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PEGGY VAN ZALM's Blackberry Wine

In early August 2006 we arrived on the island of Texel in North Holland. Now our acoustic duo has an added feature with the superb musical talents of Ger Schaefer on lead acoustic guitar. Ger manages to coax out some incredibly diverse sounds and textures from his hand crafted gypsy style acoustic guitar and we're having a hoot recreating and re-interpreting all the new songs from Light Diamond and songs from my other albums including vintage Martha's Vineyard tunes which are getting a tasty makeover.

In PEGGY VAN ZALM's BLACKBERRY WINE - Musical forces, spirits, talent, dedication and experience are melted together between Peggy, her partner Geoff Nant and her dutch cousin Ger Schäfer

You can have a little taster of some of our most recent brewed live recordings at our myspace site http://www.myspace.com/peggyvanzalmsblackberrywine

Email Peggy/Red Dirt Records

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Lyrics:

 ABOUT the current CD LIGHT DIAMOND

On her new solo album Light Diamond, singer/songwriter Peggy Van Zalm continues to write some of the most affecting moving music around.  The former lead singer of the late '80s Perth outfit Martha's Vineyard, Van Zalm's solo career has yielded five albums of thoughtful and meditative folk.  With a voice that suggests the tenderness of Joni Mitchell or the sly finesse of Chrissy Hynde, Van Zalm's work is always rich in wisdom and heart.  Now making her home in the small village of Elands, located on the mid-north coast of New South Wales, Van Zalm has found herself collaborating with local musicians and using these collaborations to inform her own songwriting process.  From the gentle pop tug of "Mercy" to the spare and rousing "Rise," Light Diamond is a rare and special album, filled with a wealth of warmth and melody.  On her way to the Netherlands, Van Zalm sat down with Alex Green of Caught In The Carousel and discussed the making of the album, life in Elands, and the state of Australian music.
 
Caught In The Carousel: How was the approach to recording Light Diamond different from the way you've recorded in the past?
 
Peggy Van Zalm: It's been a gradual kind of development.  Hopefully, you feel too that it's the next logical and artistic stage after Different World.  The move to Elands was particularly important for us.  The spirit of the community and the beauty and purity of the natural environment nurtured the music and the project.
In addition Geoff and I had been playing quite a few gigs together as a duo and then we started collaborating with Helen and Peter and I feel we really developed a unique kind of synergy.  The thread though throughout Light Diamond has been the vibe that's created with percussion and guitar.  A lot of the beds are the two of us getting the liveness and energy happening, then we've invited some of the key players in to do their thing.  Helen Knight on bass, Peter Mullany on electric guitar and Hugh Cowley on violin--we had some wonderful moments playing with them live over the last couple of years.  I was really keen to capture the material after evolving some of the songs in the live setting, rather than it be another session type of recording.  However, it wasn't until we upgraded our computer and software that the enthusiasm really peaked, mainly because everything started sounding so much more polished; it was the impetus we needed to pull it all together.
 
CITC: Can you describe what life in Elands is like?
 
PVZ: As far as white settlement is concerned, Elands was mainly a little rural mill town and farming area up until the late sixties I believe, when an influx of young alternate-minded Sydneysiders all decided to move in.  They brought with them a passion for the natural environment and broadminded and experimental attitudes.  The town has a history of successful activism and still retains a broad-based progressive and creative outlook.  There is also a peaceful acceptance of the difference of individuals and it is still very much a party town.  People enjoy gatherings and celebrate with enthusiasm; good food and community spirit is something I've grown to truly value.  Often the gatherings end up as musical opportunities.  The population has an unusually high number of musicians, artists, dancers and writers within it.  I have found we as a family have been heartily embraced and encouraged in all our non-conventional interests.  We have found musical and spiritual soulmates within this small (around 500) plateau population.  Our kids have enjoyed a unique experience in the extended family- like environment in the local school with a total of 23 children.  I have also grown through my involvement with the local health centre, practising thought field therapy and another energy healing technique called quantum touch.  Living on the rainforested plateau is both challenging and uplifting...the remoteness fosters a necessary psychological self sufficiency and also encourages grassroots self sufficiency too, as it is an hour away from any shopping centre with twenty minutes of winding gravel roads along escarpment.  So, Geoff has been developing his organic food growing skills.  The local food co-op still operates after 30 years, there is a general store and post office, two halls, a new cafe, a biodynamic yoghurt farm and factory, an aikido dojo.  There is a degree of "filtering" out of the general population who are less willing to tackle the rough roads and distance.  Personally I feel like I have thrived in the "wildness" of the place.  We are in a little old millhouse that doesn't keep out the weather.  I have learned to love the frosts and the brilliant blue skies of many winter days.
One of the main tourist attractions is the Ellensborough Falls, which is 160m vertical drop.  It is a powerful landmark and provides a definitive pulse and backdrop to this community.  I have been lucky to have the Ellensborough River as part of my backyard.  We can hear the rapids from our verandah and we submerge ourselves in the refreshing waters in the height of the summer.
 
CITC: How has this environment informed your songwriting?
 
PVZ; Perhaps I first became aware of how the environment informs my songwriting and thus my life, some years ago when I was living in the Blue Mountains and escaping the clutches of big city living.  It was for inner peace and healing that I escaped--an attempt to rediscover my true self and motivations out of a commercially hungry industry.  In the years following, I made some trips to the red centre of the Australian desert and later across the eastern coast of Australia on tour, and now being for an extended time in this potent place, these environments have spurned more conscious depth of connection and recognition of how vital that connection is for me and it has brought me a respect for indigenous values with regard to spirit of place.  It is with the same spirit that I try to make myself available for the music and for the lyrics and I enjoy drawing from the landscape's both inner and outer mirrorings.  Recent songs like "Listening In," "Mercy" and "Distant Hearts" were like a trilogy of songs written in a short period of time and I feel they came to address and assist in resolving certain issues in my life.  I believe we all need to make time to be in the natural environment as much as possible.  It is a balancing act and I believe it has a balancing action upon us.  Something I have become aware of through practising natural healing techniques is exactly that every single one of us is absolutely able to affect positively the health of ourselves and the environment through our intent and desire.  I feel the music moves with a similar pathway through me and through the resonance of both intention and desire.
 
CITC: Keeping the commercially hungry industry in mind, did there come a point where you were disgusted, or fed up with the material demands of the music industry?
 
PVZ: I was completely unprepared for the demands that came with a commercial agenda.  Looking back, I  believe I was both assisted by my wide-eyed innocence and also it became the reason I had to dip out at that time--to take a breath or two and find out my true direction again.  I feel I was completely absorbed by the commercial agenda and had no sense of centre at the time to be able to just take time out, so I just bailed completely.  Sometimes I wish I had more sense then, but of course it is impossible to go back and I know there is a bigger agenda and the path continues
 
CITC: And has the journey you've ended up taking, both artistically and personally been a conscious movement towards the organic for you?
 
PVZ: Not initially.  It has been a re-direction and a gradual one.  Now I see in hindsight why it occurred as it did and I can use it all.  Teaming up with a visual multi-media artist like Geoff has really helped, too.  Initially I savoured the difference in our mediums and now of course we are traveling together and have merged projects and it is rather peculiar in some ways, but that has definitely been an organic process and we augment each other's abilities.
 
CITC: And in terms of your artistic process, was this something that was beginning to rear its head in the early days of Martha's Vineyard, or did it take you completely by surprise?
 
PVZ: It has been a wonderful unfolding.  I can see how it is so completely the same journey for me, but different aspects of the artistic process and the revealing of spirit.  And, for that matter, coming to know our place within nature
 
CITC:  Light Diamond is such a lovely album not only because the songs are so wonderful, but because they all seem to have an intuition--a second sense, if you will--that has allowed them to be born out of a kind of listening to nature that goes beyond the running of a river or the rustling of trees.  Songs like "Distant Hearts" or "Listening In" appear to be examples of this.  But it seems this species of listening can't be achieved by taking a weekend and backpacking in the woods--and it's beyond simply communing with the natural world--it seems to come from an almost meditative understanding that allows us to listen to the world and respond to it as well.  Am I way off?
 
PVZ: I am really moved that you have this kind of response to the music on Light Diamond and I would most definitely advocate meditation as a passage for anyone who may be considering it.  I feel there is a wealth of information available to us if we are willing and ready to listen.  It is our empowerment base. The song "Listening In" is a lot about that--I believe very much that inner direction is the way through in these times when misinformation in the mainstream media is rampant.  I like to think of life as a balancing act.  "Being in the world but not of it" is a quote I love and try to live, and the running rivers and luminescent dawns are great energisers and also do communicate...its just a different "wavelength" or language, perhaps, and we can each "tune in" to nature the healer and teacher.  And in that receptive state positive change may occur--possibly even on that backpacking trip
 
CITC: Do you find that your musical influences that you had when you first
got into music are still influencing you?
 
PVZ: Not literally.  I have been learning a lot more from playing with others--jamming and improvising when I get the chance.  I used to really avoid it, 'cos I didn't feel very capable, being self-taught and not a particularly technical kind of player.  But now I try to push myself through the barriers and it's helped me a lot; it's when the music is really alive, and then it's gone, but something of the experience fuels the next song or performance and it is very rich.
 
CITC: Any new bands/singers that you've come across that have dazzled you?
 
PVZ: I have been watching quite a few vintage concert videos and docos lately. The surprise one for me that really knocked me out was Johnny Cash.  I found his performances and the footage of his everyday manner and persona simply compelling.  It goes beyond ego and is a much larger presence.  I love to see
musicians and performers who can really allow themselves to be inside the music-it's such a potent and powerful place and is literally awesome and so beautiful.  It is when the spirit of the artist shines through and the genre seems incidental.  Good music has its own power and agenda then.  I can feel that place sometimes when I am performing and I know it is the best I can be for an audience; it's being inside the emotion of the song and getting out of that self-conscious mode of "performer".  It is a kind of transcendence and it's a very special and privileged thing then to be a musician where an audience can be there with you.  I have had times when I have literally felt that shift from feeling awkward and things not working with an audience to just setting that intention to really feeling the song and then, like magic, the audience has sensed that and everyone is there together on that musical wave.
 
CITC: What do you make of the current state of Australian music?
 
PVZ:  I think it's still true to say that there is a wealth of interesting music out there, particularly in the independent scene that is generally not reaching mainstream audiences due to a number of reasons.  One, being radio is not getting the cross feed from music television as it was with Countdown in the 80's, so a lot of local music never really gets out there.  Radio is still pumping out "the classics" from that era and a lot of current new music worthy of airplay stays on the fringes a lot of the time.  I have been impressed with numerous artists I have met on the live circuits when I tour.
 
CITC: Was the sequencing of the album tricky?  Did you want to follow a linear path in terms of themes and movements?
 
PVZ: I spent a lot of time with the song order and we started with a group of 15 songs and at first I wanted to include them all, but it was just too huge.  In the end we kept just the 12 and then it was easier to sequence them and it came together a lot easier as a totality.  I wanted to have a movement through the album lyrically, which reflected a positive direction and outcome.  Mood-wise I was also looking to bring a feeling of consolidation...fuel for the next stretch.  I do feel that we live in amazing and challenging times as individuals and as a species on this planet.  I also feel the responsibility of making a contribution with the work, which will nourish and hopefully uplift fellow travelers.
 
CITC: Do you feel a different sense of responsibility when you write a
song now that you have children?  I always wonder how the lads in Slayer are going to feel when their kids are 12 and want to listen to their dads' music....
 
PVZ: I write primarily for myself and then I choose which songs I think could go further or if they stay just for me.  Being the mother of two boys--well, just being a mother I believe has influenced the music, but the responsibility I feel is to do with a sense of calling I suppose.  It is bigger than me...I approach it sort of like I am the ambassador of the music and I am following the music trail and try to serve the music ­
 
CITC: Your records always amaze me because they don't seem grounded in time--in other words, Light Diamond could have been made either fifty years ago, or fifty years from now.  That's not easy to pull off, because certain production elements can immediately date an album.  What's your feeling on this?
 
PVZ: Production wise, it's pretty simple I suppose--not a lot of effects that could immediately date the work.  Also, lyrically maybe it's the fact I don't make direct references to specific era things so perhaps I can see your point.  I do feel this album is specific to these times however, or at least is referential to the needs of our times.  My own particular experience with healing and nature is, I believe, a journey that we all are called to in our own ways and it is as much a call to spirit and for us to recognise and consciously make this connection.  It is urgently needed that we wake up and grow up.  It is the personal is political idea, that we all do make a difference to the planet.  I don't peddle this so much as an overt idea because I believe the intention is inherent in the vibration of the music and resonance works of its own accord.  However, I think that's why it's important that new music be encouraged in place of the old classics which have had their time on the airwaves.
 
CITC: What are your main goals for the future?
 
PVZ: Right, goals for the future...it would be wonderful to be able to travel the world and play the music and keep expanding as an artist/musician and I guess that is what I am now starting to do.  We are very much looking forward to being in Europe and playing and living.  I feel so lucky.
 

peggy's rave

After about a year and a half we finished the intentional touring with a gig at Woodford Festival and parked the camper and caravan for a final time on our bushblock in a little village on the Myall Lake National Park.

We started building a homebased studio/loft from an old community church hall. Then some years later we were living examples of John Lennon's observation - "Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans..." Yes, cos as it all turned out it wasn't our ideal as much as we had our dreams set...and then it was almost like suddenly one day after some fortunate meetings and sub-plots we not only found ourselves in a brand new life amongst a truly amazing landscape in the Bulga NSW (replete with reclaimed rainforested hills and valleys, lyrebirds, tortoises, platypus, wedge tail eagles, rambling rivers,waterfalls and mists, winter frosts and lots of red earth and winding gravel roads up the mountain..in short a natural haven) we discovered a new home at last and we have learned alot about a different life in the country - taking the time for growing organic vegies and rediscovering how to truly enjoy playing music again and improvising and jamming with everyone over the years.

Following recording "Different World" Geoff and I were playing lots of gigs round The Myall Lakes area. I have a few songs from Nerong which are on "LIGHT DIAMOND". However it wasn't until we teamed up with Helen Knight and Peter Mullany and had the violin virtuoso Hugh Cowley accompanying us at gigs that the excitement of putting these songs down really started happening.

"Entwined" started as a jam with Geoff and I outside Helen and Pete's place locally termed "The Brick" (due to this fortress being a red rock landmark on Colling Road.) The lyrics just started happening spontaneously and its like a tribute to Elands and what it has meant for us. It's been wonderful for me having the songs coming together in their own time and way. As soon as I saw Helen and Peter playing one fateful new years night in Bobin, I was inspired anew and it immediately felt right to have them play to bring alive some songs I wrote with Phil Kakulas back in the "Amsterdam era" like "Strange World". Also "Crazy Daze" has its roots in that time as well and has found its own character on this new disc with Helen and Peter's solid and "held back" drama.

Then as if to prove the universe truly is a bountfiful and benevolent place we had the added luxury of the masterful talents of Mick Liber and Angelika Booth generously available for some other songs I had recently written in Elands. It was the only time we moved the gear, although only just across town to their open plan studio. Other times, I was amazed to find musicians would find me...as in the case of Paul Stormon an avid aikidoist taking advantage of our world class Elands Dojo and a talented guitarist with a distinct and definitive style just perfect as a counterpoint to Pete Mullany on "strange world." Then with Ella on flute and piano who came up especially from Sydney and it is wonderful to have that haunting and mysterious tone on "Harvest" along with all the upbeat feel that the other instruments create.

Some of the recorded vocals in our "old mill studio" are highlighted by birdsong accents in perfect timing and resonance. Although we had to take out the kookaburras outburst at the end of Mercy, it was a tad kitch! but anyone who would like us to replace it just let us know and we'll even consider it. The resident possum family in the ceiling was always very considerate and would definitely have a permanent imprint of our songs in their brains!

So, I hope you can tell that I am really excited to offer you our new recording. We hope you will enjoy and maybe see you on our tour bringing you all our new songs in the coming months.

peace and music to you.

PVZ

Catch us at:

Taree Annual EnviroFair Saturday June 23rd - at the original venue of Macquarrie Park in Taree

Peggy performs trio with Geoff Nant and Paul Stormon from 12.40 - 1.20pm

Saturday 9th June 2007
Johnny Martin Oval - Taree Park 10am ­ 4pm
Corner Wynter and Macquarie Streets
Envirofair is a one day festival celebrating our environment and living in harmony with the earth. The day includes interesting talks, stalls, information, entertainment and wholesome food for the whole family.
Envirofair is a fun family day to:
· Learn to further minimize your impact on the environment
· Indulge your mind, body and spirit
· Participate in hands-on workshops
Envirofair has talks, displays, demonstrations as well as market stalls. Envirofair promotes environmental businesses, homegrown produce and organic food, homemade craft, alternative/complimentary therapies, and local art and music.

Living in my Diary:

Before I even had any intentions of writing "songs", I used my guitar and the words that came to me as a way of venting my feelings, perhaps as a sort of spontaneous eruption, very fleeting and in the moment and totally for myself. It was in the days when I was an art student and I guess for me the emphasis was very much on the exploration of expression...not the end product and definitely not in a conventional way.

I was listening to a lot of Joni Mitchell and taking in art bands like Talking Heads and later it was Cocteau Twins, then later Sinead O'Connor. I was interested in sounds and ambiences and the voice as a musical instrument, but also I was interested in progressions and emotive power and how that could be expressed moodfully and dynamically. I started keeping a diary of my thoughts, my obsessions and complexes, it was extremely private and painfully so. My music was like an aural extension of that diary, full of confessions and questions meant only for me. A place for processing of "self": a means of evolution and resolution.

I remember there was a definite time when I decided to make a song that I could sing again. I had to teach myself from a tape. A lot of the chords and notes on the guitar were improvisations some unrepeatable, but the main body of the song was there, I could reshape it to be played again.

One summer I made the move back to Perth from my self imposed country retreat and suddenly realised I had this strong desire to perform my songs. A landmark realisation, well this is how I see it in retrospect and putting it into practice denoted a "coming out" as psychologically and socially it was a decision to be more engaged with people. Even to this day I feel that my lyrics and music continue to be an expression of a life and a soul in progress, music is the soundtrack.

 

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ARTIST BIO

Born in Margaret River at the core of the wine and surfing hamlets of the beautiful S.W. region of West Australia, Peggy left in her teens for Perth to study art and education before gravitating to music. Primarily a self taught musician, she co-founded and fronted the acoustic folk/pop group "Martha's Vineyard" and penned 90% of the tracks on their eponymous debut album.

The band enjoyed sharing stages on tours with Simply Red, INXS, Eurythmics, GoBetweens, Paul Kelly, The Saints, Weddings, Parties, Anything to name a stellar few. Peggy co-wrote the band's single "Old Beach Road" which was a quirky and infectious acoustic gem that forged the way for the eponymous CD release in Australia, Europe, Japan and the US. The band enjoyed some enthusiastic reviews both in Australia and abroad and with the song at home on the airwaves on JJJ, MMM and Community stations it seemed Martha's was a favorite with both audiences and critics alike.

Peggy went on to promote the band's release in Europe even though by this time the group had disbanded - seemingly before fulfilling its artistic and commercial potential. Peggy spent time exploring her family origins in the Netherlands and as well co-wrote material for her forthcoming solo album with Phil Kakulas original double bassist with The Triffids, Martha's Vineyard and now of Blackeyed Susans.

As a soloist Peggy has recorded four CD's and has played in some of Australia's premier venues, appeared on daytimeTV, has enjoyed airplay on ABC, Austereo and Community radios, has toured extensively across regional Australia and has participated in numerous music festivals including Port Fairy and Woodford.

Her new CD "Light Diamond" was once again co produced with Geoffrey Nant and features twelve tracks recorded in Elands NSW and has many musical highlights.

For more insights into Peggy van Zalm

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Music Lyrics:

read how Peggy writes her lyrics

From Light Diamond:

Mercy

Climbing up the wall - temperature's rising
oh dear yin, draw us in 'til we're up to the brim
where we swim through the thick and the thin -
oh sweet summer's gatherin' us in

We'll be rising up so tall, started out so small
On a whim and a song - its what carries us along
through the tears and the smiles
as we travel cross these miles

Been chasing shadows from our sight
disappearing with the light - oh mercy she can tell so well
Our intentions pave the way
Draw the night or paint the day
Oh Mercy she can tell so well - but she won't say

 From the EP "REVlVAL":

Wise, wise, wise, wise woman say
When the four winds blow just let them blow your way
To take us, to take us so far away
From the civilised world and cynical worldly ways
Then perhaps you and I can begin again, begin again
Only completely, completely begin again!

 

"Cool Rain"...

White cockatoos in a blue mountain afternoon
Flying 'cross the valley in a ritual salute
My eyes stretch out over the land
Nothing can soothe me like mother nature's hand
I"ll take this body, I'll take this mind, this desire to be alive
Like a thunderstorm in the summertime ah...a cool rain's coming by

From "SOUL MAGIC"

Just say, day by day
Just say, we'll find the way leave it to Soul Magic
The secret road is beckoning, non-rational mind reckoning oh Soul
Enter the deep green rainforest of your being.

 

"Belly O" from Different World

In the belly of time I'm a captive of my own mind
In the clutches of flesh oh yes I'm a hostage - in the clutches of flesh and I keep

Searching for an answer directly from above you see
I've got myself soul searching for the absolute in love...

 

"Forever Today" from Different World

I followed my life to the naked cliffs, followed every moment with my breath baited

Waited for a sign, waited for a word, oh to make the leap or would the urge be to return

I followed my life to the breaking dawn, the rocks below and the sky above

to yield to spirit to die to form, forever today, Eternity is born.

With my arms outspread and my soul unfolding, Beyond survival I can hear you calling

Where there are no seasons, no need for time. Where being is the reason and I laugh so much I end up crying!

write to Peggy for more song lyrics.

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PEGGY photo gallery

photo Geoffrey Nant

 

 

photo Julie Slaven

 

 

photo Geoffrey Nant

 

 

 

photo Geoffrey Nant

 

 

PEGGY VAN ZALM's Blackberry Wine with Geoff Nant and Ger Schaefer

 

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Reviews:

Peggy van Zalm

Biography & Review By Alex Green

"... Van Zalm has the kind of voice that makes you go dreamy. Vowels soar, consonants gracefully glide, and the songs come together as elegant emissaries of a rich and talented musician.

Hailing from the small farming/surfing/vineyard town of Cowaramup near Margaret River in Western Australia, Van Zalm grew up on healthy doses of Joni Mitchell, and art bands like Talking Heads, Cocteau Twins, and later on, singers like Sinead O'Connor. Van Zalm helped found Martha's Vineyard, who quickly generated a buzz, and ended up touring with the likes of INXS, The Saints, Weddings Parties Anything, Paul Kelly, Mental as Anything, the Go Betweens, Eurythmics and Simply Red. While Martha's Vineyard's lone album--a self-titled 1989 offering containing the hit single "Old Beach Road," became an instant favorite, Van Zalm made the decision to head out on her own. After the demise of Marthas' Vineyard, Van Zalm released a string of successful albums--1994's Revival, and 1998's Soul Magic--- and earned rave reviews for her inspired live performances.

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Complete Review on Different World by Alex Green, Discoveries Magazine USA

In 1998 she even parlayed the gift of a camper van from her family into an exploration of the road and the Australian countryside.

It was during this time that the songs for Different World began to germinate. In her Web diary she wrote of the influence this somewhat nomadic experience had on her songwriting: "Increasingly the Australian landscape, spirit of place has been an influence in my songwriting and the gypsy life has opened the way up for me with a number of new songs being written and fortunately recorded in some great settings along the journey. I've really been finding that the traveling is infusing my whole attitude with renewed enthusiasm and the very nature of being on the move, in a spontaneous flow has definitely heightened the synchronicity factor of being in the right place at the right time."

 

Recorded on a Mobile Studio Different World is a moving eleven song collection which traverses musical terrains, offering healthy doses of rootsy lullabies, outback blues, and earthy jazz.

A moving song cycle of love, loss, faith, and the distances between people, Different World is wise and knowing and wants to share its experiences with the rest of the world. Moving with purpose and a kind of unspoken intent, Different World has a generous agenda. In fact, opening with "Belly O" and closing with the rousing "Let's Escape," which instructs the listener that "New friends are old friends," and urges "Let's escape and follow our star,"

As a songwriter, Van Zalm says that anything in her life might make it into her compositions. "If something strikes a chord--no pun intended-- a song can be spurned," she says. "I seem to be inspired a lot by where I am, making reference to physical and internal landscapes sometimes though as yet not often do I tell stories like say, Paul Kelly who is a true narrative style lyricist. That doesn't come so naturally to me, not so far anyway." Van Zalm is the first to admit that there are recurring themes in her work, that as a writer she tends to revisit. "I think that 'issues' occur and reoccur for us to ingest and process," she says, "and my work somehow addresses these for me. Themes do come up and evolve themselves as it were. I think after a period themes do live out their value in a sense, when perhaps a degree of resolve has occurred and then they probably do not need to be revisited--their emotional virtue has been spent. In that way I feel my songs are very much tied to where I am in my spiritual journey, cause that's where the juice of the song comes from."

 

Whether it's the lilting beauty of "Red Star" or the nimble "Forever Today," what makes Different World such a special album is that even though the songs are beautifully composed there still exists in each number a spare quality that lets in an element of improvisation, giving all of the songs a chance to breathe and in every case, yield surprising musical turns. Throughout each track, Van Zalm is the sonorous, almost maternal guide, giving a musical tour through the universes' many mysteries. "I initially began writing songs as an extension of my personal journal writing," Van Zalm says. "These songs continue to serve as messages to myself, time capsules , life-soundtracks and pointers for emotional and spiritual resolutions along the way." Organic and philosophical, Different World is a mature and unforgettable album. With her beguiling voice and thoughtful lyrics, Van Zalm gently introduces the great questions of existence, but the trick of the album is that somehow it seems she's holding the answers too. You've just got to listen.

Alex Green Discoveries Magazine Summer, 2002 alex670@earthlink.net

 

"Revival"

"Powerful, folk/pop played with finesse and integrity from an artist whose voice is rich and earthy. It takes a couple of listens to get past the beauty of van Zalm's voice and fully appreciate the quality of the songwriting underneath. These are songs about the spirit, the land and feelings that well up inside of us as we work to blalance lives wrought with the stresses of living in a big city world."

Mark Garnaut - Conscious Living

" With the comfort of some extraordinary musicians including Richard Mellick( keys), Blair Greenburg(djembe), Svetlana Bunic(piano accordian), Chris Roodenrys(electric guitar), Debra Anderson(double bass), Warwick Factor (midi bass) and Buzz Bidstrup (acoustic guitar, drums, backing vocals and production)~ Peggy sings with a real depth of range. Her vocal kept me on the edge, waiting for that wail that rarely comes, great control at retreating from the obvious. REVIVAL remained on our multi disc player for some three weeks - a great feat considering the competition in this house, and the first six or so listens it still felt like I'd heard it for the first time, it is not the album full of hooks and radio friendly schmaltz - this is heart felt understated talent. Revival features deep and rich musicality, I have enjoyed my growing rapport with this album and Peggy's subtle, sensual and powerful delivery." Kaeleen Hunter, METTAMUSE/SINGING UP THE WOMEN

"Revival sourced much of its inspiration from the Australian landscape and vibes with a positive energy whilst it's instrumentation (including piano accordion, double bass and traditional African percussion) adds depth and sophistication." Monty James - Inpress

 

CD Launch"Soul Magic"

Three Weeds Sydney July 1994 "Peggy van Zalm shimmies across the stage like a feminist Chuck Berry, behind her swaggering acoustic guitar. She has a rainbow for a guitar strap and a silver moon pinned to her black coat. Her face reminds you of a gypsy or a Comanche, refreshed and dark and strong all at once...even van Zalm's nervous gestures, like the peculiar inward/outward smile she has are sparkling with generous confidence tonight.That pure feeling that van Zalm gives is what all great artists give: cos to be in love with their idea of themselves, with what they dream themselves to be. Nick Cave, Tex Perkins, Dave Graney, Ed Kuepper...Peggy van Zalm is getting ready to sit comfortably beside them in this country. Beside those grand ideas that involve us and which help us to create and understand ourselves. Formerly with Perth band Martha's Vineyard, van Zalm confesses "I did my dash in Sydney" Retreating to the Blue Mountains, she's returned years later with her new album SHINE/SOUL MAGIC. It's sophisticated pop surface shouldn't distract you from the muscle beneath, or from van Zalm's cast as a genuine spiritual voyager in music a la Van Morrison and Joni Mitchell. SHINE/SOUL MAGIC is a black stone, a memory you can't shake, one of those new beginnings won the hard way... and it's great driving music as well; qualities all over tonight's performance. Playing acoustic guitar with restless precision & beautiful hunger, she roots her cosmic sympathies in music of swing, grit & epic swell. I can not recall seeing an Australian artist with such conviction, melodic power in songwriting, guitar playing ability, fineness of voice & sheer spiritual integrity all rolled into one. Internationally I see no reason why she can't grow to the dimensions of a Rickie Lee Jones or Joni Mitchell. Just watch her rise. Mark Mordue "Drum Media"

...an inspired work of folk-pop that summoned critical comparisons to Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison & Nick Drake". Mark Mordue "Australian Style"

"Peggy van Zalm should not be underestimated. Her rawness rooted firmly in reality and songwriting abilities alone showcase her enormous potential to be a quite formidable force within the industry." Allison O'Donaghue - Drum Media.

Soul Magic " is a strong, confident album, and marks a welcome return for van Zalm. Possessed of a rich, sensuous voice and a sense of almost jazzy playfulness around a melody line , songs such as Mystery Movie and The Divers boast of a substantial talent." Shane Danielson "Sydney Morning Herald"

"Songs of quiet strength move through P.V.Z. 's solo debut album. If radio programmers have the grey matter to play this, it could comfortably reside in both the independent & commercial charts. "SHINE/SOUL MAGIC" Heralds the confident return of an entrancing vocalist & songwriter."
Annette Basile ~ "On The Street Magazine". Sydney

 

A Retro~Spective Commentary on MARTHA'S VINEYARD

Excerpt S.M.H. The Game Breakers April 1989... "Critics Top Fives"... John O'Donnell, Toby Creswell, Jon Casimir all voted M.V. worthy of inclusion...

"When asked to name five "new " bands that he thinks most deserve to succeed on the charts, Toby Creswell, includes Martha's Vineyard, with the band's mixture of acute lyrics and Chrissie Hynde-meets-Joni Mitchell voice with its sparse, folk -based instrumentation fast became the critics favourite" when the band made a brief trip across the Nullabor for a handful of performances, and released an independent mini-album, "For A Small World.".
M.V. Reviews - Harold Park April 1989..

With the recent successes of Suzanne Vega, Toni Childs and Tracy Chapman, observers of the local music scene have been wondering why Australia seems almost totally devoid of women singer/songwriters, or at least those who are making a mark. This week however, Peggy van Zalm answered the question, if she didn't solve the problem. In van Zalm we have our Tracy Chapman and much more. ...Fortunately, M.V. last month made the somewhat inevitable trek across the Nullabor and are now permanently based in Sydney. And with this being their first headline performance it would be difficult to imagine a better start. Their music has little about it that resembles rock. The lilting, well constructed arrangements, van Zalm's assured voice and the intelligent, minimal use of volume all combined to provide the Harold Park Hotel with the ambience of a folk club. Fortunately, tidy folk tunes are not all that M. V. play. When the band had people up and dancing they were smart enough to keep them there with the rousing rockabilly of More of the Same. They further varied their set with Skin on Skin, which began quietly and then proceeded to get weird. Safe and Sound with its engaging jazz swing perfectly complemented by the beatnik goatee and menacing double bass lines of Phillip Kakulas, again broke the mould and was the night's highlight. Being the writer of most of the band's material, playing guitar, and possessed of a wonderful voice, van Zalm is the obvious focal point. Where this critic finds Tracy Chapman a bit wet and one dimensional, van Zalm and band, and their songs, are possessed of an undeniable joie de vivre, and a variety that never fails to sustain interest.
John O'Donnell - Sydney Morning Herald.

Tivoli, April 1988
"...they struck out on a hearts-and -flowers course, with influences like Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison underlying a Ricki Lee Jones-ish sass. The latter inflection came gift charged with the presence of a great-voiced singer in a bop cap, her easy Beat manners ... a cool sense of optimism and the crackle of warmth against the the cold. Assisted by three guys who looked like young eccentric uni-going hippies, this unit employed... a singing, stinging lead that knew how to hold itself back for the melody, a mariachi acoustic bass and soft, swinging drums with just enough thunder. Out of it all came a uniquely commercial sound, shamelessly mid 70's in its roots but original and honest enough to transcend the cliches - coming on like a strange, pumping, heavy form of 80's folk pop absolutely nothing like the Pogues. Cousins to the likes of the Widdershins, White Cross and Chad's Tree, Martha's Vineyard sound good for the tired spirit and even better for the urban cynic still willing to remember that beauty is every bit as powerful as noisier intensities.

Mark Mordue, RAM
The members of "Martha's Vineyard" were Peggy van Zalm - lead vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica, Anthony Best on electric and acoustic guitars and harmonica, Aidan d'Adhemar on drums and Norman Parkhill on bass and taking the reigns for the band's management. The band nurtured it's creations and honed it's style in it's hometown of Perth for two years before undertaking the national tour in support of fellow Perth emigre's "The Triffids". The sojourn East proved a fruitful environment for the band. Whilst taking in Adelaide, Melbourne and Sydney this expedition led to a recording contract with the then fledgling rooArt label. The band recorded what was to be their only album with rooArt at Planet Studios in Perth before relocating to Sydney as their base. The eponymous debut produced by Nick Mainsbridge and Martha's Vineyard received rave reviews nationally and abroad ~ winning favour with the programmers of both community and commercial radio stations alike...From 3RRR to 2JJJ & MMM the appeal of the combination of Peggy's vocals and songs, Anthony's arrangements and the light and shade of his musicality, Aidan's idiosyncratic drumming and finally a new member on double bass Phil Kakulas ,an original Triffid, with a cool attitude added just the right chemistry, however, within 12 months the pressures inside and outside of the band lead to an unavoidable split. None-the-less the record company decides to release the album in the U.K., Europe ,Japan and U.S. Peggy flies to London for the promotional interviews, as true to form the CD is met with very favourable reviews in London, Milan and Edinburgh as well as Tokyo.

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