MARCH 13, 2011 at 10.14pm

November 14th 2011 at 12.46pm

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:05:00 GMT

Well hello world!

It's been awhile hasn't it? That's kind of the deal with this 'artiste' thing for me though... one minute I want to share everything and the next I'm hibernating like a bear for the winter. Good news is that I think I must still be living on Australian seasonality because just in time for winter here in the States, I appear to be waking up!

It's been a crazy few months with lots and lots of writing going on. Some of you may be pleased to hear that a little birdie keeps chirping in my ear telling me that next year is full album release time and despite my best efforts to choke the thing, it doesn't seem to be shutting up! So that's it I guess. I must comply.

I recently had my Bittersweet EP included on www.pandora.com which was such an interesting experience. For those of you outside of the States, Pandora Radio is an online music streaming program that creates a playlist for you when you drop the name of one of your favorite artists, songs or genres using its Music Genome Program. It takes into consideration literally hundreds of musical details on each track - melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics etc to match similar music with your favorites. So, by going in and selecting 'Belinda Oakley Radio' I was shocked to hear a bunch of stuff that I'd never heard before! Artists like Tori Amos, Sarah McLachlan and Sara Bareilles were a pleasant paring and then suddenly we had Ron Sexsmith! I wont even begin to mention the amount of Miley Cyrus that seems to be playing...
Regardless, the real compliments were the songs that forced me to put down whatever I was doing and race up to the computer to see who on earth this was and then wonder how on earth anyone could pair me with something so beautiful.

Welcome the Pandora Project!!! I've been needing an excuse to get more active more regularly on sites like youtube and this is it.

My challenge? To choose a different song to cover each week that I've never heard before but that the Music Genome Program matches me with. This is incredibly daunting seeing as I don't generally 'do' covers and I don't generally 'do' videos so I'd love to hear what you think. If you have any suggestions for covers please let me know and for those with Pandora, add me as a station!

Here's the first video in the series for you... I hope you like it.

Much love,

Belinda x

June 17th 2011 at 3.55pm

Sat, 18 Jun 2011 06:55:48 GMT

Hi Everyone,

I hope you are all well and that life is being extra nice to you!

As you might remember, I headed to Austin Texas in March to attend the annual South by Southwest festival which was an amazing opportunity to network and showcase in front of some of the key players in the industry... never mind an excuse to visit the live music capital of the world with over 200 live music venues!!! Amazing!

While I was there, Yes Go Productions asked to film an acoustic version of one of the tracks off my new EP, 'Bittersweet'. But there was a catch... we were going to film it from a moving horse and carriage, driving through the streets of Austin!

It was a lot of fun to shoot so I thought I would share it with you! I hope you likey :)

For everyone based in LA (and those of you with a private jet plane), I also have some new shows coming up which I wanted to quickly tell you about...

The first one is on 7th of July at The Key Club (Plush Lounge) on Sunset Blvd for Acoustic Playhouse, then we have another date at one of my favorite venues, Bar Lubitsch in West Hollywood on the 2nd of August. I also have my first songwriters in the round event at Pi on Sunset on the 29th of July. More details are available here

Considering I am writing this update from beautiful Hawaii, it is only fitting to bid you Aloha!

xox

March 29th, 2011 - 4.29pm

Wed, 30 Mar 2011 02:50:00 GMT

What a crazy few weeks! I'm happily back in LA now having left beautiful Austin behind... such a great little city. I think a trip back when it's not SXSW is order though as I presume it's quite a different experience for the other 51 weeks of the year??

I've been working on some new material this week and find myself getting more and more excited about getting started on the next release.

HOLD ON! I'm still releasing the first EP! Never one for delayed gratification I must remind myself that my Bittersweet EP only just went on sale today

While it's still a little while away from iTunes, you can download it or purchase a copy of the physical EP from www.cdbaby.com/belindaoakley

Right, off to book some shows now that I'm back on solid ground. More on that next time, gadget....

xoxox

March 19th 2011 at 8.03pm

Sun, 20 Mar 2011 06:30:00 GMT

Howdy Gang!

Still down here in beautiful Austin Texas at South by Southwest Festival. It has been amaaaazing but unfortunately is drawing to a close which means I'll be heading back to LA shortly. Have been having a great time though and seen some fantastic shows.... Highlights? Emmy Lou Harris at Antones, Josh Ritter, Ron Sexsmith and Amy Speace at St David's Sanctuary - the most beautiful venue at SXSW. Most incredible show award goes to Janelle Monet though who absolutely blew my mind on Thursday night!

About to head out for some more shows tonight but just had to share some photos from this cool little video we shot this afternoon in downtown Austin in a horse drawn carriage. Keep an eye on the videos page for this acoustic performance of 'Take Time' from my Bittersweet EP and in the meantime, here's your sneak peek!

Belinda xox

This is something I could get used to...

The awesome 'crew'!

Having a private moment with Mr Ed.

March 16th 2011 at 8.02pm - South by Southwest Day One!

Thu, 17 Mar 2011 06:30:00 GMT

Gotta love the red carpet treatment!

Want to get a girl interested in your
business down in the trade show?
Give away free blue cotton candy
of course!

March 13th, 2011 at 10.14pm

Mon, 14 Mar 2011 08:30:00 GMT

What a week! Never one to do things by halves I guess I shouldn't be surprised but In retrospect, I must remember to factor in sleeping, eating and breathing next time.

So, so, so happy to say that my new EP Bittersweet arrived safe and sound on Friday afternoon. I kept expecting to open it up and discover that the lyrics belonged to another artist or that the tracks all skipped or something - hence the slightly strange behavior during the unveiling. Hopefully you can appreciate the comedic value though now that the moment is immortalized on you tube forever more!

I've managed to score not one but TWO gigs at South by Southwest this week which is just amazing. If you are going to be in Austin please come down to check it out at 1pm (Romeo's) or 3pm (Botticelli's). More info is available on my SHOWS page. Romeo's has a baby grand which I'm always pleased to hear! Any excuse to tinker with some real ivories...

So amongst all the other madness we also have... drum roll please... this little piece of webspace pie! Bookmark me, put me in your favorites, set me as your homepage or all of the above. Next week will be an exciting week at SXSW with lots of extra special videos going up throughout the festival including impromptu performances, updates from the event and possibly even some more random footage of me being...me.

On a completely unrelated note, I appear to have come down with the dreaded flu. Typical considering I have two shows and heaps of people to meet in the next week so on the look out for some herbal remedies in case the copious amounts of pharmaceuticals don't do the trick!

Belinda x