Quick Facts
Biography
Beatrice "Bertie" Blackman (born 1982) is an Independent Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist. She rose to fame with her debut album in 2004, entitled Headway which came after years of prolific performances around Sydney's Inner city venues, where she developed a dedicated following.
Early life and influences
Bertie is the daughter of renowned Australian artist Charles Blackman and grew up in the eastern Sydney suburbs of Bondi and Paddington. She attended International Grammar School in Ultimo. International Grammar School. She began playing African percussion at the age of twelve and guitar at the age of fifteen.
Career achievements
Bertie appeared on the Australian music scene in 2004 with the single "Favourite Jeans" taken from her debut album, Headway (2004) a folk-inspired acoustic album featuring musicians Cameron Deyell, Laurence Pike and Cameron Undy and was co-produced by Richard Belkner. This album established her as an Australian headline alongside contemporaries Something for Kate, Ben Lee and Alex Lloyd. She wrote music for Australian films including the title track to the 2008 production Hey, Hey, It's Esther Blueburger which saw her collaborate with prodigious Australian producer Paul Mac.
After forming a new band with Neal Sutherland, Evan Mannell and Cameron Deyell, she made her second album Black (2006) and received positive reviews and high rotation on Triple J and demonstrated Blackman's move away from folk music to a focus on rock. This album was produced by well-known Australian producer, Paul McKercher (Augie March, Little Birdy)
In 2008, Bertie signed with newly formed Australian management company Forum 5 and began working on her third studio album, entitled Secrets and Lies which was recorded between Sydney and Melbourne. Musicians involved included Neal Sutherland, Evan Mannell and Ben Hauptmann with producers Lee Groves (Goldfrapp, Gwen Stefani) and Francois Tetaz (Architecture in Helsinki, Gotye)
Her first single from the album, "Heart" was released on 10 April 2009. The song was added on high rotation on Australian radio station Triple J and nationwide on commercial radio network Nova as well as on regional and community stations across the country. Altogether "Heart" was the 4th most added song on radio in the week of its release and entered the Australian radio airplay charts at #67.
The album Secrets and Lies was the Triple J Feature Album for the week commencing Monday 27 April 2009 and was officially released on 8 May 2009 on Forum 5 Recordings with distribution through MGM Distribution.
Secrets and Lies entered the ARIA album charts at No. 72 and peaked at No. 49.
At the fourth annual AIR Awards, held on 22 November 2009, Bertie Blackman received four nominations for 'Best Independent Single or EP', 'Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year', 'Best Independent Album' and 'Best Independent Artist', winning 'Breakthrough Independent Artist of the Year'.
At the 2009 ARIA Music Awards, she was nominated for 'Best Independent Release', which she ended up winning. In 2010, she released as a single a cover version of "Peek-a-Boo" from Siouxsie and the Banshees
Session and touring members
- Laurence Pike – drums, percussion, vibraphone (2004–05)
- Cameron Undy – electric bass, double bass, bass (2004–05)
- Cameron Deyell – lead guitar, electric guitar, guitar synthesizer, grand piano, wurlitzer organ (2004–07)
- Clayton Doley – hammond organ, wurlitzer organ (2004)
- Calvin Turner – bass (2005)
- Neal Sutherland – bass, keyboards, synthesizer (2005–09)
- Evan Mannell – drums (2005–09)
- Ben Hauptmann – string arrangement (2009)
- Andrew Hines (2009)
- Anthea Caddy (2009)
- Gareth Skinner (2009)
- James Ware (2009)
- Josie de Sousa (2009)
- Lewie Day (2009)
- Manny Bourakis (2009)
- Michael Iveson – drums, percussion, scissors, claps, toy drum kit, snare drum (2009–12)
- Rachel Easton (2009)
- Stephanie Zarka (2009)
- Tim Harvey (2009)
- Sam Lawrence (2009)
- François Tétaz – organ, piano, glockenspiel, tack piano, elka organ, violin, moog, xylophone, castanets, wurlitzer organ, drums, claps, percussion, steel drum, vibraphone, harp, strings, woodwind, synthesizer (2012)
- Luke Hodgson – bass, scissors, claps (2012)
- Ken Yuguchi – guitar, electric guitar (2012)
- Tom Spender – saxophone, alto saxophone, whistling, harmonica (2012)
- Adam Simmons – saxophone, tenor saxophone, baritone saxophone, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, contralto clarinet (2012)
- Kram – acoustic guitar, guitar (2012)
- Sophia Brous – vocals (2012)
- Andy Stewart – guitar, difficult omnichord (2012)
- James Wilkinson – trombone, euphonium (2012)
- Kirk Pengilly – saxophone (2014)
Discography
Albums
Studio albums
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| AUS | ||
| Headway |
| — |
| Black |
| — |
| Secrets and Lies |
| 49 |
| Pope Innocent X |
| 54 |
| The Dash |
| — |
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||
Extended plays
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| Blue Sky Pueblo |
|
| Town of Sky EP |
|
| The Remixes |
|
Remix albums
| Title | Album details |
|---|---|
| B-Sides – Secrets and Lies Remixed |
|
Singles
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | JJJ 100 | |||
| "Criminal of Desire" | 2003 | — | — | Blue Sky Pueblo |
| "Favourite Jeans" | 2004 | — | — | Headway |
| "You Kill Me" | 2005 | — | — | Black |
| "Television" | — | — | ||
| "Hold Me Close" | 2006 | — | — | |
| "Fast Bitch" | 2007 | — | — | |
| "Heart" | 2009 | 99 | 120 | Secrets and Lies |
| "Thump" | — | 93 | ||
| "Byrds of Prey" | — | 71 | ||
| "Black Cats" | — | 184 | ||
| "Peek-a-Boo" (Siouxsie and the Banshees cover) | 2010 | 92 | 171 | N/A |
| "Mercy Killer" | 2012 | — | — | Pope Innocent X |
| "Boy" | — | — | ||
| "Run for Your Life" | 2014 | — | — | The Dash |
| "Kingdom of Alone" | — | — | ||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | |||
| "Young & Dumb" (Chance Waters featuring Bertie Blackman) | 2012 | 91 | Infinity |
Promotional singles
| Title | Year | Album |
|---|---|---|
| "War of One" | 2014 | The Dash |
Other appearances
| Title | Year | Artist(s) | Album | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| "Don't You Ever" | 2006 | The Tongue featuring Bertie Blackman | Bad Education | |
| "The Futurist" | 2007 | Something for Kate | The Murmur Years – The Best of Something for Kate 1996 – 2007 | Backing vocals |
| "The Only One" | 2008 | Paul Mac featuring Bertie Blackman | Hey Hey It's Esther Blueburger – Original Soundtrack | |
| "Town of Sorrow" (Mic Newman Remix) | Bertie Blackman | One Love – Mobile Disco 2009 | ||
| "In the Air Tonight" (Phil Collins cover) | 2009 | Triple J: Like a Version Five | ||
| "Heart" (Live at The Hi-Fi Brisbane 14 August 2009) | 2010 | The Hi-Fi Live Highlights | ||
| "Peekaboo" (Marco Del Horno Remix) | Bullet Train Volume One | |||
| "Gold Dust Woman" (Fleetwood Mac cover) | 2011 | When I First Met Your Ma | ||
| "Do You Love Me?" (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds cover) | 2012 | Bertie Blackman and Muscles | Straight to You – triple j’s Tribute to Nick Cave | |
| "The Mercy Seat" (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds cover) | Bertie Blackman |
Music videos
| Title | Year | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| "Favourite Jeans" | 2004 | |
| "You Kill Me" | 2005 | Simon Wright |
| "Television" | 2006 | Clemens Habicht |
| "Fast Bitch" | 2007 | Beth Halon |
| "Thump" (Viral video) | 2009 | |
| "Heart" | Danielle Zorbas | |
| "Thump" | Don Cameron | |
| "Byrds of Prey" | Marc Furmie | |
| "Black Cats" | 2010 | Miland Suman and Richard Thomas |
| "Peek-a-Boo" | Jonathon Lim and Andrew Smith | |
| "Mercy Killer" | 2012 | Chino Moya |
| "Boy" | Quan Yeomans | |
| "Stella" | Andrew Kavanagh | |
| "Run for Your Life" | 2014 | Timothy Nash and Lucas Crandles |
| "Kingdom of Alone" | Nick Waterman | |
| "Strangers in a Moment" | 2015 | Radioactive Gigantism Films |
As featured artist
| Title | Year | Director(s) |
|---|---|---|
| "The Only One" (Paul Mac featuring Bertie Blackman) | 2008 | |
| "Young & Dumb" (Chance Waters featuring Bertie Blackman) | 2012 | Craig Foster |