JANUARY

After their years Outback Hiatus we bid a fond farewell to Angus & Charlie as they headed back to Melbourne where they've since been motoring ahead with their music.
We might have only known you for a little over a year boys - but you made every post a winner and we're lovin' seeing you succeed!

Since Christmas we've been flatstrap at Stormfront Recording completing mixes for our 3 Whyalla Recording Scholarship Winners - Shakira, Jaylee & Liberty.

In particular we've been honoured to have been working in-studio with:

* Jim Riley (Drums in Nashville, Tennessee - from American Country supergroup Rascal Flatts)
* Andrew Synowiec (Electric Guitars in Los Angeles, California - he's done it all - Grammy Award, Buble, Streisand, "Frozen".....)
* Ricky Mier (Banjo in Boston, Massachusetts)
* Bobby Bowlin (wicked Fiddle in Nashville, Tennessee)

Right now 3 amazing Debut Singles are waiting in New York to be Mastered by arguably the world's finest Mastering Engineer -
Grammy Award-winning Randy Merrill of Sterling Sound.
Stormfront Recording is proud to have now built a solid working relationship with Sterling Sound having
worked with them to produce 6 Release Masters since 2017 - these guys are simply "Best on Planet"!

Meanwhile Alison utilised her holiday time to complete her Grade 8 Voice exams with an "A+ High Distinction" through Con Brio.

On 25th January we sponsored production for WRS Winner Shakira Lea as she donated a lunchtime concert to Whyalla Aged Care Annie Lockwood.

FEBRUARY

Another busy year of Private Lessons kicked off at The Centre and the 3 campuses of Samaritan College -
Stormfront's second year in charge of the Samaritan College Band Programme also commenced with record numbers enlisted!

By far February's biggest demand was to launch our 3 fabulous Whyalla Recording Scholarship Winners Singles to the world on the 24th.

With accompanying websites and online profiles - all produced in-house by Stormfront - it doesn't get any bigger than this:

LIBERTY TUOHY "Time Stays The Same"
SHAKIRA LEA "I Miss You"
JAYLEE DANIELS "Papa's Song"

Jaylee hit #7 and Shakira #18 on the iTunes Australia Country Chart as
Mark & Shakira began the media blitz on the 26th with an Interview across SA on ABC Radio South Australia.

Stormfront and the Mount Laura, and Whyalla LIONS Clubs met to wrap up 2018 LIONS GFG Alliance "Carols In The Park".
Our Event Committee chose recipients of the 2018 "Carols Community Collection" and set the 2019 event's date as "Sunday 15th December".
Stormfront now begins the 10-month planning process to make this huge community celebration a reality!

MARCH

Student Jamie-Lee achieved an "A Distinction" for her Grade 2 Piano exam through Con Brio -
what a bonus it is to now have access to these online exams made possible by NBN internet!

Shakira, Liberty & Jaylee saw their music reaching the world with airplay, interviews and coverage everywhere.
Airplay & interviews were delivered across Australia, the USA and UK with Eyre Peninsula and Spencer Gulf TV & newspapers getting on-board in a big way!

In the last week of March our ceaseless promotion saw WRS Winner Liberty Tuohy's "Time Stays The Same" climb into the Triple J Unearthed National Top 10 chart!

APRIL

April Fools Day brought Liberty's Single to Number 4 on the Triple J Unearthed Indie Chart -
an astonishing achievement in profile & popularity for this Outback music sensation!
WRS is about showing a young songwriter "The Way" and hoping they take that direction to go even further.

For our 4th consecutive year Stormfront Productions staged at the WHYALLA STUDENT CAREER EXPO hosted by Edward John Eyre High School.
Every year we've been the sole representative and conduit for any young people considering a career in The Arts, Music and Creative Industries -
we consider this option to explore an Artistic career, even briefly - is SO important in a setting otherwise entirely directing young people towards "normal" jobs.

We again fully sponsored sound & lights, and provided a 2-song performance by
Shakira Lea & Alison Hams to the ANZAC EVE Vigil opening ceremony.

April 22nd saw a brilliant and world-class WRS Launch Party attended by Mayor Of Whyalla Clare McLaughlin -
a bumper crowd saw Shakira, Jaylee & Liberty join Inaugural Winner Breeze Millard, Joshua Paton and JJ Payne
in a sensational live event showcasing the very best of young Original music talent.

At Stormfront Recording something exciting was afoot -
a new Single by Breeze Millard & Joshua Paton started tracking towards International release late in 2019.

MAY

Stormfront & WRS fully sponsored a full days sound and entertainment at the 12th May Mount Laura Homestead Mothers Day market.

In-studio Stormfront Recording was enjoying the workload producing Breeze Millard & Joshua Paton's new song "Holding On" as we
got to work closely with the amazing Rick Curran and James Turner on
Orchestral Strings and Orchestral Percussion tracking - both in the UK.

Meanwhile our WRS Winners were interviewing on radio in NSW and SA.

JUNE

The June Long Weekend saw Mark and Alison heading to the Riverland to host and perform at the South Australian Country Music Awards.
The SACMA are SA's premier and longest-running Country Music event -
and we're proud to maintain such a long and central involvement in its continuation.

Stormfront's extra-curricular and very fun group class CLUB VOICE kicked off, ready for another great year.

On 15th June Stormfront, WRS, Jaylee & Shakira donated Feature sound, lights and performances to the Whyalla Rotary Changeover Dinner -
at the end of the night Rotary presented a cheque for $1000 sponsorship of WRS which makes a world of difference for this incredible philanthropic initiative.

JULY

Student Maddelyn Ravanelli recorded & released her newest Original song Be Yourself -
this project fully sponsored & produced by Stormfront Productions.
Check out November 2019 to see what happens next!

The WRS promotional trail continued with our WRS Winners interviewing in NSW, USA, UK and France.

AUGUST

August 7th and 8th saw Stormfront play a formative role in the staging of SAMARITAN SPECTACULAR.
Along with awesome performances from our Beginner, and Junior Concert Bands - we provided world-class Soloists
Jaylee Daniels, Ciara Francis & Natasha Taylor - plus our enthusiastic Glee Club made their debut!

We staged free Mock Exams for our students preparing for their AMEB Music Examinations coming up in early September.

Student Mairead earned an Honorable Mention at the 2019 Balaklava Eisteddfod.

Students Jaylee & Mairead performed at the Middleback Theatre as part of Whyalla Players' production of Disney's Beauty And The Beast.
Mairead played her pivotal role as "The Wardrobe" to critical acclaim - what a star she is!

SEPTEMBER

Mark & Alison performed their annual concert at the Iron Knob Golf Club on a night filled with community spirit, country hospitality & a stunning sunset.
You've gotta love "The Knob" - lovely people, Outback beauty, always a pleasure!

September also saw a number of Stormfront students performing at Whyalla's Middleback Arts Centre -
as part of the annual Whyalla Combined Primary Schools Choir Spectacular 2019.
Congrats to our wonderful Woodwind Tutor Kym who also appeared as a feature Saxophone Soloist on the night -
you're definitely part of the Stormfront Family now!

In a busy month for choirs - many Stormfront students also made their annual pilgrimage to the
Adelaide Festival Centre to sing as part of the Catholic Schools Music Festival.

Liberty Tuohy was the first WRS Winner to complete her Scholarship - we wish Lib well in her musical future!

Meanwhile WRS entered full filming & production of Jaylee Daniels' & Shakira Lea's debut Music Videos shot in & around Whyalla.
Lots of early mornings, sunsets, generators and cinematography would soon create outstanding results!

3rd September saw Stormfront again proudly host & fully sponsor the Whyalla Regional Session AMEB Exams.
Our lovely Examiner Linda Pirie was very impressed with the standard and variety of talent displayed by
the students of piano, flute and voice from across the Region who took part.

We mixed Breeze Millard & Joshua Paton's new Single "Holding On" and sent it on to New York
to be Mastered by Grammy Award-winning Randy Merrill of Sterling Sound

OCTOBER

Wednesday 9th October saw Mark & Alison travel to Queensland to attend the 2019 Australian Women In Music Awards at Brisbane Powerhouse.
Alison was one of three Finalists for the Humanitarian Award along with Lindy Morrison and eventual Winner - International superstar Dami Im.
Thanks to Qantas for losing all our luggage meaning our whistlestop Brissy visit was somewhat more stressful & expensive than we'd hoped!?

Sunday 20th October saw the release of Shakira Lea's debut Music Video "I Miss You" -
what a stunning product and WOW what a journey since winning WRS back in September 2018!
We are SO proud of you Shakira - you're world class!

Whyalla's 12th Annual "JAMM 4 GENES" saw a "Standing Room Only!" crowd fill the St James Hall
and (for the third year running!) become SA's leading 2019 fundraiser for the "Jeans For Genes" cause!
Proudly Australia's longest-running "Jamm" -
we saw a BEST EVER 2.5-hours of entertainment performed by young people for young people.

In-studio our Junior WRS Winner Jaylee recorded a sensational demo of her newly written song "I Am Here" - fully sponsored & produced by Stormfront.
This marks the first time a WRS Winner has completed a recording of a second Original well within their Winners Year!
As for what happened next - just wait for December 2019!!!

On 22nd October AMEB's 2019 Online Orchestra saw thousands of performers from across Australia record their part of
"I Am Australian" with a big screen version of the recording beamed across Federation Square in Melbourne at a celebration concert.
Members of our Samaritan Junior Band Ensemble were proudly part of this initiative!

Thursday 24th October saw talented students Natasha and Ciara provide stunningly perfect
Solo performances as part of the Samaritan College Year 12 Mass.

October 30th saw a 3-day run of Whyalla High's school musical - Monty Python's "Spamalot" - begin, featuring student Logan as King Arthur.
Well done Logan - you're so talented and we're so proud of you!

NOVEMBER

1st November saw student Ciara performing as a Special Guest at Sunrise Christian School's Christmas Musical -
what an amazing young lady who's having an extra busy year on-stage showing everyone just how good she is!

November 2nd saw the release of our second WRS Debut Music Video for the year - Jaylee Daniels' "Papa's Song".
WHAT a star, what a song, what a year Jaylee - and it definitely isn't over yet!

Alison was named a Finalist in SA Women Awards which aim to recognise outstanding contributions by SA women to business, entrepreneurship & community.

Stormfront was again sighted at the SA Music Awards in Adelaide -
on the strength of our on-going successes with the Whyalla Recording Scholarship we were a Finalist for Best Music Manager.

Our Video Studio kept busy producing the Lions GFG Alliance "Carols In The Park" TV advert -
We've sure got a tight & comprehensive team at CITP these days and handle everything easily in-house!

The MUSIC Count Us In programme staged once again in 2019, with its fabulous "We Are".
A cross-section of the Stormfront Students SING! team featured on the big screen live stream at Sydney Harbour on Celebration Day!

Saturday 16th November saw Stormfront fully sponsor a brilliant day of musical entertainment at Whyalla McDonald's Family Restaurant
continuing our long-standing supporting for Maccas' annual McHappy Day.
Included in the day were performances from Alison, Jaylee Daniels, Shakira Lea, Emma Taylor, Romy Foote, Maddelyn Ravanelli,
a host of the Stormfront Students SING! team - and the Samaritan College Junior Ensemble.

The Samaritan College Beginner Band performed for their Primary Campuses as well as family & friends at two Pop-Up Concerts - at STC and OLHC campuses.

Band students at STC and OLHC campus Assemblies were presented their Participation Awards for their dedication to Band in 2019.

2019 Band Reports were written and distributed, and our auditing and servicing of Band Hire Instruments began.

Monday 25th November saw Maddelyn Ravanelli win her second-consecutive ASME Young Composer Award for the second time in three years.
Maddie travelled to Adelaide to collect her prize, and performed her Original song Be Yourself at the 2019 ASME Young Composers Awards Concert.

On 29th November Mark & Alison were proud to once again provide music and production for the Whyalla Branch of
the Asbestos Victims Association Memorial Service at Mt Laura Homestead Museum.
Stormfront is proud to continue its long-standing central role assisting this event.

DECEMBER

December should be a wind-down to New Year -
for Stormfront the opposite is always true & 2019 was our craziest yet!

Have a look at this calendar....!

The beginning of December always sees our Graphic Art department busy producing content for Fairfax Regional Press as they prepare our annual
Lions GFG Alliance "Carols In The Park" Official Programme for centrefold publication in Whyalla News the Thursday prior to the event.
Thanks to Tash at WN for her part in this project in 2019!

Friday 6th December saw our final Samaritan Band Rehearsal as our Junior Concert Band members polished their impending "Prize Night" performance at Saint Johns Campus.

Saturday 7th December saw Mark & Alison provide live music 5.00-9.00pm at the Iron Knob Christmas Dinner.
With Iron Knob being so central in the 2 of us meeting the IK community feels a special bond with us,
and us with them - so this annual event is always a pleasure to be part of!

Whyalla Ballet School's annual concert Let's Get Loud staged at the Middleback Arts Centre featuring many Stormfront students -
including our Junior WRS Winner Jaylee Daniels.

Monday 9th December saw an all-dayer at the Middleback Arts Centre as we set-up for, then performed as part of Samaritan Junior Concert Band for "Prize Night".
As well as a fantastic pre-show Foyer performance by the JCB, Alison presented our 2019 Instrumental Awards for Excellence on-stage,
and our 2 Stormfront Feature Vocalists Ciara Francis and Jaylee Daniels impressed hugely.
Jaylee then topped off a stellar night by winning the Middleback Arts Centre Award For Application & Excellence in Performing Arts!

If that was good - we arrived home from MAC to be officially told that our Junior WRS Winner Jaylee was now one of only 5 Grand Finalists in the
Woolworths Songwriter Festival with her song "I Am Here" (we recorded Jaylee's pro demo for her entry back in October).
This is a major competition run by Woolworths Australia & New Zealand which will now see us and Jaylee performing
"I Am Here" in Sydney in front of a music industry panel on 19th February 2020 -
the Winner has their song recorded and released by Woolies & Australia's premier Studios 301.

Tuesday 10th December saw us proudly hosting a Full Cast Dress Rehearsal in preparation towards LIONS GFG Alliance "Carols In The Park" -
complete with interviews and coverage from Sofia at Spencer Gulf 7 Television News.

Wednesday 11th December took us and the "Carols Community Choir" to Whyalla Special Education Centre's very special "Carols By Candlelight" -
every year the CCC donate a second performance and in recent years WSEC have proved a beautiful host.

Student Maddelyn Ravanelli again hit the news with her fundraising campaign for the Jodi Lee Foundation -
a phenomenal campaign by Maddie in tribute to her nan who died of bowel cancer in June.
Madz had her hair cut off at Westland Shopping Centre in front of a big crowd on 14th December & so far has raised over $2230!

Breeze Millard & Joshua Paton's "Holding On" launched Internationally on 14th December.
WHAT a song & what a brilliant young couple this is - Whyalla and SA should be SO proud!

Sunday 15th December saw a huge crowd in Whyalla's Civic Park to enjoy the most spectacular LIONS GFG Alliance "Carols In The Park" yet!
This 2.5-hour non-stop extravaganza is Regional SA's biggest free public concert event - and provides Whyalla a chance to "Celebrate Christmas as a Community".
As searchlights scanned the sky and a perfect evening fell - Civic Park under the Outback stars was definitely the only place to be!
Stormfront is proud to have been Stageshow Coordinator for this immense concert since 2006!

Not part of our "Carols" team for once - but for all the best reasons - our Stormfront Alumni Jess Payne launched her
Debut Short Film at a screening in Adelaide as we sang about Christmas in Whyalla.
We continue to be so proud of this young lady and the enormous talents she displays - GO JESS!!

Tuesday 17th December saw us complete our final Samaritan College commitment with a maintenance day servicing school music gear at Saint Johns Campus -
early 2020 will also see Stormfront embark on a mission to fix the SJC hall's PA system!

Monday 23rd December marked our official end-of-year with delivery of some final outstanding Private lesson commitments at The Centre.

As Christmas raced towards us - and 631 songs later - we finally undertook some Christmas shopping
and started planning for four release recording projects & a music video before February 2020 arrives.

With New Year upon us a we've hosted a studio photo-shoot for an Adelaide university project -
plus we need to begin planning towards a 2020 Whyalla Recording Scholarship.

And now it's "full steam ahead" preparations to head to Sydney with Jaylee in February -
OK - bring on 2020 - let's see what you've got!!

Stormfront Productions is immensely proud of the time, effort, sponsorship & dedication
given both publicly and privately to our community, charities and individuals.

In 2019 we were proud to work with & support:

Saint James Lutheran Church
FULL SPONSORSHIP

Samaritan College

"Music Count Us In"
FULL SPONSORSHIP

Mount Laura Homestead
FULL SPONSORSHIP

Whyalla ANZAC Eve Vigil
FULL SPONSORSHIP

"Jeans For Genes"
FULL SPONSORSHIP

Australian Music Examinations Board
FULL SPONSORSHIP

Con Brio Music Examinations Board
FULL SPONSORSHIP

McHappy Day & Ronald McDonald House Charities
(National)
FULL SPONSORSHIP

South Australian Country Music Awards
PART SPONSORSHIP

Jess Payne Photography

Australian Women In Music Awards (QLD/NSW)

Whyalla Asbestos Victims Association
FULL SPONSORSHIP

Iron Knob Golf Club

Iron Knob Progress Association

The Rotary Club of Whyalla
SPONSORS OF WRS!

The Whyalla, and Mount Laura LIONS Clubs
PART SPONSORSHIP

Gavin Chandler Productions

Matthew Nitschke

Augusta Production Services

Geniene Gordon Photography

Whyalla Special Education Centre
FULL SPONSORSHIP

ASME Young Composer Awards (SA)

Woolworths Australia & New Zealand

Listen Up Music (NSW)

Shari Hams, Sofia Kontogonis, Louise Hedger, John Hunt, Candice True & SCA Television Network

Louis Mayfield , Natasha Gale & the Whyalla News team

Whyalla Community Brass

Whydale Calisthenics Club

Middleback Arts Centre

Romy Foote

Edward John Eyre High Scool
FULL SPONSORSHIP

In 2019 Stormfront Recording was proud to work with & support: