By MICHELLE HERBISON
REPRESENTING Australia in a Memphis blues challenge was an emotional experience for Geelong’s Felicia Sowinski.
“I was this crazy crying Australia lady. They’d say, ‘How do you feel about being here in Memphis, the home of the music?’ and I’d burst into tears walking down Beale St,” she laughed.
The 2011 experience was a highlight for Sweet Felicia and the Honeytones, making the international semi-finals after earning tickets to Memphis through Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society.
The three-piece uniquely recreates classic blues music, with Sowinski singing while playing bass backed up by guitar and drums.
“Basically, we do a swing sort of blues. It comes from the big-band blues era but generally people do it with saxes, a horn section or at least a larger band.”
A regular on Queenscliff’s The Blues Train, Sweet Felicia and the Honeytones will join a long line-up of performers at March’s inaugural Motor City Music Festival at Geelong Showgrounds.
Sowinski said her interest in the blues had developed during her 20s when she traced the influences of modern music back to the likes of Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson and Bessie Smith.
“It touches a place in your heart when you hear that music. It’s truthful, honest and not pretentious.
“Pretty much human nature hasn’t changed throughout thousands of years and the music reflects that.”
Sowinski said the band covered blues classics as well as writing their own songs in a ’50s style “with a bit of a modern spin” and some cheekiness.
She recently returned to Geelong after spending six months living in Berlin where she earned plenty of praise from European crowds for her individual style.
“It’s hard to find women bass players, let alone women bass players that sing,” she said.
Singing while playing bass was more difficult than coordinating it with guitar but “you just get used to it like everything else”, Sowinski said modestly.
Her two performances at Motor City Music Festival would appeal to music-lovers of all ages, she said.
“We’re kind of a happy blues – not too heavy, not too lightweight. And people tend to dance a lot to our music.”
More information about the festival is available at motorcitymusicfestival.com.au.
