I started singing at home with my family when I was very young,my parents recognised I could sing and whilest encouraging me, never pushed me. I think my dad dreamed of me as some big singing star,..... he was a photographer by trade and even took me out to do my first photo shoot!! (don’t worry, these piccies never saw the light of day!,... - until now!).

I was still singing in my bedroom when I was asked by a talent quest compare to perform in his talent quest, and no, I never auditioned - I just happened to be at this particular quest with a girlfirend who was involved,.. jointly they decided I should go in it too!. I soon got caught up on the talent quest circuit (see my “Up close & Personal” page) - singing country songs - but winning all the while,... and learning all the more. I had even started doing some solo gigs so it was about this time I need my first real promotional shots,...and (Cringe!!) here they are!

I then searched out, joined and started to sing with the local Country Music Association and appear on their charity shows and it was through them that I made my first trip to Tamworth (Australia’s largest Country Music Festival). My first appearance in the semi-professional CCMA Talent Quest gave me my first big win (Female Vocal Section) and this lead to a couple of opportunities for me. Firstly I met a guy, Peter Salata - who was the winner of the Male Vocal section and he asked me to record a duet with him on his album - it was my first experience in a real studio!. It was actually put out as a single on vinyl! (remember that!!!). Secondly it gave me my first article and photo in the local paper!!, and thirdly it got me a spot in my first local band, “Impulse” where I had a lot of fun and learnt a lot but it didn’t last long. From there I tried a family band called "Homefolk", but at the time my brother's and sisters were a bit too young. I then formed a trio “Shades of grey” which was my first real working band.

Impulse were a 3 piece local Wollongong band - they played hits 'n' classics from the 50's to the 70's and some Country & Country Rock music around the club circuit but I must confess I had never heard of them until the drummer Denis Heffernan (after hearing that I'd just won a vocal award at the Country Music Festival) rang me one night and asked if I was interested in joining the band for a little while as they wanted to try a female singer. At the time I was very young and only singing as a soloist in the local Country Music Association, but I was about 17, feeling famous(!) having just achieved my first real triumph - the "Female Vocal" in the CCMA Semi Professional Awards at Tamworth. Now, complete with trophy, a very nice spread in the local paper and 30 seconds of fame on the local TV station I thought I might like being in "my own band" for a while - besides it paid real money.....

We had a lot of fun in that band and I thank them for the opportunity and for "giving me the bug" (It also helped me manage my incredible nervousness, although I still get it!). The line-up included Denis on drums, Alex Sreckovic on guitar and Alan Oyston on Bass. I just had to look girly and sing real sweet!,.. and let's face it, when you are 17 that's not so difficult. However the money couldn't really support an extra singer that didn't add musically and they (or was it Denis??) decided they wanted to get their old keyboard player back. I felt discarded and quite devastated. It was a hard lesson learnt but one that spurred my stubborn aries pride to reach for greater heights ... which I was determined to do.

Being from a big musical family I guess it was expected that at some point we'd try the "family band" thing. As most of the family would go to the Country Music Association family days it became normal for us to do a few items on the walk up stage. I played guitar and sang, my brother Rob played bass and sang and two of my sisters - Shirley and Elisabeth sang and played banjo and mandolin respectively. It also included my friend Quentin Fraser - who lived with us most of the time - and was always considered part of the Frencham family. Whilst we all could sing and harmonize, except for Quentin, none of us were really strong players and I was starting to become aware of the commitment and discipline required to do music seriously, but the others were just a little young. We did however do a few gigs as a family through the Country music Association - family bands were quite a novelty at that time!,... and we had a lot of fun being stars in our own kitchen!,... but I needed to stand on my own two feet.


"Shades of Grey" began as a trio. I was singing as a soloist and with my family band in my local Country Music Association and occasionally performing with a local club band. As a soloist I found my repertoire was limited in the Association to the "old favourites" the backing band knew. Following from a short stint in a local band where I could pick the songs I wanted to sing - the band actually learning them,..I had got the bug .... and it was time I had a real band of my own.

The original line-up was a trio consisting of myself, a great singer who I remember as only "Michael", and my very good friend & instrumentalist Quentin Fraser. We had a real folky sound but only 2 instruments and voices - as Michael didn't play,... and Quentin sing. We did a few talent quests - but sooned learned that Michael was stage shy,.. Quentin wouldn't smile,... and our songs were too 'deep and meaningful' to become a commercial venture so I decided a re-think was in order.

Shades Of Grey - mark II, enlisted the services of my brother Rob who's Bluegrass band had just disbanded and once again Quentin, who was still a great player and let's face it 'may-as-well-have-been' my brother. Rob played flat pick guitar and had been playing bass in the Bluegrass band whilst Quentin was playing guitar, dobro and some banjo. I sang and Rob was willing to try a few harmonies - even Quentin sang a couple of songs!. Pretty soon - with the aid of a drum machine we hit the local club lounge circuit. Our repertoire was vast, we'd just about give anything a try - be it country, folk, Bluegrass and even some light pop music.

However, soon the drum machine was limiting us and Quentin was getting itchy feet, he wanted to do different things. He hated having to learn anything and lacked the discipline required to keep the momentum going ... we were very young. Rob & myself however decided to stick together and met Steve Benko and Bruce Tulloch through a newspaper advert and it wasn't long before Shades of Grey (Mark III) became a 'hip & happening' 4 piece band! This was a great line-up and after doing the club & party scene for a while we picked up a residency in the Jamberoo Valley Lodge. It was a Restaurant/Resort audience and we got to play all our country and folk ballads and some dance music, we became part of the furniture and generally had a ball.

Nothing lasts forever and it was nearly 2 years later that the Restaurant went broke and we were back on the club scene again. In that time however the scene had changed somewhat and the competition had grown quite fierce. Bands needed to be able to do alot more dance music and required a strong Rythm section, we needed much more grunt. Steve wasn't a Rock'n Roll drummer and didn't want to be one, so Ron Bryant was recruited. Shade of Grey (Mark IV) went from strength to strength and soon we were working all over town. Our repertoire had grown enormously and we found we could cater for just about any crowd all the while singing country music as a normal part of our repertoire. Our yearly trip to Tamworth was generally just for fun - however one year we were fortunate(?) enough to win a few awards and the Booking Agents/Venues became a little confused. Quite out of the blue we had become Wollongong's Award winning Country band and suddenly they weren't sure whether they wanted us, or why! The confusion continued, Ron was having personal problems and eventually left and we spent a short time trying some other drummers such as Mick Shirlaw in the line-up, but the winds of change were blowing.

It was around this time I had a car accident. I was fairly lucky but the result was a neck injury that made guitar playing incredibly difficult so Trevor Carpenter joined us for a while on rhythm guitar for "Shades Of Grey (Mark V). Motivation was still badly lacking however and our drummer was by then only temporary. It was difficult I knew we had come so far but knew we had a long way to go.

How we (Shades of Grey) met Phil Sharp, I don't remember, but I do remember there was something warm & friendly about him - and that he was the best drummer I'd ever worked with - and he could sing! He had a friend - Joe Quennell, who thought he'd come along to the rehearsal too, and boy could he sing! Anyway they must have liked what they heard as much as we did and that evening STEP FORWARD was born. It was a new lineup and needed a new name and identity. We had agreed to keep the Country Music repertoire current as we had a big following as a country band, and found that we could still play country gigs as "Shades of Grey". This left Step Forward to do solely what it did best, great Hits, classic Rock'n'Roll and pop ballads.

It was a terrific time and we had many a great pizza and some fun times together travelling and doing really interesting gigs. Suddenly we had 5 great voices, outstanding male & female lead vocalists and the best musical lineup I had ever experienced (even keyboard had been added, the playing shared by Joe and myself). It was obviously meant to be and lasted nearly 8 years,... but time moves on - as it does. Bruce was relocating, Joe had just become a dad, I was marryng along with trying to promote my new album and finally following my heart! and all that was so sure was now not so sure, time to call it a day.

Acoustigrass has been a great little 'put together' Bluegrass band that I have been involved with over the last few years. I've always loved Bluegrass but never had the opportunity to sing it as I never knew enough real players, until I met my husband Martin, bluegrass banjo player extraordinaire! The line-up has changed a little but over the years has included Quentin Fraser on Guitar & Dobro, sister Liz on fabulous Doublebass, Marty on Banjo, Jim Rush on guitar and myself on vocals.The reportoire has never been strictly Bluegrass but is always very acoustic in arrangement with a more contemporary Alison Krauss flavour. The guys (whoops! ... and Liz!) always do some traditional songs and tunes in the show.

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