festival 2008 ~ artists ~ wa country music awards ~ programme

Ronnie Rae Rivers

Hot on the heels of her second USA tour, Ronni Rae Rivers returns home to deliver the stellar performances that have made her a favourite with audiences across the world. Combining up tempo new country with timeless classic country hits, the result is honest, fresh and engaging.

Born in Australia to an Aussie Mum and Texan Dad, Ronni travelled extensively throughout Australia and the USA during her formative years. This helped create a unique musical identity by merging the freshness of Australian country music with the traditional roots and flavours of its American counterpart.

A graduate of the 2004 CMAA Australian College of Country Music and a 2004 Toyota Starmaker Grand Finalist, Ronni’s fiddle, guitar and piano skills have enabled her to work locally and internationally. She has shared the stage with some of Australia’s best known country music entertainers such as Lee Kernaghan, Bill Chambers, Kasey Chambers, Adam Brand, Beccy Cole, as well as internationally renowned Aaron Neville and the Neville Brothers.

In 2003, she released EP “Bridging the Gap”, receiving terrific radio response

,via her radio singles ‘You win…You Lose’ and ‘Happy New Year’. Immediately following in 2004 ,she was named Best WA Country Music Songwriter for her song ‘Haven’t Things Changed’, 2004 Best WA Country Music Female Artist at the WA Country Music Awards in Boyup Brook, and became a finalist in the Australian Country Recording Awards (ACRAs) for Australian New Talent Album Of The Year.

2005 saw Ronni exceed her own expectations, not only being named ASA (Australian Songwriters Association) Awards Country Song Of The Year, Best WA Country Music Female Artist for the second year in a row, a finalist in the TIARA Awards (Female Vocal), the Victorian & National Country Music Awards (New Talent) and the WAMi’s (Country Act), but also receiving praise for her single ‘Just When I Needed You Most’ becoming a Top 10 Finalist for Female Vocal in the Golden Guitar Awards.

The second single ‘Rodeo Romeo’, taken from her debut album ‘Notice Me’, became a Top 5 success, with the title track ‘Notice Me’ becoming her first #1 hit. She also was a finalist in the 2005 Golden Saddle Awards and made the Top 50 Biggest Hits Country Tracks Top 30 and Saturday Night Country’s Hottest 100 tracks for 2005.

Ronni started 2006 off with her second number #1 hit ‘It’s Only Make Believe’ and was a co-host with Troy Casser-Daley on board the Tamworth Country Music Train, where she was then the subject of the BBC World documentary ‘Destination Music’ which featured performances and interviews with 10 of the hottest Country Music Acts in Australia.   For the second consecutive year, she was named a 2006 Golden Saddle Awards finalist and was nominated for 2 songs in the 2006 APRA awards.

Nationally, 2007 has seen Ronni become a finalist in ‘Golden Fiddle Awards’, while internationally she took 2^nd place in the ‘Los Angeles Women in Music’ songwriting competition and was a finalist in the Orange County Music Awards in the USA for ‘Best Live Acoustic Female Act’ and ‘Best Country Act’.  On the WA music scene, Ronni is an active contributor, having been re-elected to a 2 year term as a WAM (West Australian Music Industry) management committee member, was a featured performer at the 2006&2007 WAMi festivals, and contributed a song to the Kiss My WAMi 2006&2007 CD Samplers. Ronni was also been chosen to represent Australia’s diverse musical offering through the Austrade Ozgigs DVD Sampler featuring 50 Australian musical acts ready for worldwide export.

www.ronniraerivers.com                www.myspace.com/ronniraerivers