Gina Jeffreys

Gina Jeffreys (also known as Gina Jeffries, Gina Hillenberg and Gina McCormack) is an Australian country singer-songwriter. She was born on 1 April 1968 at Toowoomba, Queensland. She has often been called Australia's "Queen of Country" and has won numerous Australian country music awards.

In 1992, Jeffreys competed in The Star Maker Quest at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. After releasing her first single "Slipping Away" (a cover of the 1975 song by Max Merritt) through BMG Music, Gina signed a record deal with ABC Music, and released her first single for the label "Two Stars Fell" in 1993. The song went straight to No.1 on the Australian country charts.

"Two Stars Fell" won Jeffreys her first Golden guitar award at the 1994 Tamworth Country Music Awards of Australia for'Best Female Vocal Award'. Later that year, Jeffreys supported Johnny Cash and Kris Kristofferson on their Australian tours and rave reviews had her the subject of a 'Sixty Minutes' story and she was featured in an 'A Current Affair' segment. Her debut album The Flame was released in August 1994 and went platinum in 1997. Further hits followed including "Girls' Night Out" which won Jeffreys her second Golden Guitar award for 'Best Female Vocal' in 1995.

In July 1996, Gina released her second album, Up Close. This was to be the album that broke the cross-over barrier between country and mainstream. The album debuted straight into the National ARIA Charts at No. 9 while taking up the No. 1 position of the National Country Charts. Up Close achieved Gold status during the same year as its release. Jeffreys toured nationally throughout 1996 and also found time to appear as a guest host of 'Sale of the Century' and co-hosted the 1997 ARIA Music Awards. In 1997, Jeffreys was inducted into Tamworth Hands of Fame.

In June 1998, Jeffreys released her third album Somebody's Daughter which peaked at No. 13 on the ARIA Charts. The album was certified Gold in 1999 and produced the hits song "Dancin' With Elvis" which she won Country Music Television's 'Video of the Year' in 1999. Jeffreys released a Christmas album in 1999, titled Christmas Wish.

Throughout 2000, Jeffreys relocates to Nashville to record her next album, titled Angel. Angel was released in April 2001 and the title track "Angel" won numerous awards; including 2002 Golden Guitar Award - Video Clip of the Year, 2002 APRA Award – Most Performed Country Work and is named a finalist in the Australian Animation Awards in 2001 and charted at No.57 on the ARIA singles chart.

2002 saw the release of Best of Gina Jeffreys... So Far which included her version of Radiohead's Creep which she had performed on Andrew Denton's Musical Challenge. This concluded her contract with ABC Music.

Jeffreys gave birth to her son Jackson in January 2003 and took some time out of the spot light.

In 2006, Jeffreys signed a deal with 'Ocean Road Music' returned with the release of her album Walks of Life and in 2007, she was awarded Best Independent Country Release at the Australian Independent Record (AIR) Awards, for her album Walks of Life. At the Tamworth Country Music Festival of 2007, Jeffreys initiated a now annual "Walk of Life" whereby country music artists and fans walk around the streets of Tamworth to help create awareness and raise money for the Foundation. Money raised goes towards the Leukaemia Foundation. In April 2007, Jeffreys join Beccy Cole and Sara Storer to form Songbirds; a successful multi-artist show in Australia that continued for many years. A live DVD was released of the Songbirds in 2009.

In 2009 Jeffreys does a sell-out concert at Tamworth with Guy Sebastian and Wendy Matthews followed by the release of Old Paint in 2010, a laid-back acoustic album of Gina’s all- time favourites.

Since 2014, Jeffreys has been recording songs for a new album tentatively titled Unravel.

Albums

See also

• Songbirds

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• "Gina Jeffreys". bridge of love. Retrieved 26 March 2015. 
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• "ARIA Charts - Accreditations - 1998 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association. Archived from the original on 11 June 2011. Retrieved 2014-01-29. 
• "The ARIA Report/ Week Commencing 14th May" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. 14 May 2001. p. 17. Retrieved 19 April 2015. 
• "The ARIA Report" (PDF). pandora.nla.gov.au. 21 October 2001. Retrieved 19 April 2015. 
• "The ARIA Report" (PDF). pandora.nla.gov.au. 29 January 2007. Retrieved 19 April 2015. 

ARIA Awards

Jeffreys had been nominated for four ARIA Music Awards

APRA Awards

The APRA Awards are held in Australia and New Zealand by the Australasian Performing Right Association to recognise songwriting skills, sales and airplay performance by its members annually. Jeffreys has won two awards.

Country Music Awards (CMAA)

Jeffreys has won five Golden guitar awards at the Tamworth Country Music Awards of Australia

Australian Independent Record Label Association Awards

Jeffreys has won one AIR award