About this experience
POME is excited to announce the return of a Melbourne music institution: the Unpaved Songwriter Sessions. After an eight year hiatus, it's time to start breathing new life into Naarm/Melbourne's rich songwriting scene with artists new, emerging and established. Each week will feature four original artists performing in-the-round for an appreciative listening audience in the comfortable and inspiring setting of POME, Richmond.
Songwriters and music fans will have a new weekly fixture as of Thursday, May 19 with the return of Unpaved Songwriter Sessions. Featuring amixture of four up-and-coming and established songwriters sharing songs in-the-round over two sets to a listening room with table service. This isMelbourne’s answer to the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville, where new songs are brought to life before an appreciative, music-loving audience.
It’s been eight years since the original Unpaved Songwriter Sessions finished up at The Old Bar in Fitzroy. The nights included hundreds of artists, among them Liz Stringer, Marlon Williams, Mojo Juju, Tash Sultana, Michael Waugh,Courtney Barnett and Van Walker. New musical partnerships were made and projects inspired.
After a long period pandemic-induced hardship for live performanceopportunities, Unpaved founder and singer-songwriter Les Thomas feels like it’s time for a rebirth and he can think of no better place to host the reincarnatedsongwriter sessions than POME aka The Palace of Magnificent Experiences in Richmond. POME is an inviting and inspired new artistic space overseen by creative director Bernie Clifford, a genuine lover of music and the arts,making it a sought after venue for artists and punters alike.
“I’m keen to hear from all of the artists, young or old, who’ve been quietly creating new songs to share. The more diverse, the better. Naarm/Melbourne has a well-earned reputation as one of the best music cities in the world, but we have some serious rebuilding to do to get our live music scene back to what it was. Great songs make for a great music scene and I believe that’s what fans want to hear. These nights are aimed at enriching that culture for everyone’s benefit. Good times are guaranteed.”
This weeks Artists
Pia Nesvara
Arm-in-arm with her flamenco guitar and soulful ways, Pia Nesvara brings flavours of her Chilean roots with a blend of gutsy vocals, hard hitting rhythm and brazen lyric. She’s a well respected singer-songstress, grown up and out of the hills of the Dandenong Ranges, where she's loved for her years of generosity in the community's music scene. Pia has graced stages around the country including at the Melbourne Songwriters Collective - National Folk Fest (April 2022) and scheduled for Dorrigo Folk Fest (October 2022). This bright musician is preparing the release of her first E.P (Late 2022). Pia's kind of determination is hard to miss.
Robin Sellin
Robin is a professional singer-songwriter from Berlin, Germany and Berklee College of Music graduate. Since relocating to Melbourne a couple of months ago, he has been performing solo, most recently at the Hume Harvest Festival (along artists like the Pierce Brothers, Gretta Ray and Pete Murray), and jamming with local talent to find like-minded musicians.
Flowing softly, the lyrics and stories in his songs convey a pensive, yet optimistic mind, always maintaining a core of hope.
Amelia Allan
Amelia Allan is an indie folk/pop singer-songwriter based in Naarm. Both intimate and accessible, her songwriting captures those fleeting, seemingly insignificant moments of our everyday lives and transforms them into the significant.
Her soft, understated vocals coupled with her unique sense of humour will send an audience into silence as they are drawn into her stories that reflect past observations, conversations and personal experiences.
Amelia has recently been in the studio recording her debut EP in collaboration with producer and sound engineer Alex O’Gorman (Angie McMahon, Hannah Blackburn, BATTS). She is set to release her debut single, ‘Won’t Miss You’, later this year.
Connor Morrissey
You won’t find too many more passionate musicians than Conor Morrissey. Drawing on skills developed from a wide range of instruments and styles, his piano playing is unlike anything else you’ll hear live. Inspired by acts such as Elton John, Joni Mitchell, Dire Straits, Paul Brady and Taylor Swift, Conor blends passionate, evocative storytelling with beautiful melodies and soulful musicianship. Creative songwriting and live performance are his two biggest strengths. With a rapidly-expanding back catalogue that is as diverse as it is engaging, Conor's live shows are guaranteed to take you on an emotional journey: you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll fall in love with music all over again.
2 sets (four songwriters playing three songs each per set)
Applications are now open for those interested in performing Here!
$15 General Admission
$10 Members
$5 Student/Concession
Be sure to become a member to take full advantage of discounted entry and other offers.
You can look forward to announcements for show dates via subscribing Here!
Quotes from previous performers
“The Unpaved Sessions was a chance for songwriters to hang out and swap ideas and material. Spaces like this were vital in the earlier development of my songwriting and helped me to build an artistic community which continues to sustain me. Melbourne has such a rich vein of song writers and Unpaved provided a way for us to commune and learn from one another. I have no doubt that its return will help to re-strengthen and reconnect scenes that have been profoundly disrupted by Covid.”
- Liz Stringer
“So great to see the Unpaved Songwriter Sessions come back to life. These spaces are so important for songwriters to connect with one another, try out new material, hone our craft and deliver our masterpieces to a beautiful listening audience.”
- Kerryn Fields
“From the outset, the Unpaved sessions were an essential and vibrant part of Melbourne’s music fabric. Featuring artists of extremely high calibre alongside those beginning their journey with the craft, Unpaved provided a space in which songwriting culture was nurtured and thrived. I’m absolutely thrilled to see Unpaved return at a time when this city needs music more than ever before.”
- Ruth Hazleton
“The Unpaved sessions at The Old Bar remain legendary. They brought together Melbourne’s community of songwriters and fans in a way that’s rarely seen outside of Austin, Texas - and helped cement Melbourne’s position as one of the world’s great songwriting towns. The prospect of their return is a very exciting one for music lovers as we look to make up for the lost time of the past couple of years”
- Lachlan Bryan
“March 31, 2014, Unpaved Sessions number 64 at The Old Bar in Fitzroy. This was the GRAND FINALE session - two ‘In the Rounds’ with Mojo Juju, Larissa Tandy and yours truly followed by Liz Stringer, Van Walker and Jen Cloher. What a night! But that’s what it was like at any given Unpaved Sessions event. It was all about celebrating the songs and the wonderful,diverse community of songwriters we have in Melbourne. You could argue that it was the start of what we have today and what has continued to grow. To know that the Unpaved Sessions are coming back is the best news I have heard in along time."
- Bill Jackson