Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
Join Cheryl Lee That Radio Chick on Still Rockin' It for news, reviews and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians.
What are they up to at the moment? Let's find out .......
Still Rockin' It - Cheryl Lee
What has Zkye Compson-Harris been up to lately? OR From Adelaide to Nashville and then back to open for Stevie Nicks
Join Cheryl Lee - That Radio Chick on STILL ROCKIN' IT for news, reviews, music and interviews with some of our favourite Australian musicians.
Today we are a fly on the wall during filming of an interview for Channel 44 with Adelaide’s queen of the blues, Zkye Compson-Harris.
From studying jazz voice at university in Adelaide to playing her original songs opening for Stevie Nicks at Botanic Park in 2017.
A two times SA Blues Awards Female Vocalist of the Year, Zkye has three solo albums and two live albums with her band.
She performs constantly around her hometown as a solo artist, as a duo with Gab Hyde, Kickass Cowgirls, with band Zkye Blue and with partner in life and music, Damien Steele Scott.
Hear her perform her brand new song live in her loungeroom.
Includes Songs:
Zkye - Yesterday's Make-Up
Fleetwood Mac - Black Magic Woman
Zkye - Storylines
Zkye - This Ain't Love
What has Zkye been up to lately … let’s find out!
Get out when you can, support local music and I'll see you down the front!!
Visit: ThatRadioChick.com.au
that radio chick, cheryl lee, here with you. Welcome to the still rocking podcast where we'll have music news, reviews and interviews with some of our favorite australian musicians and artists. Today, we are a fly on the wall during filming of an interview for channel 44 with adelaide's queen of the blues sky, compson harris, from studying jazz voice at uni. With Adelaide's Queen of the Blues Skye Compson-Harris, from studying jazz voice at uni in Adelaide to playing her original songs opening for Stevie Nicks at Botanic Park in 2017. A two-times SA Blues Awards Female Vocalist of the Year, skye has three solo albums and two live albums with her band. She performs constantly around her hometown as a solo artist, as a duo with Gab Hyde, kick-ass Cowgirls, with band Sky Blue and with partner in life and music, damien Stills-Scott. Hear her play her brand new song live and to catch up on the podcast of other favourite artists, simply go to thatradiochickcomau.
Speaker 1:Cheryl Lee that Radio Chick here. Thank you for joining us for Don't Forget the Rider. Today we are in the lounge room and rehearsal space of the wonderful Sky with a Z two-times Blues Award winner, female vocalist of the year. Yep, thank you for having us today. You're more than welcomeist of the year.
Speaker 1:Yep, thank you for having us today.
Speaker 2:You're more than welcome.
Speaker 1:You studied?
Speaker 2:jazz at uni, studied jazz at uni and I went to TAFE as well and did music there, left school at 16 and made a bet with mum and dad and said, if I get into uni, can I leave school? And they're like, yeah, right. And then yeah, made it happen and from there I started off studying classical piano and that was great fun. I really enjoy, I love classical music. But then started improvising on the classics and things and my piano teachers didn't really get that. Yeah. And then I went into jazz and right into blues and Billy Holiday and Bessie Smith All those sort of ladies were high up in my idol sort of thing which does not make me very cool at school. You know loving people from 20s and 30s music, but that didn't matter, I didn't really care.
Speaker 1:Clearly, music was in your DNA and you knew from a very early age that this was your destiny.
Speaker 2:Definitely. From when I was in about year two or year three, I knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a musician, a singer. I wanted to perform. I love performing and I love working with the crowd and bringing them in and taking them on a journey. And it doesn't matter whether you're playing to three people or you know 10, 20, 30,000. I mean, I've done big shows and it doesn't really make any difference to me. I like to give everything I've got.
Speaker 2:I had a lecturer when I was at tafe, actually, and the one lot of advice he gave me was play every gig as though you might get hit by a bus tomorrow. And it worked. It made it feel like, okay, these people have taken the time to either come and see me or they're already there. They need a show. Music can hit your soul so much it can take you out of being in a really bad mood, or it can just elevate your fabulous mood. And I get people quite frequently at gigs say to me you know I was in a really bad headspace and then you made me feel like you were playing just to me. Then you'd come up in the breaks and you'd talk to me and make me feel really good about myself and you know, the day got better and I'm like I did my job.
Speaker 1:I did my job so clearly. There was never, ever, a plan b for you.
Speaker 2:This is your passion and it's pretty obvious yeah, yeah, no, I never wanted to do anything else. I mean, I taught music for a bit and I did some modelling, which wasn't very healthy. Yeah, there was nothing else I ever wanted to do, and from when I was 16, I was performing pretty much full time and it went from there and I've been very lucky to do that.
Speaker 1:There's three albums the first one Beyond the Pain, yep, and then the next two. In the Case and Just the Way it Goes, you recorded those in Nashville, in Nashville.
Speaker 2:How amazing that was. Amazing times. I mean the Just the Way it Goes album I was lucky enough, on four tracks, to have. They'd worked with Aretha Franklin, they'd worked with everyone. They came into the studio, you know, had a bucket of chicken of fried chicken, of course they did. And then they started, they listened to the tracks and then I said this is what I want, this is the sound I want, and they just just did it. And then, you know, they'd swap and say, okay, you take that part, let's make it doubled and do this. And I just went this is heaven, this is what I want, this is great. So, yeah, I was lucky enough to record those two albums. Just the way it goes was all recorded in nashville. In this case was recorded half in nashville and half here. Yeah, I was, I was very lucky to have that experience and we'll go back again and do some more. But now we've got a little home studio that we, you know, can just do it whenever we feel like that's right we have the technology we have the technology.
Speaker 2:You are listening to still rocking it the podcast with Cheryl Lee.
Speaker 1:We're going to play some of Sky's recent new music later, but for now I want to play you a song from the second album, in this case the first album to be predominantly recorded in Nashville. This is my favourite Yesterday's Makeup, favourite yesterday's makeup. You also have a band, sky Blue, and you have got two live albums from Sky Blue, filmed and recorded at.
Speaker 2:Mixmasters yes, at Mixmasters, yeah. So we did both Volume 1 and Volume 2 all in the same day. We sold tickets to that. We made sure that everyone could experience what it's like to be in a studio to see what it's like. I mean, yes, it was recorded. It was a live recording, live feel, but it gave everyone an experience of what it's like. So I think we had 20 or 30-odd people in the studio everyone an experience of what it's like. So we had I think we had 20 or 30 odd people in the studio. It was great. It was a really good fun and, yeah, we got two albums out of it.
Speaker 1:I've been to one of those. It's a great way to raise funds, definitely, and also it gives the punter a little bit of a sneak peek behind that curtain of you know, real life recording in the studio. Yeah, it opened for Stevie in 2017.
Speaker 2:I did here in Australia. That was something else, because I'm a huge fleetwood mac fan. I'm a massive fleetwood mac there. Yeah, one of my biggest influencers. I love lindsey buckingham and christine b and um stevie nicks and I love all of their stuff and so opening for stevie nicks was really cool and she was about this big. She was tiny and I'm a giant but she's tiny, but it was very, very, very exciting, very cool to see. Did you get to meet her? I got to pass her as she was coming out of the toilet. That kind of counts, sure does.
Speaker 1:Still rocking that podcast with that radio chick, Cheryl Lee. I think that calls for a Fleetwood Mac song. Black magic Magic Woman will be back to speak more with Sky after this.
Speaker 2:All of the five albums are available on the website, Uh yes, no, my very first album, beyond the Pain, I Sold out, sold out and I only released that on CD. It's a pretty eclectic taste. I guess you'd say it's quite out there. Yeah, it's all over the place. It was my first album. I don't remember how I was early 20s. I didn't have any specific place, I was going and it literally goes like that, so that one I've never put up. And if you're lucky enough to have a copy or there is a collector's item.
Speaker 1:I think you can get.
Speaker 2:there's one on on uh ebay that you can still pick up. That's been there for a while and I've been so tempted to buy it because I don't have any copies left. I I've sold them all, so if you get it yeah, it's a weird album and I sang very differently then. It's like a box of chocolates you never know what you're going to get on that one Exactly. On that one definitely, Definitely.
Speaker 1:You're very, very busy. You and Sky Blue and a couple of duos. You've got like at least 20 dates this month. Yep, you are performing around Adelaide all the time. Last time I saw, you actually was at the Arca Bar when you appeared with Swanee.
Speaker 2:Oh right, with Sky Blue. Oh with Swanee. Yes, of course, yeah, yeah, yeah, that was great, that was great fun. That was a good fun night. Yeah, sky Blue with Swanee, that was a really good night. We all had a lot of fun and, yeah, it was good fun, you did an awesome job.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank you. So, I think what we're going to do now is listen to a new song. Is that right? You've heard it first here.
Speaker 2:Indeed, yeah, yes, it's only freshly written, I think a couple of months ago. So yeah, Storylines, Storylines yeah. Please enjoy. Skye Compson-Harris. Live in her lounge room at her piano with her brand new song. You Heard it First here. Storylines the limes on your face, oh all good, yeah, this is just going to wrap it up, really.
Speaker 1:I'm rolling, I'm rolling Action You're back with Don't Forget the Rider with Sky with a Z Thank you. So, as I said before the song, you've got 20 odd dates, probably more this month, very busy. One of the places that you guys perform at is this mysterious, cool little place called memphis slims in the city, which is downstairs and it's like it's a blues club, easy, and it's tiny and it's smoky. You've got a. Is it a residency that you have there?
Speaker 2:no, we just play there a lot because it's a great venue. We every musician that you'll speak to it in adelaide it's their favorite place and it's I mean, people come from yeah, they're coming now from overseas to play there and it's it's just a great vibe. The, the staff, the guys that run it, it's, it's awesome. They have great cocktails as well and we all just love it. So you know, we just want to play there as as much as possible. So on the ground level, they've got shotgun willies, which my band, the kick-ass cowgirls it's a duo that I do with gab hunter, and so the kick-ass cowgirls play there, and then downstairs, damien, my partner, damien still scott, and I do a duo there, and then we also play on the Thursday night with the Dusty Lee Blues Jam, and then we also play there with Sky Blue, which is the blues band, of course, and yeah, it's great fun. Love it absolutely love it.
Speaker 1:So if you want to catch Sky and Sky Blue, or Sky and Demo, get onto the website.
Speaker 2:Get onto the website. Yeah so sky, so spelled Z-K-Y-E dot com, dot au, and you'll find everything there.
Speaker 1:One last question for you. So have you got a non-negotiable what is it that you must have on your rider? Not for every gig, not for every gig.
Speaker 2:but at Slim's there must be a shot of tequila. I like a shot of tequila, I like a shot of tequila. So that's usually a must for getting up at Slim's. I've got to have at least one of those with the boys there.
Speaker 1:It's sort of like a tequila shot type of place.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely, definitely it is I've educated the staff into. Always, as soon as I rock up, they're like is it time? I'm like it's time. It's time, boys, let's do it.
Speaker 1:We'll look forward to seeing you there one day soon. I'll see you down the front at Memphis Slims with Sky. We're going to go out with another reasonably new song. This Ain't Love.
Speaker 2:This Ain't Love, yep, so enjoy Cut Beautiful.
Speaker 1:So song ad break, we're back, all good yeah cool, you are listening to Still Rocking it.
Speaker 2:the podcast with Cheryl Lee.
Speaker 1:Hope you've enjoyed being a fly on the wall during the filming of an interview for the telly with fabulous Adelaide talent Sky Compson-Harris. Her gorgeous little black poodle sat on her lap throughout the whole interview, except when she was playing on the piano. Of course. You can catch the interview sometime soon on Channel 44. Now, as promised, we're going out with this, ain't Love?
Speaker 2:I'm so into you, I think that you want me to, but, boy, this ain't love Come with me.
Speaker 1:You're with Cheryl Lee, that radio chick. Thank you so much for joining me on the Still Rocking it podcast. Hope to catch you again next time. Get out when you can support Aussie music and I'll see you down the front.