year, but perhaps she was looking at a bigger picture. Ironically, Tamara had probably one of her biggest years. Capping it off was winning a Golden Guitar with her song which she penned with Colin Buchanan and sang with Felicity and Sara Storer, a brilliant tribute to the pioneer women country singers in Australia.
In many ways, Tamara is the female equivalent to Mike Carr, a talented singer/songwriter, whose songwriting has been a dominant force in Australian Country Music and has overshadowed their own chances to become dominant forces in the frontline of the industry. Both are well respected by their peers and are loved by a loyal group of fans.
Tamara has written for and co-written with some of the best artists in this country. She is a pocket dynamo who was so dominant at the Tamworth Festival this year that it was hard not to notice her. One of the best shows in Tamworth now is her Songwriters’ Showcase that she has at Wests Leagues Club, you never know who will turn up. She does this in Blacktown on a regular basis too during the year. She is a tireless worker for raising money for Breast Cancer.
A few years ago she brought together the cream of Australian Country Music to sing her song Under a Tangerine Sky, her tribute to the Victorians suffering from the bushfires. Simple Things is my favourite Tamara song, and undoubtedly her most requested at her concerts.
She wrote the fabulous Brave for Tracy Killeen, who did a marvellous job with it. She has written songs for Beccy Cole, Melinda Schneider and many others.
Tamara sings tributes, ballads, good rocking country, and she writes about her pride in being an Australian, a woman and all things country.
On top of her work for charities, her great talents as songwriter and singer, and the fact that she had her first paid gig at 13, Tam has proved that by hard work and persistence, this Butterfly is one of the nicest people that you could ever hope to meet. Fly on, Tam. The best is yet to come.
