Megan Washington
| Megan Washington | |
|---|---|
 Megan Washington, May 2012 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Megan Alexanda Washington |
| Also known as | Washington |
| Born | 7 January 1986 Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea |
| Origin | Brisbane, Queensland, Australia |
| Genres | Jazz, indie pop, alternative |
| Occupations | Musician, singer-songwriter |
| Instruments | Vocals, piano, guitar |
| Years active | 2006–present |
| Labels | Mercury/Universal, Murmur, Albert |
| Associated acts | Sean Foran, Paul Grabowsky, Old Man River |
| Website | washingtonmusic.com.au |
| Notable instruments | |
| Gibson Les Paul | |
Megan Alexanda Washington (born 7 January 1986, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea) is an Australian musician and songwriter also known mononymously as Washington. Originally performing jazz music she has moved to indie pop and alternative rock where she sings and plays piano and guitar. On 30 July 2010, Washington released her debut album, I Believe You Liar, on Murmur Records, which peaked at number three on the ARIA Albums Chart and, by end of 2011, received a platinum certificate from ARIA for shipment of 70,000 copies.
In December 2009 Washington won the inaugural Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition for her track, "How to Tame Lions". At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 Washington won 'Best Female Artist' and 'Breakthrough Artist', and received five further nominations for work associated with I Believe You Liar and "How to Tame Lions".
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Early life [edit]
Megan Alexanda Washington was born on 7 January 1986 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. She grew up with her father, Rick, her mother, Karen and an older sister.[1] She attended primary school in Port Moresby and, in 1996, the family moved to Brisbane, where Washington spent her teenage years, and attended Moreton Bay College.[1][2] For most of her early life she had a stutter.[1] Later she attended Sheldon College and its Australian School of the Arts, where she continued her interest in music.[2] She studied for a bachelor of music at Queensland University of Technology and then jazz voice at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music.[2][3]
Career [edit]
In 2006 Megan Washington and Sean Foran, a jazz pianist, released Night Light, an extended play. The EP won the 2008 Australian Jazz Bell Award for 'Best Australian Jazz Vocal Album'.[4] She followed with another EP, Bennetts Lane, with pianist Paul Grabowsky, which appeared in 2007. In January of that year Washington relocated to Melbourne and worked in a bagel shop for six months.[2] Her music style moved away from jazz when she began backing a blues and roots musician, Old Man River, as the keyboardist and backing vocalist.[2] She also worked as keyboardist and backing vocalist for indie pop artist, Ben Lee. In early 2008 Washington sang an acoustic cover version of Ross Wilson's "Bed of Nails" which was used as the theme song of the ABC1 TV drama series Bed of Roses (2008, 2010–2011) starring Kerry Armstrong.[5][6]
In late 2008 she launched her mononymous band, Washington, with Lance Ferguson (The Bamboos), John Castle, Des White, Ross Irwin and Ryan Monro (The Cat Empire, Jackson Jackson) on bass guitar. The band released their debut EP, Clementine, that year. In November they were announced as Triple J's Unearthed winners and performed at the Melbourne Big Day Out.[7] This was followed by the release of a second EP, How to Tame Lions, in September 2009. Following appearances on Spicks and Specks and RocKwiz in November, Washington attracted the attention of a wider audience. She observed, "You might think that most people get their information from the charts or something like that but I had so much great feedback after being on those shows".[2] In December that year she won the inaugural Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition for her track, "How to Tame Lions". The competition was conducted by Australasian Performing Right Association and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (APRA|AMCOS) and was open to songwriters across Australia, with entry fees going to Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy Australia.[8] In the same month, Washington backed Sia Furler on guitar at the Palace Theatre and a few days later performed a duet with Keith Urban during his Rod Laver Arena concert in Melbourne.[8]
She has appeared on Network Ten's program Good News Week as a guest for the "Strange but True" segment to sing a song as a clue several times, and once as a member of the panel. On 30 July 2010, Washington released her debut album, I Believe You Liar, on Murmur Records, which peaked at number three on the ARIA Albums Chart and, by end of 2011, received a platinum certificate by ARIA for shipment of 70,000 copies.[9][10]
In October 2010 Washington performed live during YouTube Play, an event produced in partnership between YouTube and the Guggenheim Museum.[11]
At the ARIA Music Awards of 2010 Washington won two categories, 'Best Female Artist' and 'Breakthrough Artist',[12] and received further nominations: 'Album of the Year', 'Best Adult Alternative Album', 'Best Engineer' (John Castle) for I Believe You Liar and 'Single of the Year' for "How to Tame Lions".[13]
Personal life [edit]
In 2009 Washington was based in Sydney.[2][3] By August 2010 Washington's boyfriend was Michael Tomlinson (of Yves Klein Blue) who had moved from Brisbane to Melbourne, to live with her.[14][15] She followed with a brief relationship with You Am I's front man, Tim Rogers.[14]
Awards and nominations [edit]
APRA Awards [edit]
The APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters".[16]
| Year | Recipient | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | I Believe You Liar (Megan Washington) | Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year[17] | Won |
Other awards [edit]
- 2008 Australian Jazz Bell Awards - Best Australian Jazz Vocal Album: Night Light
- 2009 APRA|AMCOS - Vanda & Young Songwriting Competition:"How to Tame Lions"
- 2010 ARIA Music Awards, Best Female Artist, and Breakthrough Artist
Discography [edit]
| Releases | |
|---|---|
| ↙Studio albums | 1 |
| ↙EPs | 6 |
| ↙Singles | 7 |
Studio albums [edit]
| Year | Notes | Peak chart positions |
Certifications (sales thresholds) |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUS[9] | |||
| 2010 | I Believe You Liar | 3 | Platinum |
Extended plays [edit]
| Year | Album details | AUS chart peak |
|---|---|---|
| 2006 | Nightlight
|
53 |
| 2007 | Bennetts Lane
|
— |
| 2008 | Clementine
|
— |
| 2009 | How to Tame Lions
|
73 |
| 2010 | Rich Kids
|
70 |
| 2011 | Insomnia
|
24 |
Singles [edit]
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | |||
| 2010 | "Rich Kids" (live) | 69 | I Believe You Liar |
| "Sunday Best" | 64 | ||
| 2011 | "Holy Moses" | 100 | Insomnia EP |
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||
References [edit]
- ^ a b c Mathieson, Craig (26 September 2010). "Megan on the March". The Age (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g Mengel, Noel (11 December 2009). "Megan Washington in the spotlight". The Courier-Mail (Queensland Newspapers (News Corporation)). Retrieved 6 January 2010.
- ^ a b ArtsHub (17 December 2007). "Career Profile: Megan Washington". ArtsHub. Retrieved 21 October 2009.
- ^ "The Australian Jazz Bell Award Winners 2008". Australian Jazz Bell Awards. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ^ Wilson, Ross (2 April 2008). "ABC-TV Bed of Roses". Ross Wilson Official Website. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ^ "'Bed of Nails' at APRA search engine". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA). Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ^ "Big Day Out 2009". Triple J. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
- ^ a b Adams, Cameron (10 December 2009). "Megan Washington Wins Vanda Competition, Gets Invitation from Keith Urban, Sia...". Herald Sun (Herald and Weekly Times (News Corporation)). Retrieved 6 January 2010.
- ^ a b "Washington Discography". Australian-charts.com. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
- ^ "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 2011 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
- ^ Megan Washington: excerpt from YouTube Play at the Guggenheim
- ^ Winners of the 2010 Aria Awards Announced Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 24/11/2010.
- ^ 2010 ARIA Nominations Announced Take40 Australia (mcm entertainment). Retrieved 2010-09-29.
- ^ a b Zuel, Bernard (6 January 2012). "Megan Washington Insomnia Interview". Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ^ Harmon, Steph (9 August 2010). "Interview: Washington". The Brag. Retrieved 2 September 2012.
- ^ "APRA History". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). Retrieved 17 January 2011.
- ^ "Nominations > Breakthrough Songwriter of the Year – 2011". Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) | Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS). 2011. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
External links [edit]
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